Christian Apocrypha at the 2015 SBL
Here is a quick rundown of the sessions and papers at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature focusing on Christian Apocrypha. I hope I found them all. See you in Atlanta.
Christian Apocrypha Section sessions:
S21-114 Christian Apocrypha; Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds
Joint Session With: Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds, Christian Apocrypha
11/21/2015 ~ 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: International 4 (International Level) – Marriott
Theme: Papyrus Fragments of Apocryphal Writings: How Were They Used?
Malcolm Choat, Macquarie University, Presiding
Geoff S. Smith, University of Texas at Austin: “Preliminary Report on the ‘Willoughby Papyrus’ of the Gospel of John and an Unidentified Christian Text”
Kelley Coblentz Bautch, St. Edward’s University: “The Textual History of the Greek Book of the Watchers: Contextual Clues from Translation and the Value of Variant Readings”
Ross P. Ponder, “University of Texas at Austin: A New Transcription of P. Oxy. 5072: Observations from a Recent Autopsy Analysis”
Thomas A. Wayment, Brigham Young University: “The Interaction between Apocrypha and Canon: A Case Study of Oxyrhynchus”
AnneMarie Luijendijk, Princeton University, Respondent
S23-211 Christian Apocrypha
11/23/2015 ~ 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 313 (Level 3) – Hilton
Theme: “Lived Contexts” of Christian Apocrypha
Eric Vanden Eykel, Ferrum College, Presiding
Alexander Kocar, Princeton University: “Saints, Sinners, and Apostates: Moral, Salvific, and Anthropological Difference in the Shepherd of Hermas and the Apocryphon of John”
Meghan Henning, University of Dayton: “Substitutes in Hell: Schemes of Atonement in the Ezra Apocalypses”
Andrew Mark Henry, Boston University: “Apotropaic Autographs: Evaluating the Epigraphical and Magical Tradition of the Abgar Correspondence ”
Mark Glen Bilby, Claremont School of Theology: “Holy Places, Holy Fragrances: The Narrative of Joseph of Arimathea as Sensory Pilgrimage Map”
Tony Burke, York University, Respondent
S21-315 Christian Apocrypha
11/21/2015 ~ 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: 305 (Level 3) – Hilton
Theme: The Monastic Production and Use of Christian Apocrypha
Brent Landau, University of Texas at Austin, Presiding
Christoph Markschies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin: “What Do We Know About the ‘Sitz im Leben’ of Ancient Christian Apocalypses?”
Hugo Lundhaug, Universitetet i Oslo: “The Nag Hammadi Texts as Monastic Literature”
Geoffrey Smith, University of Texas at Austin: “A Body Pure and Innocent: Anthropology and Anti-Origenism in the Sentences of Sextus (NHC XII,1)“
Brad F. King, University of Texas at Austin: “The Garden a Prison: Sex, Gender, and Power in Eden”
Business Meeting (25 min)
S24-111 Christian Apocrypha
11/24/2015 ~ 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: International 4 (International Level) – Marriott
Theme: Ancient Texts, New Questions: New Directions in Christian Apocrypha Studies
Lily Vuong, Central Washington University, Presiding
Bradley Rice, McGill University: “Collecting Christian Apocrypha in Eastern Europe”
Jörg Röder, Universität Basel: “Miracle Stories in the Acts of Pilate”
Cambry Pardee, Loyola University Chicago: “The Levi Defender Tradition: From Joseph and Aseneth to the Gospel of Mary”
Justin M. Glessner, DePauw University: “Joseph of Nazareth in the Protevangelium of James”
Other sessions and papers of interest:
S21-235 Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism
11/21/2015 ~ 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 301 (Level 3) – Hilton
Theme: Coptic Gnostic Magic, Coptic Gnostic Texts
Geoffrey Smith, University of Texas at Austin, Presiding
Review and Discussion of Malcolm Choat and Iain Gardner, A Coptic Handbook of Ritual Power (Brepols, 2013).
Panelists: David Frankfurter, Boston University; Lance Jenott, Universitetet i Oslo; Malcolm Choat, Macquarie University
Eric Crégheur, Université Laval: “The Biblical Citations of the “Untitled Text” of the Bruce Codex”
Kristine Toft Rosland, Universitetet i Oslo: “The Savior Interprets Moses: The Use of Old and New Testament in the Apocryphon of John”
Lance Jenott, Universitetet i Oslo: “Two Versions of the Letter of Peter to Philip (NHC VIII,2 and CT,1)”
S22-216 Extent of Theological Diversity in Earliest Christianity
11/22/2015 ~ 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: A706 (Atrium Level) – Marriott
Theme: Orthodoxy and Heresy Reconsidered
A panel and group discussion of two books relevant to the interests of this group: Robert M. Royalty, The Origin of Heresy: A History of Discourse in Second Temple Judaism and Early Christianity (Routledge, 2012) and Paul Hartog, ed. Orthodoxy and Heresy in Early Christian Contexts: Reconsidering the Bauer Thesis (Wipf & Stock, 2015).
James Ware, University of Evansville, Presiding
Panelists: Robert Royalty, Wabash College; Paul Hartog, Faith Baptist Theological Seminary; Respondents: Judith Lieu, University of Cambridge; Jeffrey Peterson, Austin Graduate School Of Theology; Greg Carey, Lancaster Theological Seminary
S22-330 Maria, Mariamne, Miriam: Rediscovering the Marys
11/22/2015 ~ 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: 212 (Level 2) – Hilton
Theme: Which Mary Revisited
Holly Hearon, Christian Theological Seminary, Presiding
Anna Cwikla, University of Toronto: “Magdalene, Mother, Martha’s Sister, or None of the Above? The Mary in the Dialogue of the Savior”
Kara J. Lyons-Pardue, Point Loma Nazarene University: “Two Mary Magdalenes: Eusebius and the Questionable Reliability of Gospels’ Female Witnesses”
Judith Hartenstein, Universität Koblenz – Landau: “Why Mary? The Gospel of Mary and Its Heroine”
Mary Stromer Hanson, Denver Seminary: “Mary of Bethany: Her Leadership Uncovered”
Mary Ann Beavis, St. Thomas More College: “From Holy Grail to The Lost Gospel: Margaret Starbird and the Mary Magdalene Romance”
S22-131 ~ Maria, Mariamne, Miriam: Rediscovering the Marys
11/22/2015 ~ 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM; Room: 202 (Level 2) – Hilton
Ally Kateusz, University of Missouri – Kansas City: “Dormition Urtext? Earliest Dormition Wall Painting Combines the Great Angel and Women with Censers”
S23-322 Function of Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphal Writings in Early Judaism and Early Christianity
11/23/2015 ~ 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Kennesaw (Atlanta Conference Level) – Hyatt
Ken Olson, Duke University: “The Anti-Canonical Gospel of Thomas”
Shaily Shashikant Patel, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: “Vanishing Magic: Corrective Discourses of the Supernatural in the ‘Acts of Peter’”
Amy Marie Fisher, University of Toronto: “Mythic Cartography: The Righteous Loci of the Latin Apocalypse of Paul”
John Rogers, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York: “The Fight Against the Inner Person: Soteriology, Suffering, and The Letter of Peter to Philip”
Bill Warren, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Allyson Presswood Nance, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Katie Unsworth, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary: “Canon and Scripture Development in light of the Infancy Gospels”
S23-217 Function of Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphal Writings in Early Judaism and Early Christianity
11/23/2015 ~ 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM; Room: 204 (Level 2) – Hilton
Ted M. Erho, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München: “De facto Canonicity in Ethiopia”
D. Jeffrey Bingham, Wheaton College (Illinois): “Conceptions of Scripture in the Second Century: Irenaeus and Non-Canonical Christian Texts”
S23-331 Inventing Christianity: Apostolic Fathers, Apologists, and Martyrs
11/23/2015 ~4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: International 5 (International Level) – Marriott
Theme: The Acts of Paul and the Reception of the Pauline Tradition
Stephanie Cobb, University of Richmond, Presiding
Benjamin L. White, Clemson University: “Tertullian on the Author of the Acts of Paul: Paul’s Reputational Entrepreneurs at the Turn of the Third Century”
Richard Pervo, Saint Paul, Minnesota: “From the Lion’s Mouth (2 Tim 4:17): Paul Plays Defense”
Diane Lipsett, Salem College: “Household Piety in the Acts of Paul”
Glenn E. Snyder, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis: “Acts of Paul in the ‘We’ Materials of Acts”
S24-121 Formation of Luke and Acts
Joint Session With: New Testament Textual Criticism
11/24/2015 ~ 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Courtland (Atlanta Conference Level) – Hyatt
This session with the Formation of Luke and Acts Section addresses Marcion’s Evangelion, the “Western Non-Interpolations,” and the transmission of Luke.
Patricia Walters, Rockford University, Presiding
Dieter Roth, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz: “Marcion’s Gospel: Reconstructions and Their Implications”
Jason BeDuhn, Northern Arizona University: “Marcion’s Evangelion and the Two Source Hypothesis”
Ronald van der Bergh, University of Pretoria: “Marcion’s Legacy and the Old Testament Quotations in Codex Bezae’s Luke”
Judith Lieu, University of Cambridge: “Marcion’s Gospel and the Question of Theological Tendency”
Markus Vinzent, King’s College – London, Respondent
S21-138 Q
11/21/2015 ~ 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM; Room: M104 (Marquis Level) – Marriott
Michael T. Zeddies, Chicago, IL: “Evidence for Q from the Gospel of Peter”
S21-242 Rhetoric and the New Testament; Speech and Talk in the Ancient Mediterranean World
11/21/2015 ~ 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM; Room: 214 (Level 2) – Hilton
David P. Griffin, University of Virginia: “Like Sees Like: Platonic Theories of Vision and Jesus’ Polymorphic Body in Early Christianity”
S21-243 Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity
11/21/2015 ~ 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM; Room: Vinings (Atlanta Conference Level) – Hyatt
Stanley Jones, California State University – Long Beach: “The ‘Land’ in the Syriac and Latin Translations of Pseudo-Clementine Recognition 1.27-71”
S21-318 Early Jewish Christian Relations
11/21/2015 ~ 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM; Room: International A (International Level) – Marriott
Petri Luomanen, University of Helsinki: “Judaism, anti-Judaism, and anti-Judeanism in Apocryphal Accounts of Jesus’ Passion”
S22-105 Ancient Fiction and Early Christian and Jewish Narrative
11/22/2015 ~ 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM; Room: Inman (Atlanta Conference Level) – Hyatt
Patricia Duncan, Texas Christian University: “The Epistolary Narrative Preface of the Pseudo-Clementine ‘Homilies’”
Meira Z. Kensky, Coe College: “Timothy in Ephesus? First Timothy, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Acts of Timothy Reconsidered”
S22-204 Ancient Fiction and Early Christian and Jewish Narrative
11/22/2015 ~ 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM; Room: 214 (Level 2) – Hilton
Matt Baldwin, Mars Hill University: “Alienation and Exile in the Ascension of Isaiah”
Jason S. Sturdevant, North Carolina State University: “Going Places? Itineraries in the Apocryphal Acts”
Jennifer A. Glancy, Le Moyne College: “Alienated Identity in Acts of Thomas”
S22-219Greco-Roman Religions; Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions
11/22/2015 ~ 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM; Room: Kennesaw (Atlanta Conference Level) – Hyatt
David W. Jorgensen, Colby College: “Methodological Approaches to Orthodoxy and Heresy in Recent Scholarship”
S22-226 Jewish Christianity / Christian Judaism
11/22/2015 ~ 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM; Room: 202 (Level 2) – Hilton
Brent Landau, University of Texas at Austin: “The Epistle of James to Quadratus: An Apocryphon with Jewish-Christian Traditions?”
S22-344 Texts and Traditions in the Second Century
11/22/2015 ~ 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM; Room: Techwood (Atlanta Conference Level) – Hyatt
Ben Edsall, Australian Catholic University: “(Not) Baptizing Thecla: Early Interpretive Efforts on 1 Cor 1:17”
Ben C. Blackwell, Houston Baptist University: “Paul and Rome: The Thematic Relationship between the Acts of Paul and Luke’s Acts Reconsidered”
S23-332 Jewish-Christian Dialogue and Sacred Texts
11/23/2015 ~ 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM; Room: 202 (Level 2) – Hilton
Michael Meerson, Princeton University: “Illegitimate Jesus: Family Matters with Toledot Yeshu”