York Christian Apocrypha Symposium Series: Secret Mark

January 30, 2011 by Tony

Phil Harland (also of York University and an avid blogger himself) and I have been working over the past several months to plan a one-day conference on the Secret Gospel of Mark. This is intended in the first of a series of symposia on various apocryphal texts, though highlighting the work of North American scholars. All of the funding is in place so we can now make a formal announcement of the event. For information, see the page on my main site (HERE). Registration is very inexpensive (and free if you're a student) and the evening public debate is also free-of-charge. We hope to see a lot of people come out for the event so that we can continue the series for future years.

The Ehrman Project

January 28, 2011 by Tony

Those interested in the work of Bart Ehrman (either supporters or detractors) may find interesting a new site called The Ehrman Project. The site describes itself as:

As a scholar, professor, and author, Dr. Bart Ehrman has undeniable influence over students and much of the American public. Yet there are equally qualified scholars who deal with the same issues and come to very different conclusions than Dr. Ehrman. The Ehrman Project is a website dedicated to engaging the ideas that Dr. Ehrman is famously expounding in the complex and nuanced realm of Biblical scholarship. It is not intended to answer all of Dr. Ehrman's claims nor answer the ones it does completely. Rather it is intended to give small snapshots that will potentially motivate viewers to research more information on the particular topic.

After interacting with many students over the years, Miles O’Neill, a campus minister at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, began considering an online resource in response to Dr. Ehrman’s popular claims. Dustin Smith, a Religious Studies major of UNC-CH, enrolled in Dr. Ehrman’s New Testament course in the spring of 2009. Soon after, Mr. O’Neill and Mr. Smith started collaborating together on The Ehrman Project. With the help of numerous students, colleagues, professors, and friends, EhrmanProject.com was able to launch in early 2011.

I have only had a cursory look at it thus far, but found entertaining the videos by Ben Witherington (on the canon) and Dom Carson (on biblical inerrancy). Also featured …

New Coptic Jesus apocryphon

January 25, 2011 by Tony

Jim Davila at Paleojudaica drew my attention to this post about a soon-to-be published fragmentary Coptic apocryphon.

New Secret Mark articles in BAR

January 25, 2011 by Tony

Scott Brown and Peter Jeffery weigh in once again on the results of the handwriting analyses commissioned by Biblical Archaeology Review. See also Stephan Huller's interview with Agamemnon Tselikas, the paleographer who was also commissioned by BAR but whose report has yet to see publication.

CCSA 17: The Infancy Gospel of Thomas (Update)

January 16, 2011 by Tony

Well, the abstract of my forthcoming edition of the Greek tradition of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas is back up on the Brepols page (HERE). The proofing stage of the project has taken a considerable amount of time, thus delaying the publication by a year. But, good news: I will receive the final proofs imminently and Brepols wish to have the book out in March (yes, 2011).Which means I won't be getting much sleep in the next few weeks as I check over the text again and generate indices. I hope everyone has their 300 Euros ready for the purchase.