Month: November 2012

This is the first of two posts reporting on the sessions on the Christian Apocrypha from the 2012 SBL Annual Meeting. Before I get to the papers, however, I just want to mention several books on the CA that I picked up at the conference.

David L. Eastman. Paul the Martyr: The Cult of the Apostle in the Latin West (SBL 2011). David is one of the contributors to the More Christian Apocrypha volumes. I have yet to look at the book closely, but it draws upon apocryphal Pauline texts, including some of the lesser known late "acts" literature (e.g., the Acts of Paul and Peter). 

François Bovon and Christopher R. Matthews. The Acts of Philip: A New Translation (Baylor 2012). This first complete English translation of the Acts of Philip is long overdue. Bovon provides a brief introduction, discussing the new manuscripts used for the edition (published as CCSA 11), and the two contribute the translation. There are few notes and no commentary.

Christoph Markschies and Jens Schröter. Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung (Mohr Siebeck, 2012). I was very happy to be able to pick this up from SBL (rather than ordering it online) and at a pretty decent price ($102 US for the two-part first

The 2012 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature is only days away; so, it is about time that I got around to posting the schedule for the Christian Apocrypha sessions. I will be attending all of the sessions and will post a summary when I return.

Saturday Nov. 17

(S17-108) 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM

Room: N138 – McCormick Place

Theme: New Manuscripts, Texts, and Translations

Brent Landau, University of Oklahoma, Presiding

Richard I. Pervo, St. Paul, MN : “Thecla Wove This Web Or Some Things I Learned from Attempting to Write a Commentary on the Acts of Paul” (20 min) Discussion (10 min)

Susan E. Hylen, Vanderbilt University: "The Orthodox Thecla: Characterization of Thecla in the LIfe and Miracles of Saint Thecla" (20 min) Discussion (10 min)

Antti Marjanen, University of Helsinki: "Two New Coptic Fragments of the Apocalypse of Paul (Visio Pauli)" (20 min) Discussion (10 min)

Gesine Schenke Robinson, Episcopal Theological School at Claremont: "The Coptic Testament of Job and its Reception in the Early Christian Period" (20 min) Discussion (10 min)”

(S17-211) 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM

Room: E261 – McCormick Place

Theme: The infancy roots of Mary's first biographies

Pierluigi Piovanelli, Université d'Ottawa – University of Ottawa, Presiding

M. David Litwa, University of Virginia: "Jesus, Hermes and Dionysus: The Divine Child in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas" (20 min) Discussion (10 min)

James Waddell, University of Toledo: "Recontextualizing the Infancy Gospel of Thomas – A Proposal" (20 min) …