2013 Society of Biblical Literature Christian Apocrypha Papers

Here is a quick rundown of the sessions and papers focusing on the Christian Apocrypha. See you in Baltimore.

November 23

S23-106: Art and Religions of Antiquity (9-11:30am)

Zsuzsanna Gulacsi, Northern Arizona University, "The Crystal Seal of 'Mani, the Apostle of Jesus Christ’ in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France"

Michael Peppard, Fordham University, "Annunciation at the Well-Spring: An Analysis of Type"

S23-125:Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism (9-11:30am)
Joint Session With: Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism, Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds
Theme: Scribes and Readers of the Nag Hammadi Codices in Fourth- and Fifth-Century Egypt

Eduard Iricinschi, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, "'Do Not Think It Is as Moses Said' (NH II,1,13): Domesticating the Secret Book of John in Nag Hammadi Codices II, III, IV, and Berlin Gnostic Code"

Julio Cesar Chaves, Université Laval, "Scribal Intervention in Nag Hammadi Codex V’s Titles"

Eric Crégheur, Université Laval, "The 'Pistis Sophia': A Status Quæstionis"

Lance Jenott, Universitetet i Oslo, "Readers’ Aids and Other Scribal Practices in Codex Tchacos"

Hugo Lundhaug, Universitetet i Oslo, "Scribal Culture and Paratextual Features in the Nag Hammadi and Dishna Codices"

S23-209: Children in the Biblical World (1-3:30pm)
Theme: Children in Gospels, Especially the Infancy Gospel of Thomas

Justin King, Baylor University, "Not-Quite-As-Early Narrative Christology of the Pre-Existent Lord, Creator, Teacher, Son of God, and Savior in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas"

Sharon Betsworth, Oklahoma City University, "Where Have All the Young Girls Gone? The Infancy Gospel of Thomas and Girls"

Reidar Aasgaard, Universitetet i Oslo, "Challenges in Writing a Commentary on the Infancy Gospel of Thomas."

S23-229:Mind, Society, and Religion in the Biblical World (1-3:30pm)

Lung Pun Common Chan, Chinese University of Hong Kong, "Explaining Coptic Christianity with Sørensen’s Cognitive Theory of Magic: The Gospel of the Egyptians and other Coptic Texts as Test Cases"

Vojtech Kase, Masarykova Univerzita, "Did Early Christians Believe in Their Miracle Stories? The Case of Speaking Animals in the Apocryphal Acts of Apostles"

S23-230:Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism (1-3:30pm)
Theme: From Valentinus to Plotinus

Tuomas Rasimus, University of Helsinki & Université Laval, "John, Genesis, and the “Trinity” in the Apocryphon of John"

Tilde Bak Halvgaard, Københavns Universitet, "Linguistic Manifestations of Divine Thought"

John D. Turner, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, "Plotinus and the Gnostics: The Valentinian Contribution"

Uta Heil, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, "Tertullian and the Poisonous Critics of Martyrdom"

Ulla Tervahauta, University of Helsinki, "The Soul Terminology of Authoritative Teaching: Why Is It Unusual?"

S23-231:Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds (1-3pm)

Todd Brewer, Durham University, "Reading Thomas Backwards: From Nag Hammadi to Oxyrhynchus and Beyond"

S23-240:Speech and Talk: Discourses and Social Practices in the Ancient Mediterranean World (1-3:30pm)

Janet Spittler, Texas Christian University, "Talking Animals in the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles"

Dylan Burns, Københavns Universitet, "Voces Magicae, Barbarian Speech, and Verbal 'Theurgy' in the Sethian Gnostic Apocalypses"

S23-316:Esotericism and Mysticism in Antiquity (4-6:30pm)

M. David Litwa, University of Virginia, "The Gospel of Gemination: Deification in the Gospel of Thomas"

Catherine Playoust, Melbourne College of Divinity, "The Gift of the Twelve Magi: Hidden Treasures in the Cave in the 'Revelation of the Magi'"

November 24

S24-117: Function of Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphal Writings in Early Judaism and Early Christianity (9-11:30am)

Ashley Bacchi, Graduate Theological Union, "The Cries of Children in the Afterlife"

S24-140:Rhetoric and the New Testament (9-11:30am)

Thomas J. Whitley, Florida State University, "Docetism, Gnosis, and Laughter: The Rhetorical Reception of the Passion Narrative at Nag Hammadi"

S24-207: Art and Religions of Antiquity (1-3:30pm)

Catherine C. Taylor, Brigham Young University, "Pious Emblems: The Annunciation Pilgrim Token and Early Evidence for Marian Devotion"

S24-218:Development of Early Christian Theology (1-3:30pm)

Jeffrey Bingham, Wheaton College, "John’s Apocalypse and Early Theology: Irenaeus and Some Nag Hammadi Texts"

S24-307a Christian Apocrypha (4-6:30pm)
Theme: New Perspectives on Christian Apocryphal Literature

John R. Markley, Liberty University, “'But the Story of the Infant Was Spread Abroad in Bethlehem': The Relationship between Mart. Ascen. Isa. 11:2-15 and Mark’s Gospel"

Eric Vanden Eykel, Marquette University, "A Virgin Shall Spin and Bear a Son: Reconsidering the Significance of Mary’s Work in the Protevangelium Jacobi"

Cambry G. Pardee, Loyola University Chicago, "Speeches in the Apocryphal Acts of Peter"

Catherine Playoust, Melbourne College of Divinity, “'It Was I Who Was Revealed to You in Your Land' (RevMagi 19:4): The Journeys of an Omnipresent Being"

Debra Bucher, Vassar College, "Baptisms and Vegetable Eucharists in the Acts of Philip 5–7"

Phillip Fackler, University of Pennsylvania, "Jews, Israel, and Adherence to Jesus in the Gospel of Nicodemus"

Michael T. Zeddies, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, "Is 'To Theodore' a Letter by Origen?"

S24-309 Construction of Christian Identities (4-6:30pm)
Joint Session With: Construction of Christian Identities, Jewish Christianity / Christian Judaism
Theme: Jewish Christian Locales and Identities

Edwin K. Broadhead, Berea College, "Tels and Tales: Challenges for Mapping Jewish Christianity"

Simon Claude Mimouni, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, "The Ebionites, Nazarenes, and Elchasaites Villages according to the Heresiologists of the Great Church"

Matt Jackson-McCabe, Cleveland State University, "Ebionites, Nazoraeans, and the Problem of Self-Understanding"

Tobias Nicklas, Universität Regensburg and Meghan Henning, Emory University, "Jewish, Christian, or What? Matters of Self-Designation in the Ascension of Isaiah"

S24-320:Jesus Traditions, Gospels, and Negotiating the Roman Imperial World (4-6:30pm)

Erin Galgay Walsh, Duke University, "The Protevangelium of James and the Construction of Identity within Greco-Roman Literary Tradition"

November 25

S25-105: Ancient Fiction and Early Christian and Jewish Narrative (9-11:30am)

F. Stanley Jones, California State University – Long Beach, "Travesty in the Klementia"

Judith Perkins, University of Saint Joseph, "Language and Community in the Aithiopika and the Acts of Thomas"

S25-131a:Manuscripts from Eastern Christian Traditions (9-11am)

Timothy B. Sailors, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, "The Ancient 'Acts of Peter' in Oriental Christian Witnesses"

S25-139: Q (9-11:30am)
Theme: Traces of Q in Early Christianity: The Q+/Papias Hypothesis by Dennis R. MacDonald, “Two Shipwrecked Gospels” (Atlanta: SBL, 2012)

Dennis R. MacDonald, Claremont School of Theology, "The Q+/Papias Hypothesis and the Distribution of the Lost Gospel"

Michael Kok, University of Sheffield and James Crossley, University of Sheffield, "Papias and Matthew's Logia: A Reference to Canonical Matthew, Q, or Another Lost Writing?"

Ekaputra Tupamahu, Vanderbilt University, "Q and a Possible Meaning of Matt 7:6"

Christoph Heil, Karl-Franzens Universität Graz, "Q, Papias, and Luke: A Critical Review of Dennis MacDonald’s 'Q+/Papias Hypothesis'"

Giovanni B. Bazzana, Harvard University, "How a Gospel Shipwrecked into a Shipwreck? Q and the Pseudo-Clementine Grundschrift"

S25-223:Jewish Christianity / Christian Judaism (1-3:30pm)

Robert D. Heaton, Anderson University, "The Presumed Adoptionist Christology of the Ebionites: Where’s the Patristic Evidence?"

Tammie R. Wanta, University of Pennsylvania, "The First Man in the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies"

S25-226: Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism (1-3:30pm)
Theme: Teaching Gnosticism // Saying 7 in the Gospel of Thomas

Teaching Gnosticism with a Review of Introduction to "Gnosticism": Ancient Voices, Christian Worlds (Oxford University Press, 2012) by Nicola Denzey Lewis Panelists: Nicola Denzey Lewis, Brown University; Birger Pearson, University of California-Santa Barbara; Harlow Snyder, Davidson College; Antti Marjanen, Helsingin Yliopisto – Helsingfors Universitet/. Nicola Denzey Lewis, Brown University, Respondent.

Seth Clark, Claremont Graduate University, "Eat or Be Eaten: Viewing Gospel of Thomas Logion 7 in the Context of Transformation and Asceticism"

Ivan Miroshnikov, University of Helsinki, "The Platonic Background of Thomas 7"

S25-235: Religious Competition in Late Antiquity (1-3:30pm)

Travis W. Proctor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, "John, ‘Apostle to the Gentiles’?: Religious Competition and the (De-)Construction of Apostolic Lineages in the Acts of John"
Kevin McGinnis, Claremont Graduate University, Respondent