Book Review Panel:
Paul's Three Paths to Salvation
(Online)
DATE: 30 September 2021
TIME: 3-5 pm EDT/New York
What did Paul, as an apocalyptic Jew and follower of Jesus, think about the concept of Salvation? Paul did not convert nor break with his inherited traditions but was part of the lively diversity of Second Temple Judaism. Boccaccini’s Paul's Three Paths to Salvation (Eerdmans, 2020) is an attempt to reconcile the many facets of Paul’s complex Jewish identity while reclaiming him from accusations of intolerance. Boccaccini’s work in reestablishing Paul as a messenger of God’s mercy to sinners is an important contribution to the ongoing conversation about Paul’s place in the contemporary pluralistic world.
PANELISTS:
Lisa Bowens, Princeton Theological Seminary
Isaac Oliver, Bradley University
Matthew Novenson, University of Edinburgh
Cecilia Wassen, Uppsala University
Emma Wasserman, Rutgers University
With an introduction by Gabriele Boccaccini, The University of Michigan
For more information, contact the event secretary, Joshua Scott.
Conference on Christianity and Science Fiction
The Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies (MCECS), in partnership with the Department of Middle East Studies at the University of Michigan, will host a four-day virtual conference (11-12 October 2021) exploring the symbiotic relationship between Christianity and Science Fiction. The meeting is chaired by James McGrath, Deborah Forger, Joshua Scott, Gabriele Boccaccini, and Jason von Ehrenkrook.
The keynote speaker for this event is author Maurice Broaddus, whose novels include the urban fantasy trilogy, The Knights of Breton Court, the steampunk novel, Pimp My Airship, and the middle grade detective novel series, The Usual Suspects. Other speakers include Rudy Busto (University of California, Santa Barbara), Maria Doerfler (Yale University), Jason Eberl (St. Louis University), Juli Gittinger (Georgia College and State University), Amanda MacInnis Hackney (University of Toronto), Paul Levinson (Fordham University), Laura Lieber (Duke University), Gavin McDowell (PhD École Pratique des Hautes Études), Gabriel McKee (New York University), Kelly Jean Murphy (Central Michigan University), Roger Sneed (Furman University).
For more information, including presentation titles and speaker bios, see the conference webpage. To register for this event, click this weblink.
Was Paul an Apocalyptic Jew?
Chairs: Gabriele Boccaccini; Lisa Bowens; Emma Wasserman; Loren Stuckenbruck
Dates: 25-27 October 2021
Location: Online
Paul of Tarsus was born, lived and died a Jew. Raised as a Pharisee, he then joined the early Jesus movement, a first-century Jewish apocalyptic and messianic group. Paul became one of the most vocal leaders of the new movement and promoted its expansion among the gentiles. The conference, organized by the Enoch Seminar and the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies, aims to move Pauline research to a further stage, beyond reclaiming Paul to Second Temple Judaism and proving that “he was not Lutheran.” By taking Paul’s Jewishness as a shared starting point, the conference explores the figure of Paul within Second Temple Judaism in a line of continuity with the Jewish apocalyptic tradition (and the Enochic tradition in particular), not as an apostate of Judaism but as part of the vibrant Jewish diversity of the time.
In the style of the Enoch Seminar Colloquia, the conference will not be aimed at a general audience, but will instead bring together a group of selected specialists. It will be a workshop with discussion sessions introduced by oral presentations by specialists, more than a series of papers. The goal is to gather all major specialists working in the field and have plenty of time for discussion.
See the conference webpage for a tentative schedule of workshops. For more information, email the conference secretary, Joshua Scott.
*Image: The Conversion of St. Paul, Luca Giordano (1690)
Colloquium: Luke and Acts with(in)
Second Temple Judaism
Chairs: Gabriele Boccaccini and Isaac Oliver
Dates: 19 November 2021
Location: SBL Meeting in San Antonio, TX
The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are nearly always attributed to a single gentile author writing for a gentile audience. Many studies thus concentrate on how Luke and Acts as gentile Christian texts relate to Hellenistic culture or the Roman Empire. Attention to Luke and/or Acts in relation to Judaism is often limited and tends to focus on either the author’s familiarity with Jewish scripture and tradition or the author’s perspective on Torah obedience for gentile followers of Jesus. Even then, scholars assume that “Luke,” as one of the first writers to designate Jesus’ followers as “Christian” (Acts 11:26; 26:28), situates Christianity outside of Judaism. This Enoch Seminar colloquium will interact with recent publications of scholars who situate Luke/-Acts squarely with(in) Judaism. Papers by the authors will be distributed beforehand to invited respondents who will share their remarks during the panel, which will then be followed by open discussion.
Studies in Second Temple Judaism:
A Global Enterprise
Chairs: Kelley Coblentz Bautch, Gabriele Boccaccini, Rodney Caruthers, and Shayna Sheinfeld Dates: 10-13 January 2022 Secretary: Joshua Scott Location: Online
The study of Second Temple Jewish history, practice and belief is a global enterprise. The Frankel Institute for Advanced Studies and the Enoch Seminar have invited 44 scholars from across the globe to present their work and engage in a conversation about the present status and the future prospects of the field. Specialists and students in Biblical Studies, Judaic Studies, Classics, and Christian Origins are invited to attend.
Present and Future Perspectives on the Study of Second Temple Judaism in Ibero-America
Chairs: Gabriele Boccaccini, Magdalena Díaz Araujo, Paulo Augusto de Souza Nogueira, César Carbullanca, and Vicente Dobroruka Dates: 31 January - 3 February 2022 Language: Spanish/Portuguese Location: Online
This international congress proposes to bring together forty scholars from Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, as well as researchers from those countries residing in North America, to address present and future perspectives on the study of Second Temple Judaism.
The study of the history, practices, and beliefs of Second Temple Judaism constitutes a vast field of research in Ibero-America. Under the auspices of the Enoch Seminar, the Pontificia Universidade Católica de Campinas, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and the Universidad Nacional de La Rioja, this seminar will bring together leading scholars to share their work and participate in a conversation about the present and future prospects of the field. Specialists in Biblical Studies, Judaic Studies, Classics Studies, and early Christianism have been invited to attend.
From the different approaches and themes (historical, critical-philological, literary, theological, gender perspectives, semiotics, reception in art and popular culture, apocalyptic and apocalypticism, mysticism, among others), various textual fields can be approached: Old and New Testament, Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, Old and New Testament Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha, Dead Sea Scrolls, Targumim, Rabbinic Literature, Nag Hammadi Texts, Classical Literature, Hellenistic and Roman authors, among other diverse sources linked to Second Temple Judaism.
More information, including how to register for this event, will be forthcoming on the conference webpage.
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