Reviews of

Author Archive


Augustine’s Text of John. Patristic Citations and Latin Gospel Manuscripts (ii)

In Augustine, Cornelia Linde, H. A. G. HOUGHTON, John, NT reception history, Oxford University Press, Textual Criticism on January 8, 2011 at 12:00 pm

2011.01.01 | H. A. G. Houghton. Augustine’s Text of John. Patristic Citations and Latin Gospel Manuscripts. Oxford: OUP, 2008. (13.8×21.6), 424 p. ISBN 978-0-19-954592-6. Hardback.

Reviewed by J. Cornelia Linde, University College London.

J. Cornelia Linde signs the second review presented in the review-session dedicated to Hugh Houghton’s Augustine’s Text of John at the International Medieval Congress, Leeds, July 2010, (session 1630).

The author’s response is available here. The other review is available here.

Thanks to Oxford University Press for the review copies.

Hugh Houghton’s Augustine’s Text of John was published by Oxford University Press in 2008. The book is set out to be a preparative study for the new edition of the Vetus Latina versions of the Gospel of John. Read the rest of this entry »


Markus Vinzent, “The Resurrection of Christ in Second Century, Early Christianity”

In Cambridge, Marcion, Markus VINZENT, New Testament, Nicki Wilkes, Q, Second century, SEMINAR REPORTS on January 2, 2011 at 8:04 am

This is a report on a paper presented by Professor Markus Vinzent, Professor of the History of Theology at King’s College London, at the Patristics Seminar at the Department of Theology and Religion, University of Cambridge, 29th of November 2010.

The programme of the Patristics Seminar in Cambridge will be published here.

Is Marcion ‘Q’ ?

In a recent fascinating and astoundingly controversial patristics seminar held at the University of Cambridge, Professor Markus Vinzent offered a précis of his soon to be published book: Christ’s Resurrection in Early Christianity. The focus of his presentation was the lack of attestation to the resurrection of Christ in early Christian literature between the time of Paul and Marcion. Read the rest of this entry »


Markus Bockmuehl, “Jewish and Christian Origins of Creatio ex Nihilo”

In Dan Batovici, DSS, Genesis, Markus BOCKMUEHL, SEMINAR REPORTS, St Andrews on December 19, 2010 at 10:23 pm

This is a report on a paper presented by Markus Bockmuehl, Professor of Biblical and Early Christian Studies and Fellow in Theology at Keble College, Oxford, in the Theology Research Seminar at the School of Divinity, St Mary’s College, University of St Andrews, 15 December 2010.

The full list of this term’s papers in this seminar is available here.

The article coming out of this paper has now been published. See here.

The starting point of this paper is that it does not hold the idea of creation as a self-evident truth: the notion that all that exists was created by a supreme God constitutes a great intellectual device; obvious to some, but obvious nonsense for others.

As opposed to the Greek philosophy, the Jews and later the Christians were convinced that believers in the God of Israel and readers of the Scriptures do not have the luxury of evacuating the divinity or God from the creation. Read the rest of this entry »


James Keith Elliott, “New Testament Textual Criticism: Recent Developments”

In Durham, James Keith ELLIOTT, Justin A. Mihoc, New Testament, SEMINAR REPORTS, Textual Criticism on December 13, 2010 at 11:48 pm

This is a report on a paper presented by Emeritus Professor Keith Elliott, formerly Professor of New Testament Textual Criticism at the University of Leeds, at the New Testament Research Seminar at the Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University, 6th of December 2010.

The list of forthcoming papers in the NT Research Seminars at Durham University can be found here.

Prof Elliott, one of the greatest authorities in modern textual criticism, conferenced on the new trends and developments in the area of biblical so called ‘lower criticism’ (being the discipline which reads and compares all manuscripts containing the literature written prior to the invention of printing, along with analysing their textual history). He proposed a presentation of the most important editions of Greek New Testaments and discussed the differences between them. Read the rest of this entry »

,

Romanian Septuagint Project, vol. 6/II: Iezekiel, Sousanna, Daniel, Bel and the Dragon

In Dan Batovici, Florica BECHET, Ioana COSTA, Polirom, Septuagint on November 9, 2010 at 4:18 pm

2010.11.07 | Septuaginta, vol. 6/II: Iezechiel, Suzana, Daniel, Bel și Balaurul, eds. C. Badiliță, F. Băltăceanu and M. Broșteanu with I.F. Florescu. Translation and notes by Florica Bechet and Ioana Costa. Bucharest / Iassy. NEC / Polirom, 2008. 565 p. ISBN 978-973-46-0886-7. Hardback.

Reviewed by Dan Batovici, University of St Andrews.

This is the pre-print version of the review published in Sacra Scripta 7.2 (2009), pp. 241-2. Read the rest of this entry »


Shane Berg, “Ben Sira, the Genesis Creation Accounts, and the Knowledge of God’s Will”

In Ben Sira, Durham, Genesis, Justin A. Mihoc, SEMINAR REPORTS, Shane BERG on November 5, 2010 at 4:40 pm

This is a report on a paper presented by Shane Berg, Assistant Professor in New Testament in the Department of Biblical Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, in the New Testament Research Seminar at the Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University, 25 Oct 2010.

The list of forthcoming papers in the NT Research Seminars at Durham University can be found here.

In his paper, Shane Berg presented an interesting view on religious epistemology by analysing Ben Sira’s reading of the Creation account in B S 16:24-17:17 and the possibility of Law obedience in 15:11-20, and by comparing them with the theme of the knowledge of the Torah as found in 4Q417 l i 16-18 and 1QHa VII, 12-14.

Following Greg Schmidt Goering’s view [see Goering’s Wisdom’s Root Revealed: Ben Sira and the Election of Israel, JSJ Sup 139, (Leiden: Brill, 2009)], Berg opines that Ben Sira’s unique approach to wisdom represents a departure from natural reaction to the wisdom theology, through linking wisdom to the Torah. Read the rest of this entry »


Richard Bauckham, “The ‘Individualism’ of the Gospel of John”

In John, Richard BAUCKHAM, SEMINAR REPORTS, St Andrews on November 4, 2010 at 7:09 pm

The paper in the title of this post was presented by Richard Bauckham, Professor Emeritus, University of St Andrews, in the Biblical Studies Seminar at the School of Divinity, St Mary’s College, University of St Andrews, 4th of November 2010.

The full list of this term’s papers in this particular seminar is available here.

A report on the same paper, previously red at this year’s British New Testament Conference in a main plenary session, is offered on the Postmodern Bible blog, and can be read here.

A schedule of papers offered by Richard Bauckham is available here.

Yep, and R. Bauckham’s books The MacBears of Bearloch and The MacBears and the Bishbirds are available here.

DB


Author’s Response to RBECS’ review on Solidarity and Difference: A Contemporary Reading of Paul’s Ethics

In Bloomsbury, David G. HORRELL, NT Ethics, Paul, Samuli Siikavirta on November 2, 2010 at 5:43 pm

2010.11.06 | David G. Horrell, Solidarity and Difference: A Contemporary Reading of Paul’s Ethics. London: T&T Clark, 2005. 360 pp. ISBN 0567083349. Hardback.

The RBECS review is available here.

I am grateful to Samuli Siikavirta for taking the time to engage at length with Solidarity and Difference and I hope that these few brief remarks by way of response may help not only to clarify issues but also, perhaps, to take discussion beyond where the book leaves off. Read the rest of this entry »


Andrew T. Lincoln, “Contested Paternity and Contested Readings: Jesus’ Conception in Matthew 1:18-25”

In Andrew T. LINCOLN, Dan Batovici, Matthew, SEMINAR REPORTS, St Andrews on October 30, 2010 at 1:22 am

This is a report on a paper presented by Andrew T. Lincoln, Portland Chair in New Testament Studies, University of Gloucestershire, in the Biblical Studies Seminar at the School of Divinity, St Mary’s College, University of St Andrews, 28 Oct 2010.

The article is now published in JSNT, here.

Andrew T. Lincoln’s paper revisited the arguments of two opposing readings of Matthew’s account of the conception of Jesus. The traditional view (exemplified in the paper by Brown, Davies/Allison, Luz) is to read in Mt 1:18-28 that Jesus’ conception is a virginal one, while the “revised” reading (Schaberg, Catchpole, Miller) sets out to argue that, at least in Matthew, a virginal conception is not necessarily implied.

Three indicators were presented in support of the traditional reading of the conception in Matthew: the conception by Holly Spirit in 1:18 and 20, the citation from LXX Isa. 7:14 in 1:23 where the παρθένος is mentioned, and, in 1:25, the lack of marital relations before Jesus’ birth. Jesus is then the “adopted” son of Joseph, and was conceived through the agency of the Holy Spirit. This happened not in a sexual manner, detail confirmed in 1:25 – no marital relations before the birth. Read the rest of this entry »


Shane Berg, ”Revelation and Anthropology in the Community Hymns of the Hodayot and in Romans”

In Cambridge, Hodayot, Paul, Romans, Samuli Siikavirta, SEMINAR REPORTS, Shane BERG on October 28, 2010 at 12:20 am

This is a report on a paper of Shane Berg, Assistant Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, presented in the Senior NT seminar at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, 26 Oct 2010.

The list of this term’s papers in this particular seminar is available here.

Shane Berg’s paper presented the interesting hypothesis that the anthropology and religious epistemology of the community hymns of the Qumran Hodayot (thanksgiving hymns) have similarities with those of Romans. Berg argued that both the Hodayot and Romans assert universal human sinfulness in light of the creation and Fall narratives of Genesis on the one hand and the remedying agency of the Spirit on the other.

Amongst other Qumran texts, the paper mentioned 1QHa 9:10-18; 6:13; 20:11-12 and 7:12-14 as examples of community hymns with universal sinfulness in their anthropology. They depict human existence in a negative fashion, emphasising human sinfulness, ignorance and frail and inadequate cognition to come to God’s will. Men are composed of dust and cannot know God – and idea that has its Biblical background in Gen. 2-3 (cf. Job 10:9; 4:19; 34:15; Ecclesiastes 3:20; 12:7; Ps 103:14; 104:29). Read the rest of this entry »