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Archive for the ‘St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies’ Category


Sacred Texts in Their Social-Political Contexts – The 2013 St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies

In Candida R. MOSS, Loren STUCKENBRUCK, Matthew NOVENSON, Nathan MACDONALD, St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies on February 12, 2013 at 11:19 am

7-11 July 2013

This year’s conference is included within the International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, and will explore the (theo)political visions of authoritative/sacred texts in their historical contexts. It is aimed at graduate students and early career scholars, welcoming contributors from the following fields of research: Old Testament / Hebrew Bible, Pseudepigrapha & Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, and Early Christianity.

We are glad to have with us the following plenary speakers, leading the four sections respectively:

  • Nathan MacDonald (Cambridge)
  • Loren Stuckenbruck (München)
  • Matthew Novenson (Edinburgh)
  • Candida Moss (Notre Dame)

We are welcoming 250-word abstracts via email at db47@st-andrews.ac.uk by the 1st of March. Non-SBL members are welcomed.

Topics will include (but will not be limited to), sacred texts and:

  • Resistance to hegemony/imperial ideology
  • Negotiating power relations
  • The theopolitical imagination
  • The formation of political communities
  • ‘Apocalyptic’ texts and political theology.

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Manuscripts and their Texts: Perspectives on Textual Criticism – The 2012 St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies

In Call for papers, Grant MACASKILL, Johannes MAGLIANO-TROMP, Karla POLLMANN, Kristin De TROYER, Peter M. HEAD, St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies, Textual Criticism on March 1, 2012 at 9:10 pm

8-9 June 2012, St Mary’s College

The 2nd St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies is aimed at graduate students and early career scholars. Contributors are welcomed from the following fields of research: Old Testament / Hebrew Bible, Pseudepigrapha & Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, and Early Christianity.

We are glad to have with us the following plenary speakers:

  • Prof. Kristin De Troyer (St Andrews)
  • Dr. Johannes Magliano-Tromp (Leiden)
  • Dr. Peter M. Head (Cambridge)
  • Prof. Karla Pollmann (St Andrews),

In addition, we will also have a special invited lecture from Dr. Grant Macaskill (St Andrews), on his edition of the Slavonic text of 2 Enoch.

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Mark W. Elliott, “The promise and threat of Reception, with reference to patristic interpretation of texts in Hebrews and Ephesians”

In Ephesians, Hebrews, Justin A. Mihoc, Mark W. ELLIOTT, New Testament, Patristics, Reception history, St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies on January 22, 2012 at 5:28 pm

This is a report on a paper presented by Dr Mark Elliott as a keynote address at the 1st St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies, 16th June 2011. The conference theme was “Authoritative Texts and Reception History”. The programme of the conference is available here. The conference facebook page can be found here.

Dr Elliott’s engaging paper offered a fresh and clear account of patristic reception analysis, by looking at two key New Testament texts and their interpretation over the first Christian centuries. In his view, the empirical application, rather than a purely linguistic-critical interpretation, does justice to the initial intention of the biblical authors.

He began by assessing the importance of the historical-critical studies of the Bible, as they can provide a fresh interpretation. Read the rest of this entry »


N. T. Wright, “Scripture and God’s Authority: Case Studies and Further Questions”

In N. T. WRIGHT, Rebekah Devine, SEMINAR REPORTS, St Andrews, St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies on September 28, 2011 at 9:54 pm

This is a report on a paper presented by Prof N. T. Wright as a keynote address at the 1st St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies, 15 June 2011. The conference theme was “Authoritative Texts and Reception History”. The programme of the conference is available here.

The conference facebook page is here. This blog’s facebook page is here.

Wright’s paper addresses what he views as the most contested and problematic moment in reception history:  “The moment when those first-century Jews who believed that Jesus of Nazareth was Israel’s Messiah and the world’s Lord began to re-read their scriptures with this belief as the controlling filter.”  The paper is a re-presentation of the main issues examined in Wright’s book, Scripture and God’s Authority.  As is suggested by the title, Wright emphasizes that the authority of scripture is not in the text itself; rather, the authority of God is somehow mediated through the text.  Read the rest of this entry »