2016 CSBS/CSPS More New Testament Apocrypha Panel (Part 2)

June 12, 2016 by Tony

Part 2 of my report on the More New Testament Apocrypha book review panel. See part 1 HERE.

I divided my response to the panelists into three sections: the origins of the project (why more apocrypha?), the decisions behind selecting the volume’s contents (which more apocrypha?), and issues around defining “Christian Apocrypha” and other issues of categorization (what more apocrypha?). The MNTA project began at a gathering of North American Christian Apocrypha scholars in Ottawa in 2006. Jim Davila and Richard Bauckham’s MOTP series was still in its planning stages (Jim discussed the series at the event) and the group were thinking about a project that could represent the work of North American scholars. The idea of a project similar to Davila’s focusing on Christian texts was brought up but not pursued until 2010 when I considered taking it on myself. I asked Brent Landau of the University of Texas to partner with me on the project so that we could have leadership from both Canada and the U.S. Canadians are ever-vigilant about being overshadowed by our neighbours to the south, and while there are far fewer Christian Apocrypha scholars in Canada than the U.S., we ended up with a split of 5 Canadian, 17 American, and 5 international contributors (and more Canadians are involved in vol. 2 including panelists Tim Pettipiece and Robert Kitchen).

As noted by the panelists MNTA is modeled chiefly on Davila and Bauckham’s MOTP volume—i.e., they supplement Charlesworth’s Old Testament Pseudepigrapha compendia, imitating even …

2016 CSBS/CSPS More New Testament Apocrypha Panel (Part 1)

June 12, 2016 by Tony

As mentioned in my previous post, this year’s CSBS/CSPS Christian Apocrypha session was a book review panel dedicated to New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures edited by me and Brent Landau. This report on the panel, already quite late (I am the world’s slowest biblioblogger), is divided into two parts so that the post is not overly long. When the panel was planned at last year’s annual meeting, the assumption was that the book would be available by this time. Alas, the publication is not ready, though we are going through the final edits and it will be available at SBL in November. The panelists in the meantime had to read the book in electronic form. I have to remember to reward them with proper copies when the time comes. The panel was comprised of two members from each society: John Kloppenborg (University of Toronto) and Alicia Batten (Conrad Grebel College, Waterloo) from CSBS, and Robert Kitchen and Timothy Pettipiece from CSPS. The session was chaired by Emily LaFleche, a graduate student at the University of Ottawa working on the Gospel of Philip.

Kitchen opened the session with some queries about the terms applied to the texts in the collection. Most of us in the field fuss over the modifier “New Testament” but Kitchen took more of an issue with “apocrypha” given its connotations of “‘hidden,’ ‘secret,’ and so likely heterodox,” because many of the texts in the volume are none of these things. He then remarked positively about …

Christian Apocrypha Sessions for the 2016 SBL Annual Meeting

November 13, 2017 by Tony

Christian Apocrypha
11/19/2016
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Room TBD – Hotel TBD

Theme: Helmut Koester: In Memory of His Contributions to the Study of Christian Apocrypha
A panel in memory of Helmut Koester, one of the most influential scholars of the Christian Apocrypha in North America, assessing his ongoing legacy for this field.

Brent Landau, University of Texas at Austin, Presiding (5 min)
Philip Sellew, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Panelist (15 min)
Christine Thomas, University of California-Santa Barbara, Panelist (15 min)
Christoph Markschies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin – Humboldt University of Berlin, Panelist (15 min)
Break (10 min)
Stephen Patterson, Willamette University, Panelist (15 min)
Ann Graham Brock, Iliff School of Theology, Panelist (15 min)
Cavan Concannon, University of Southern California, Panelist (15 min)
Robyn Walsh, University of Miami, Panelist (15 min)
Discussion (30 min)

Christian Apocrypha
11/20/2016
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Room TBD – Hotel TBD

Theme: Apocryphal Acts: New Texts and Approaches

Tony Burke, York University, Presiding
Michael Flexsenhar III, The University of Texas at Austin
Creating a Christian World: Martyrdom, Memory, and ‘Caesar’s Household’ in the Apocryphal Acts (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Valentina Calzolari, University of Geneva
The Armenian Acts of Paul and Thecla (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Ivan Miroshnikov, Helsingin Yliopisto – Helsingfors Universitet
Towards a New Edition of the Coptic Acts of Andrew and Philemon (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Break (5 min)
Jonathan Henry, Princeton University
Thomas in Transmission: Some Noteworthy Witnesses to the Acts and Passion of Thomas…