Christian Apocrypha at SBL 2024

October 28, 2024 by Tony

The 2024 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature runs from November 23 to 26 in San Diego, California. I won’t be attending this year, but I can still post my usual roundup of sessions and individual presentations that focus on Christian Apocrypha. Take note of how many presenters this year are fellows of the Beyond Canon project at Universität Regensburg. Looks like I’ll be the only one left in the office!

1. Christian Apocrypha Sessions

S23-213 Christian Apocrypha (1:00 PM to 3:30 PM)
Janet Spittler, University of Virginia, Presiding

Thomas J. Kraus, Universität Zürich/University of the Free State: “What Did Jesus Christ Do between Death and Resurrection? The Descent of Christ into Hell (Gos.Nic.) and Some of Its Interrelations with Other Texts”

Martin Meiser, Universität des Saarlandes: “‘Acts of the Apostles’ within and beyond the Canon?.”

Triantafillos Kantartzis, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München: “Voice of the Unseen Narrator: Shaping the Christological Contours in the Acta pilati.”

Benjamin Lensink, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen: “Mygdonia: Model of the Perfect Christian in the Apocryphal Acts of Thomas.”

Timothy B. Sailors, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen: “Odes of Solomon 24 and Its Allusions to the Baptism of Jesus.”

S23-310 Christian Apocrypha / Jewish Christianity / Christian Judaism (4:00 PM to 6:30 PM)
Theme: Jewish Christianity/Christian Judaism and Christian Apocrypha
Jae Han, Brown University, Presiding

Daniel Maier, Københavns Universitet, Denmark: “Paradise Lost in Transmission: The Apocalypse of Peter as a Central Witness for the Conceptualisation of the Righteous’ Afterlife in Early Christian Literature and Its Ancient …

My Regensburg Year, Part 2: September 2024

October 3, 2024 by Tony

Our second month in Regensburg included a visit from home, an encounter with a “climate event,” and a meeting with the boss.

When we told our family and friends about our year-long stay in Regensburg, we invited everyone to come and visit if they were able. Few people, alas, have taken us up on this invitation. Is it because Germany is just not that attractive a tourist vacation? Is it the expense? Is it (gulp) US? We had our first intrepid visitor early this month when my mother came to town. Mum visits her sisters in England every year, so it was a quick and easy jump across the channel to see us. And because it was her first trip to continental Europe, we were determined to “show her a good time.” But we may have overdone it. My mum is quite fit even at 79 but she had to endure a lot of walking at the tail end of a heatwave. Still, she survived and together we explored the city (including our first visit to the Historische Museum for its Roman artifacts), and journeyed outside to nearby Passau, Munich, and Salzburg.

Our other major sightseeing excursion was a trip to Vienna that coincided with a major rain storm that resulted in floods throughout the region. Good timing! We’d like to say we “saw” Vienna but what we saw was mostly sidewalk as we pushed through the wind and rain with our heads down, moving from one museum or art …