Christian Apocrypha at SBL 2024

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 Jewish Background.”

Morgan Hundley, Duke University: “The Gospel of Peter’s Affective Re-characterization of Pilate and ‘The Jews.’”

Petri Luomanen, University of Helsinki: “To Include or Not to Include? The Case of Eusebius, Theoph. 4.22 (Migne) as a Fragment from the Gospel of the Hebrews.”

Philippe Therrien, Université Laval: “The Battle for Gnosis in the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies.”

Chance P. McMahon-Harrer, University of Wisconsin-Madison: “‘Corrupted Scripture’ as a Literary Trope and the Construction of Knowledge in the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies, ‘Gnostic’ Texts, and the Rabbinic Corpus.”

S25-119 Christian Apocrypha (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Janet Spittler, University of Virginia, Presiding

Michael Scott Robertson, Universität Regensburg: “The Acts of Titus as Competitive Identity Narrative.”

Mari Mamyan, Universität Regensburg: “Shifting Motives from History to Apocrypha: St. James of Nisibis in the Armenian Historiography and Apocrypha.”

Sam Johnson, Athenaeum of Ohio – Mount St. Mary’s Seminary: “Assumption of Moses, Assumption of Mary: A Shared Tradition?”

Lasse Løvlund Toft, University of Oslo: “The Copto-Arabic Creation of the Archangel Michael in the Context of Coptic Literature and Liturgy.”

S25-211 Christian Apocrypha (1:00 PM to 3:30 PM)
Theme: Entangled Traditions: Biblical Women in Christian Apocrypha
Lily Vuong, University of Oregon, Presiding

Dr. Gal Sela, University of Regensburg: “Is There a Jewish Apocrypha? Yael, Judith, and the Uncanny.”

Stephanie Hallinger, Universität Regensburg: “Entangled Traditions about Judith: Christian Apocrypha in Literature and Art.”

Osnat Emily Rance, Universität Regensburg: “The Mother of Seven Sons: A Parabiblical Heroine in Christian Eyes in Late Antiquity.”

Emanuela Valeriani, Universität Regensburg: “Women and Symbolism in the Apocryphal Writings Attributed to Ezra.”

2. Additional Sessions

S23-227 Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism (1:00 PM to 3:30 PM)
Tuomas Rasimus, University of Helsinki, Presiding

Eric Crégheur, Université Laval: “The Literary Structure of the ‘Untitled Text’ of the Bruce Codex.”

Christian Bull, University of Bergen: “Hiera Biblos: The Implications of the Title of the Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit (NHC III, 2; IV, 2).”

Jonathan Cahana Blum, Hebrew University of Jerusalem: “The Disease of Masculinity? Early Gnosticism on What’s Wrong with Men.”

John D. Doss, Asbury Theological Seminary: “The Language of Conversion in Nag Hammadi and the New Testament.”

Pamela Mullins Reaves, Colorado College: “Transmission as Testament in the First Apocalypse of James (NHC V,3; Cod. Tch. 2).”

S24-118 Corpus Hellenisticum Novi Testamenti (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Theme: Please Recycle (I): Ancient Intertextuality in the New Testament, Christian Apocrypha, and Beyond
Janet Spittler, University of Virginia, Presiding

Carl Johan Berglund, Åbo Akademi University: “Recycled Gospel Stories in the Acts of Philip.”

Tyler A. Stewart, Independent Scholar: “When Intertextuality Becomes Heresy: Tatian’s Demonology.”

James A. Kelhoffer, Uppsala University, Sweden: “‘What If the Wolves Tear the Lambs Apart?’ When a Temporary Synoptic Reassurance Speaks to an Ongoing Threat (2 Clem. 5.2–4; cf. Matt 10:16||Luke 10:3).”

Robert Matthew Calhoun, Texas Christian University: “Post-baptismal Ethical Deliberation in 2 Clement.”

S24-228 John the Baptist (1:00 PM to 3:30 PM)
James McGrath, Butler University, Presiding

Hugo Lundhaug, University of Oslo: “Demon, Ferryman, and Christ’s Beloved: John the Baptist in Coptic Apocrypha.”

Joshua T. King, Loyola University of Chicago: “John and the False Feminine: John the Baptist and the Gender of Prophecy in the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies.”

Doreen McFarlane, Nanjing Sem, pastor ELCIC Lutheran Ch. in Canada: “John the Baptist Speaks in Richard Strauss’s Opera, ‘Salome’”.

S24-331 Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism (4:00 PM to 6:30 PM)
Theme: Gnostics and Platonists in Dialogue
Sarah Parkhouse, University of Manchester, Presiding

Dylan M. Burns, Universiteit van Amsterdam: “Platonism Running Wild: Immaterial Causes in Gnostic Literature.”

Ben Edsall, Australian Catholic University: “‘Not Flowing Forth’: Plotinus’s ai?n against the ‘Gnostics’ in Enn. III.7.”

Tuomas Rasimus, University of Helsinki: “Divine Narcissus: Gnostic Background of Plotinus’ Early Theory of Intellect.”

Max Bergamo, Yale University / University of Padua: “Heraclitus, the Coptic Gnostic Writings of Nag Hammadi, and the Platonic Tradition.”

René Falkenberg, Aarhus Universitet: “A Recipe for Thinking about Divinity, Time, and Space: Fun with Lists in the Nag Hammadi Codices.”

S25-153 Syriac Studies / Jewish Christianity / Christian Judaism (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Theme: Manichaeans: Real and Imagined
Kimberly Stratton, Carleton University, Presiding

Jae Han, Brown University: “A Barhadbashabba among the Manichaeans.”

Lindsay Ruth, Indiana University (Bloomington): “The Syriac Acts of Thomas in Manichaean Manuscripts: Indirect Tropes.”

Guosheng Qu, Indiana University (Bloomington): “The ‘Ten Kings of Hell’ in Buddhist and Manichaean Tradition.”

Reyhan Durmaz, University of Pennsylvania: “Horror, Mockery, and Heresiology in the Chronicle of Zuqnin.”

Jason BeDuhn, Northern Arizona University: “Honest to Mani: Historical Realities and Historiographic Habits in Manichaean Studies.”

S25-329 Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism (4:00 PM to 6:30 PM)
Theme: Gnostic Disciples
Christian Bull, Presiding

Jeremy Barrier, Heritage Christian University: “Physiology in the Gospel of Judas.”

Marianne Skovmand, University of Aarhus: “Transmission by Women in the Gospel of Thomas.”

Matthew J. Korpman, University of Birmingham: “Did Christ Really Say That? The Reception of Jesus Sayings in the Gospel of Mary.”

Elizabeth Schrader Polczer, Villanova University: “Did Irenaeus and Celsus Know the Gospel of Mary? Revisiting Second-Century Authors in Light of P.Oxy 5577.”

Adeline Harrington, University of Texas at Austin: “In the Shadow of the ‘Marys’: Salome’s Unspoken Influence in Early Egyptian Christianity.”

S26-118 Inventing Christianity: Apostolic Fathers, Apologists, and Martyrs (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Theme: Beyond Orthodoxy and Heresy
Susan Graham, St. Peter’s University, Presiding

Jennfer R. Hunter, Boston University: “Beyond Heresy and Orthodoxy: The Ritualization of Marital Sex in Early Christianity.”

James A. Kelhoffer, Uppsala University, Sweden: “Charitable Giving and Salvific Reciprocity in Second Clement: A Challenge to the ‘Orthodoxy versus Heresy’ Paradigm of Early Christian Culture and Theology.”

Martin Landgren, Stockholm School of Theology: “The Temple and Altar as Boundary-Maker for the Christ Groups in Ignatius of Antioch.”

András Handl, Universität Bern – Université de Berne: “Uncovering Rome’s Heretic Migrant Network: The Local Interconnectivity Underlying the Heresy Construction in the Refutatio omnium haeresium.”

3. Individual Papers of Interest in Other Sessions

P24-128s International Qur’anic Studies Association (IQSA) (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)

Rebecca Williams, University of South Alabama: “Qur’an 2:138 and the Story of Jesus and the Dyer.”

S23-315 Ethiopic Bible and Literature (4:00 PM to 6:30 PM)

Dawit Muluneh, Howard University: “The Miracles of Mary Texts and Civilizational Discourses across Nations and Regions.”

S24-222 Healthcare and Disability in the Ancient World (1:00 PM to 3:30 PM)

Matthew J. Korpman, University of Birmingham: “Neither Young nor Old: Collapsing Age in the Gospel of Thomas.”

S24-307 Book History and Biblical Literatures (4:00 PM to 6:30 PM)

Kelsie Rodenbiker, University of Glasgow: “The Afterlife of the Codex Claromontanus.”

S25-111 Bible and Visual Art (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)

Ally Kateusz, Wjingaards Institute for Catholic Research: “Early Christian Art of the Adoration of the Magi and Collyridian Bread Offerings.”

S25-130 Interrelations of the Gospels (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)

James F. McGrath, Butler University: “Editorial Fatigue and the Baptist Source of the Protevangelium.”

Alexey Somov, Universität Regensburg: “The Byzantine Martyrdom of Daniel and the Three Youths as Textual Witness of Matt 27:53.”

S25-203 Ancient Fiction and Early Christian and Jewish Narrative (1:00 PM to 3:15 PM)

Benjamin Lensink, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen: “Better to be Dead than to Live? A Donkey’s Colt in the Apocryphal Acts of Thomas).”

S25-219 Ethiopic Bible and Literature (1:00 PM to 3:30 PM)

Wendy Laura Belcher, Princeton University: “Princeton Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Egyptian Miracles of Mary (PEMM) Digital Humanities Project.”

S25-221 Greco-Roman Religions (1:00 PM to 3:30 PM)

Naiara Leão, King’s College London: “Moving in the Borderlands: Apostolic Travel and Local Religion in the Apocryphal Acts.”

S26-102 Ancient Fiction and Early Christian and Jewish Narrative / Archaeology of Religion in the Roman World (9:00 AM to 11:15 AM)

Bailey Freeburn, Brown University: “Thresholds of Transformation: Exploring Liminality in the Acts of Thomas.”

Acacia Chan, The University of Texas at Austin: “Cloudy with a Chance of Apostles: Cloud Travel in Acts of Andrew and Matthias.”