Sean the Baptist (in the UCA)

Melbourne College of Divinity Centenary Conference

The Melbourne College of Divinity celebrates its centenary in 2010.  Details of a special centenary conference are now becoming available. The conference will be connected with other conferences happening at the same time.  I have been invited to give a paper (initial thoughts are to explore something relating to the nature of 'Secular Hermeneutics' with special reference to Barth and Bonhoeffer, but we shall see.)

Anyway, here are the details:

MCD Centenary Conference:

The Future of Religion in Australian 
Society

July 4th-7th 2010

Trinity College Melbourne

v Leading international and local scholars will participate in the conference

v A seminal event in theological reflection in Australia, providing valuable insights for theological and academic institutions in Australia and overseas.

v Organised in association with the Australian and New Zealand Association of Theological Schools conference July 7th- 9th, and the Australian Catholic Biblical Association and Fellowship of Biblical Studies conferences July 9th- 10th.

Conference Themes:

·      The Future of Religion in Australia: past, present and future

·      Religion of the Land

·      Religion: Challenges of Pluralism

·      Ethics and Social Justice

·      Science and Religion

·      The Word in the World

·      Religion and Culture/ the Arts

·      Theology and Philosophy

·      Religion in Education

 

A special Centenary edition of “Pacifica” will be launched at the conference

For further information contact the

 Melbourne College of Divinity

21 Highbury Grove, Kew, Victoria 3101 Australia                 

T +61(03) 9853 3177

conference@mcd.edu.au

and www.mcd.edu.au

SBL: Review of the Review Panel on the Deliverance of God

In a sense there is little need for me to summarize this important session at SBL.  Andy Rowell provides the audio of the session here and lists some reviews of the book here. The details of those who responded etc can be gleaned from those sources.  So what follows are my reflections not so much on the book (which I am still planning to discuss more fully here) but on the Review Panel itself (note: I had to sneak out part way through in order to sing Happy Birthday to my youngest daughter over the phone - if there is something I missed, I am sure others will let me know).

1.  It was a good session.  I am growing a little suspicious of the number of 'book review' sessions at SBL, suspecting that they may be driven as much by marketing considerations as by scholarly/academic criteria.  But in this case, the importance of Campbell's book was self-evident long before the meeting, and the session devoted to its review lived up to expectations, not least because Campbell himself is a consummate rhetorician.

2. Mike Gorman's response, admirably accompanied by operatic arias from the next room, was predictable, but none the worse for that. Gorman forecasted his criticisms of the book in his blog posts here and here. In short, he doesn't see why we need to read Romans 1-3 as an ironic, satirical, speech-in-character portrayal of the view of Paul's opponents/ 'The Teacher' for the rest of Campbell's insights to be valid.

3.  Douglas Moo's response was also predictable, but from my own point of view, in a less satisfactory manner. Echoing a number of Gorman's points, he then tried to engage Campbell at the level of exegetical detail, not least surrounding the interpretation of the key terms in Romans 3.21-26. For me this was less successful because I agree with Campbell's take on e.g. Paul's righteousness language, pistis Christou, view of the atonement, use of OT etc etc. I naturally am inclined to think that Campbell has the better of the arguments at precisely these points.

4. Moo's response set up that of Alan Torrance perfectly.  For me, Torrance's performance was the highlight of the show: a dogmatician teaching biblical scholars a thing or two about hermeneutics.  Torrance made what, to my mind, was a petty devastating case for understanding the western forms of justification theory as (a) shaped by the developing judicial and contractual accounts of human relations in post-biblical western society and (b) therefore having a deleterious effect on the history of a western theological tradition that in turn served to legitimate the worst aspects of the culture in which it was embedded (not least its endemic violence). To me it felt a bit like Obama giving his inauguration speech with Bush sitting right there in front of him.  Torrance seemed to be saying to Moo (not personally, but as a representative of the traditional mode of interpretation) 'you think that what you are doing is (a) self-evidently right and (b) ethically innocuous - well think again'. Anyone who has read the preface to Campbell's book will know that the anxiety of influence here is complex, and that Campbell's initial re-assessment of Paul was prompted by reading Torrance's assessment of the effects of federal calvinism.  Anyway, I thought that Torrance was the star of the show.

5.  Campbell's response to these three was rigorous, humorous and, to the extent that he located his reading of Romans 1-3 in a broader literary and social context of satire and lampooning, illuminating. However, I am left with two questions, both of which lead me to think further about whether Chris Tilling is right when he suggests that 'I don't think anyone provided a clear refutation of his exegetical claims – at least in the session'.  Maybe not a clear refutation - but for me the conviction needs to come in the following areas. First, the suggestion made by Gorman and Tom Wright (and apparently Richard Hays, see the comments to Chris's post) in a question to the effect that Romans 1-3 can represent Paul's view without making it into a soteriological or epistemological 'foundation' seems to me to be more economical an explanation that the suggestion that it is, in part, not least 1.18-32, a speech-in-character. Secondly, at this stage I am less than convinced that Jerusalem stands behind Rome as the key exigence for the letter. I haven't got there yet in the book, but is 'The Teacher' ever named?  Is it James? Peter?  Final decisions must await complete engagement with the book, but at the moment these are my two areas of questioning.

What is undoubtedly true is that somehow the insights from this book that generate some degree of consensus now needs to be proclaimed from the rooftops: not just what an apocalyptic Paul looks like, but most importantly (as Torrance showed us) why this stuff matters.

Conversations: E-Journal, Volume 3, no.3 now online

And now for the contents of the November 2009 issue of Conversations, which includes papers from the recent Calvin 500 Anniversary conference held here as well as the Wisdom's Feast conference and Cato Lecture by Daniel Smith Christopher:

This issue of Conversations brings together papers and talks from three events: Wisdom’s Feast 2009, a day long conference to celebrate the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth, and the Cato Lecture from the recent Assembly meeting.

Cato Lecture

• Introduction to the Cato Lecture – Robert Gribben

• The Cato Lecture:
  ‘Overboard with Jonah, Over the Line with Ezra: Biblical Themes for the Church in Exile’ – Dr. Daniel L. Smith-Christopher
  

This was the CATO Lecture for July, 2009, given at the 12th Assembly of the Uniting Church of Australia, University of NSW, Sydney, Australia. We are grateful to the Cato Trust for kind permission to publish this lecture.

Daniel Smith-Christopher begins with a question: how is the Old Testament a source of guidance for Christian faith and practice? He is convinced that we must continue to engage the Hebrew tradition as modern Christians, but he has not been happy with many of the traditional and recent approaches to doing this. He notes that in its fullness the Hebrew Bible does not leave us either in the Promised Land or in the United Monarchy of David or Solomon. Rather, the Biblical narrative leaves the Hebrews in exile. He describes how one might engage in a Biblical Theology of the Old Testament for modern Christians that is a theology of exile and diaspora, more engaged with movement, journey, identity, and witness to an often hostile surrounding culture than with power. He concludes by looking at Jonah and Ezra as symbols of critical issues for modern Christians in Exile.

Wisdom’s Feast

Two papers from the conference ‘Wisdom’s Feast’ held at the Centre for Theology and Ministry, June 19-23, 2009.

• ‘Comfort ye my people and speak kindly to Jerusalem’ – Rachael Kohn
  

Beginning with some remarks in the area of the sociology of religion and its role in providing comfort, Rachael Kohn, builds on the idea that religious life does not only hinge on the perpetuation of beliefs, but on the maintenance of community. She explores the struggle of Jews through history for comfort and justice which is not just about equality of opportunity and resources in a material culture, but about recognising hatred and stopping it from spreading, wherever it is found. She argues that the God of the prophetic scriptures, which is one of the Jewish gifts to the world, works his purposes in history, only when we let him; that is, only when we let him work through us.  

• Bible Study: Romans 10:14-21 – Sean Winter

500th Anniversary of the Birth of John Calvin

A day-long conference was held on August 29 to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. Also attached is a sermon preached on John Calvin on Reformation Sunday.

• ‘Some Reflections on the Biblical, Pastoral, and Practical Calvin’ – Prof. Elsie McKee

McKee notes that when Calvin emerged on the scene in Geneva, the Reformation was already well under way and, indeed, Protestants themselves were already divided. Calvin was not a pioneering innovator like Luther, but his gifts for organisation, thought and writing, ensured that his place in Reformation history. McKee explores how Calvin was not only a very Biblical theologian, but also a very pastoral and practical one.  He is best understood as a man of the 16th century, ‘who addressed the people and context of his own day with all the intensity of the conviction that God had redeemed him and called him to be an instrument of proclaiming that redemption by teaching, preaching, correcting, even as an exile, a foreigner, though still a part of a Christian world.’ She argues that we honour Calvin best and gain the most from ‘by understanding him in his own context and ministry’.

• ‘The Spirituality of John Calvin’ – Prof. Emeritus Ian Breward

Calvin lived in a time of great spiritual vitality and renewal. While many spiritualities of the time, even those of noted reformers, were shaped by monastic piety and its priorities, Calvin had a different experience. He had never been part of a monastic community. ‘For Calvin, spirituality grew out of a lived encounter with God, who had graciously revealed forgiveness through Jesus’ work on the Cross, justifying and regenerating us.’ His spirituality, with its framework founded on the Scriptures, was both Catholic and contextual, providing people with practical suggestions about how to grow into Christ and His community. The corporate aspect of his spirituality was further demonstrated by his conviction that Christian citizens were committed to the creation of a more Christian society, in which Church and Magistrate were vocational partners on the pilgrimage to eternal life.

• ‘Calvin’s Commentary on the Psalter: Christian or Jewish?’ – Dr. Gregory Goswell (This articles will be co-published by Pacifica in the near future by arrangement.)

Greg Goswell explores Calvin’s debt to preceding Jewish exegetes on the Psalter and seeks to determine how explicitly Christian his interpretation of the Psalms was. Use is made of the medieval Jewish commentator Rashi as a conversation partner. When it came to Jewish exegesis of the Psalms, Calvin was neither uncritical nor hypercritical. He was neither a prisoner to Jewish or earlier Christian opinion. Calvin’s focus on the historical context of psalms was not derived from Jewish exegetes but from his humanist training and inclination. He related a psalm to its historical setting but then saw no difficulty in a psalm referring to David and at the same time being a prediction of Christ.

• ‘Calvin on Psalms: Reading his Hermeneutic from the Preface to his Commentary’ – Howard N. Wallace (This articles will be co-published by Pacifica in the near future by arrangement.)

Calvin loved and lived the psalms. A lifetime of reflection and praying them stands behind his commentary on the Psalter. The Preface to the commentary, in which Calvin tells much of his own story, is revealing of his hermeneutic when dealing with the psalms. Parallels between his own life and that of David as psalmist functions as a major key for interpretation. This article explores Calvin’s hermeneutic when dealing with the psalms and notes ways in which it correlates with principles of composition of the Psalter itself.

• ‘Things Seen and Unseen: Sacramental Theology in the Reformation’ – Martin Wright (This article was previously published in Conversations 1/1 (Dec. 2007). It was read in a similar form at the conference on Calvin and is reproduced here for completeness.)

Martin focuses on how the reformers Luther, Zwingli, Bucer and Calvin approached the question, ‘What is a Sacrament?’ The sacramental controversies of the 16th century were concerned with understandings of earth and heaven, the eternal and the temporal, and gave rise, not only to the question of their relationship, but also to where ‘God chooses to make himself known in the commonest elements of his creation’.

• Sermon: ‘For in Christ every one of God’s promises is a “Yes”. (2 Cor 1:20 a)’ – preached by Chris Mostert on Reformation Sunday, 25 October, 2009, Congregation of Mark the Evangelist, North Melbourne.

Book launches and reviews:

• Wesley for Armchair Theologians, by William J. Abraham, Illustrated by Ron Hill, WJK, Louisville, USA, 2005. Reviewed by A. MacKinnon-Love

• Together in Ministry: Essays to honour John Paver, Heather Cameron, Colin Hunter, Michael Kelly and Randall Prior (eds), Melbourne: Uniting Academic Press, 2009. Reviewed by Avril Hannah-Jones.

• Psalms, Readings; Sheffield Phoenix, 2009, by Howard N. Wallace. Remarks at the launch of the book by Mark G. Brett, Sept. 18, 2009.

Conversations: E-Journal, Volume 3, no.2 now online

I am slightly behind with notifications of the Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania's E-Journal: Conversations.

The contents of the September issue, including a sermon and brief article on theological education by yours truly, are as follows:

Music – a gift of God for the people of God – Peter Blackwood (Peer reviewed)

40th Anniversary of the United Faculty of Theology

The United Faculty of Theology was formed in May 1969, and celebrations were held this year to mark the 40th anniversary of this ecumenical institution. In the United Faculty Uniting Church, Anglican and Jesuit scholars and students work together, with others who join them, in the common enterprise of theological education. The reflections below are from teachers, students and former students of the UFT.

• United Faculty of Theology: a Jesuit Experience - Andrew Hamilton

Andrew is a member of the faculty of the Jesuit Theological College.

• The first years of the United Faculty of Theology: Recollections - Randall Prior

Randall is Principal of the Uniting Church Theological College.

• An Experience of the United Faculty of Theology – Andrew Oddy

Andrew is an Archdeacon in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne and priest at St James the Great Anglican Church at Thornbury who studied at the UFT.  

• My Time at the United Faculty of Theology – Esther Crocker

Esther is an independent student at the UFT.

• My years at the United Faculty of Theology – Grace Sharon

Grace is a theological student associated with trinity College within the UFT.

• A personal perspective of the United Faculty of Theology – Lauren Mosso

Lauren is an exit candidate with the Uniting Church studying within the UFT.

• A Sermon to mark the 40th Anniversary of the United Faculty of Theology - Sean Winter

Sean is Professor of New Testament within the Uniting Church Theological College.

And as a supplement to the above we include a discussion a paper presented to the Victorian Association of Theological Field Education:  The Integration of Theology and Ministry in Theological Education: Some Reflections – Sean Winter

New Online Reviews Journal: Regent's Reviews

For several years Regent's Park College in Oxford ran an annual book club. As a part of the subscription fee the College also provided a regular review journal entitled Regent's Reviews. The book club has now gone the way of all flesh, but thanks to Andy Goodliff and Matthew Tennant the journal can now reach a wider audience via its re-launched online version.

This is the blurb for the new version:

This first edition of the relaunched Regent's Reviews takes it cue from the 400th year of Baptist people with a particular focus on books written by Baptists or reviewed by Baptists. In recent years there has been a growth in books published by Baptist theologians, and as the contents of this edition shows Baptists are writing on a wide range of topics from ecclesiology, spirituality, disability, science and systematic theology.

It can be downloaded here.

Simon Critchley and John Milbank Speak on Paul

Mark Vernon has a very helpful summary of a recent debate / conversation in London this week between Simon Critchley and John Milbank on the subject of Paul.

SBL: Different Kinds of Reflection

Much of what has appeared on blogs have been about what people find positive in the SBL conference. The more attentive reader will notice that this does not always focus on the content ad method of the actual sessions.  So hats off to April DeConick for identifying and articulating some of the key reasons for the frustrations that she and others feel about the conference.  The whole post makes for valuable reading and I for one, hope that conference organizers take some notice, not least as plans for future re-engagement with AAR take shape.

On another note, and because I suspect that many people don't keep a track of his blog, I also recommend Bruce Fisk's account of his experience of the real New Orleans which serves to put the conference that we love and sometimes love to hate in perspective.

SBL: The 2 Corinthians Seminar, Session 1

A good chunk of my time in New Orleans was spent participating in the Second Corinthians: Pauline Theology in the Making Seminar, chaired by Reimund Bieringer, Thomas Schmeller and Edith Humphrey.  The formal description of the work of the seminar is:

Existing Pauline Theologies are either based on the ripe fruit of Paul’s theologizing in Romans (e.g., J. Dunn) or give a synthesis of theological themes across the board of Paul’s letters. The focus of this Seminar is how Paul develops his theology in his second letter to the Corinthians. We shall trace aspects of his theology on a trajectory from their very beginning in concrete historical situations and compare them to their reuse in more abstract contexts. Attention will also be given to their potential pre-Christian or early Christian pre-history and their post-history in what has been called the Pauline school. The main focus will be on the way concrete historical circumstances shaped the genesis of certain theological themes and how they changed when new circumstances arose or when the link to concrete circumstances got lost. Each theological theme will therefore primarily be studied in its epistolary context of 2 Corinthians and in light of the historical situation in which it was developed. The comparison with other letters is not intended to create one unified Pauline theology, but rather, in the contrast with other instances, to understand better the specifics of the theme under study.

I am not sure that the sessions in which I participated offered much explicit attention to the issues as defined above. However it is definitely the case that the seminar works hard to explore and articulate the theology in 2 Corinthians through detailed study of the specificity of the text (i.e. without being overly hasty in drawing in data from the other epistles).

There were 3 sessions.  The first was a general session on aspects of the letter. My own presentation was here, and on the whole it went well. Member of the seminar made helpful suggestions developing the argument made in the paper, namely that 2 Cor 1.3-7 and Paul's language of consolation there functions as an initial construal of the mutual relationship shared by Paul and the Corinthians in their conformity to the cruciform pattern of Christ's death and resurrection. The focus of conversation was inevitably on whether such an introduction best relates only to the letter of reconciliation or to the whole of canonical 2 Corinthians. I am, at this stage, leaning towards the latter view.  Larry Welborn, who was also speaking at this session, took me to task on the Greco-Roman sources. I am still pretty sure that the best explanatory context is Paul's Bible rather than the therapeutic letter genre.  Welborn has a large book on 2 Corinthians coming out soon with de Gruyter (as incidentally does Margaret Mitchell with CUP).

Welborn's paper was something of a tour de force, arguing that the citation of Deuteronomy at 2 Cor 13.1 serves to identify Paul not as the 'witness' who visits 3 times, but rather as the one accused by an individual at Corinth of financial embezzlement. Paul cites scripture to reject the witness of one individual. The bigger book will establish the case more fully, but three thoughts struck me: (a) it is a quite brilliant exegetical suggestion and solves a notorious crux; (b) Welborn argues that for the theory to work, then a partition hypothesis is needed (too complex to discuss here), and I want to go away and think if that is really the case; (c) the further suggestion that the citation works because the Corinthians had implemented Paul's instructions in 1 Cor 6 and established church 'courts' that ran on Jewish lines is, while attractive, unlikely.

The third paper was by Dustin Ellington and explored the ways in which 2 Cor 10-13, while clearly focussed on polemic and apologetic, nevertheless also has a parenetic function. There was general assent to this and a number of the observations made in the paper (not least on Paul's use of the epistolary plural) resonated with the argument in my paper.

SBL: The Highlights Post

This excludes anything relating to the sessions I attended, of which more anon. In no particular order my highlights were

1.  Having a room of my own.

2.  Meeting new friends on the Graduate Programme at the University of Chicago, and meeting Margaret Mitchell.

3.  Walking around the French Quarter: music, food, wine, and a few less savoury establishments.

4.  On the subject of which: today as I walked down Bourbon Street a woman (Australians would say she was spruiking) stepped in front of me and said "Hello sir, we have some lovely young gir...Oh, I see you are with the Bible conference. You keep walking and have a nice day." (she had clocked the blue bag over my shoulder).

5.  Meeting up with friends I hadn't expected to see: Brad Braxton and Darrell Gwaltney.

6.  Meeting new people that I had planned to introduce myself to, especially Leander Keck and Beverley Gaventa and towering above them all, Jim West and Chris Tilling.

7.  Meeting old friends from the UK, not least at the Sheffield Reception which was by far and away the most fun of all the receptions I went to (and I went to a few).

8. Chatting with Tom Wright about his work at the Center for Theological Inquiry at Princeton, with interesting information about the likely shape and contents of the forthcoming Vol 4, Paul, book.

9.  Books: as usual, I am loaded down with purchases. This year, the following volumes came home with me:

Aland's English Synopsis - picked up for $10 on Tuesday morning

Tom Wright - Justification

Frank Matera (NTL) and Jan Lambrecht (Sacra Pagina) commentaries on 2 Corinthians

T. F. Torrance - Atonement

Peter Oakes, Reading Romans in Pompeii: Paul's Letter at Ground Level

Peter Leithart, Deep Exegesis

Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, Mark's Jesus: Narrative Christology in Mark

Ben Witherington, Volume 1 of his NT Ethical Theology (only, I repeat, only because I am teaching NT ethics next year)

Jon Levison, Filled with the Spirit - which looks fascinating.

Everett Fergusson, Baptism in the First Five Centuries

Serene Jones, on theology and trauma

All in all a good conference.  I will post some information and reflections on my participation in the 2 Corinthians seminar, Tom Wright's lecture on his new book on Justification and the panel discussion of The Deliverance of God, all in due course.

Arrived in New Orleans

Well I am here in New Orleans for SBL, although after 21 hours of airports and flying (I left Melbourne at 1pm on Friday and arrived in New Orleans at 5pm on Friday - very weird), I am about to get some sleep - a luxury denied to me on the plane.  Tomorrow is a work day, but I am looking forward to bumping into people in the evening. I am staying in the J. W. Marriott - not sure if anyone else, but all the hotels are opposite each other.  Oh, and New Orleans is great.  There is a band just like the one in the picture playing on a street corner just opposite my hotel. I didn't see Chris Tilling trying to convert them, but give it time.

More news, especially on sessions, in due course.

SBL Papers Now Live

Because mine is one of them, I have been keeping an eye on which NT papers for SBL are already being hosted online.  Here is a list:

NB for the Second Corinthians seminar, I have only listed those papers currently available in full.  To get the .pdf's click on the surname.

Second Corinthians: Pauline Theology in the Making 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM 11/21/2009 Balcony L 2 Corinthians in General Thomas Schmeller, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt a.M. , Presiding Sean F. Winter, Uniting Church Theological College The Meaning and Function of Paul’s ‘Comfort’ Language in 2 Corinthians (20 min) Laurence L. Welborn, Fordham University "By the Mouth of Two or Three Witnesses": Paul's Invocation of a Deuteronomic Statute (2 Corinthians 13:1) (20 min) Dustin W. Ellington, Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo Not Intended for Life Application?: The Basis and Aims of Paul's "I" in 2 Corinthians 10-13 (20 min)

22-343 Second Corinthians: Pauline Theology in the Making 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM 11/22/2009 Bacchus Suite 2 Corinthians 3 Reimund Bieringer, Catholic University of Leuven-Belgium, Presiding Carl N. Toney, Fuller Theological Seminary Paul’s Illiterate Reference Letter in 2 Corinthians 3 (20 min) Ben C. Blackwell, Durham University Becoming 'Gods'?: 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Theosis (20 min)

23-336 Second Corinthians: Pauline Theology in the Making 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM 11/23/2009 Bacchus Suite 2 Corinthians 3 and the Larger Context Edith M. Humphrey, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Presiding Thomas R. Blanton, IV, Luther College Recent Research on 2 Corinthians 3: Implications for the “New Perspective” (20 min) M. David Litwa, University of Virginia Paul’s Mosaic Ascent: An Interpretation of 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (20 min) Contextual Biblical Interpretation 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM 11/21/2009 Room TBD Paul�s Letters: Preparing a volume for the TEXTS@CONTEXTS Series Fortress Press Daniel Patte, Vanderbilt University, Presiding (5 min) Yung Suk Kim, Virginia Union University, Presiding (5 min) Johann D. Kim, Colorado Christian University Towards a Communal Reading of Paul: Galatians as a Test Case (15 min) K.K. Yeo, Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, Pauline Theological "Counseling" of Love in the Language of the Zhuangzi: A Reading of Love in 1 Corinthians in a Chinese Philosophical Context (15 min) Love L. Sechrest, Fuller Theological Seminary Identity and Privilege in Corinth: The Implications of 2 Corinthians 4:7-5:10 for Race Relations (15 min) J. Ayodeji Adewuya, Church of God Theological Seminary 2 Corinthians 7:1 in the Context of African Purification Rites (15 min) Ma. Marilou Ibita, Catholic University of Leuven-Belgium A Conversation with the Story of the Lord's Supper in Corinth (1 Corinthians 11:17-34): Engaging the Scripture Text and the Filipino Christians� Context (15 min) Janelle Peters, Emory University Reading the Corinthian Veils through Hijabs and Habits (15 min) S21- Contextual Biblical Interpretation 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM 11/21/2009 Room TBD Theme: The Gospels of Matthew and of John. Preparing volumes for the TEXTS@CONTEXTS Series Fortress Press Nicole Duran, Presiding James Grimshaw, Presiding Sharon Betsworth, Oklahoma City University What Child is This?: A Feminist Contextual Analysis of the Child in Matthew 2 (15 min) Tsui Yuk Louise Liu, Chinese University of Hong Kong Matthean "Mothers" and Disenfranchised Hong Kong Working Mothers (15 min) Gerald O. West, University of Natal "Why are You Sitting There?": Reading Matthew 20:1-16 in the Context of Casual Workers in Pietermaritzburg, South (15 min) Lung Pun Common Chan, Chinese University of Hong Kong Reading the Matthean Apocalypse (Matthew 24-25) in the Globalization Context of Hong Kong's Bourgeois Society and Middle-class Churches (15 min) Meng Hun Goh, Vanderbilt University �He Must Increase, but I Must Decrease�: A Chinese Malaysian Interpretation of John 3:22-30 (15 min) Sung Uk Lim, Vanderbilt University Hierarchical View of Spirituality in Korean Christian Communities and Nicodemus� Spirituality in John (15 min) Louise Lawrence, University of Exeter Sign Sources: Reading Matthew with Deaf Communities (15 min) Israel Kamudzandu, Saint Paul School of Theology The Holy Spirit as the Negotiator of Boundaries in Luke � Acts: A Postcolonial Reading of Acts 2: 1 � 13 (15 min)  2-233aPaul and Scripture 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM 11/22/2009 Oak Alley Beyond the Hauptbriefe Christopher D. Stanley, St. Bonaventure University, Presiding E. Elizabeth Johnson, Columbia Theological Seminary Paul's Reliance on Scripture in 1 Thessalonians (10 min) Stephen E. Fowl, Loyola College in Maryland The Use of Scripture in Philippians: How Deep Should We Dig? (10 min) 23-327aPaul and Scripture 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM 11/23/2009 Oak Alley The Disputed Paulines Christopher D. Stanley, St. Bonaventure University, Presiding Jerry L. Sumney, Lexington Theological Seminary Writing “In the Image” of Scripture: The Form and Function of Allusions to Scripture in Colossians (10 min) Gordon D. Fee, Regent College God`s Sure Foundation: "Paul's" Use of Scripture in 2 Timothy (10 min) The papers for the Cross, Resurrection and Diversity in Earliest Christianity unit were promised  from October 1st here. but have yet to show up.

Fellowship of Biblical Studies Meeting: November 2009

Last night I attended the November meeting for the Fellowship of Biblical Studies, based here in Melbourne but now with a growing Sydney 'chapter' - see the link for information about the society and its Journal, the Australian Biblical Review.

As well as holding the AGM we listened to a paper by Brian Boyle, this year's President of the Society, entitled: 'The role of the <Nasi> in Ezekiel's Vision of the New Temple (Ezekiel 40-48)'.  This was obviously a part of a larger study that Brian is involved in, exploring notions of sacred space in Ezekiel, and it introduced me to a whole aspect of Ezekiel that I was pretty much unaware of. The discussion really revolved around the implications of the fact that the Temple and City that Ezekiel envisages in these last chapters are impossible to build, and should not be equated with Jerusalem (which as Brian pointed out is basically a 'graveyard' for the prophet). Therefore notions of the role of proto-apocalyptic visions in relation to the community were the focus of discussion. It was a good, if rather long evening.

College Photo 2009

Spot which member of Faculty forgot that the photograph was going to be taken past Friday!

Interpretation and its Consequences: A Quotation and a Picture

The quotation is from Walter Brueggemann (courtesy of Kent Eilers over at Theology Forum)

The Bible is inherently the live Word of God that addresses us concerning the character and will of the gospel-giving God, empowering us to an alternative life in the world…Given inherency…the Bible is endlessly a surprise beyond us…

The Bible is not a fixed, frozen, readily exhausted read; it is rather a “script” always reread, through which the Spirit makes new…Nobody makes the final read; nobody’s read is final or inerrant, precisely because the Key Character in the book who creates, redeems, and consummates is always beyond us in holy hiddenness” (Walter Brueggemann, Struggling with Scripture (2002), pp. 11, 12, 13)

The picture  (via Halden at Inhabitatio Dei and a number of others) encapsulates the practical consequences of Brueggemann's statement:

Some Good Things While I Have Been Away

I am now back in Melbourne after a good trip back to the UK seeing friends and family.  I am back at my desk on Monday, but for now, here are some of the good things that came in to my Google Reader while I was away:

Especially pertinent for my present work situation (where all sorts of stuff is being reviewed) is Ben's post, incorporating comments from Geoff Thompson, on the importance of research in a Theology Faculty.

Ben also draws attention to a new volume on the theological dimensions of Bonhoeffer's poetry.  Note also that the latest volume in the DBW series by Fortress is now published, it covers the years that Bonhoeffer spent in Berlin as Lecturer in the Faculty there.  That will be coming home in my SBL suitcase.

Jason summarizes and contributes to a thread on the relationship between baptism and ordination.

Loren gives a lengthy review of Campbell's The Deliverance of God.  My own reviewing of the book will continue after next week.

Mary Beard's account of a recent debate over the 'value' of humanities research offers a glimpse into the current state of research funding in the UK tertiary system.  It can be read as a useful backdrop to the recent decision at the University of Sheffield to cut undergraduate teaching in Biblical Studies (on which more next week when I have had a chance to write a letter to the Vice Chancellor), but for now see the Website.

A forthcoming book on Paul authored by...wait for it...Milbank, Pickstock, Zizek (can't be bothered to find the accents) and Davis.

A wonderful prayer by Martin Wroe which confirms what I always suspected, namely that the story of Elijah in the cave nowhere states that God is in the still, small, voice, and that the sermons that use it to support that idea are mistaken (Elijah has to come out of the cave before God speaks). (HT Geoff Colmer, who has good things to say about atonal music).

Paul on Grace and Some Reading Suggestions

Picking up on themes explored in Campbell's The Deliverance of God, but without direct reference to it, take a look at these speculations about Paul's understanding of grace.

And some interesting looking reading material:

Allen Brent, A Political History of Early Christianity

Blurbs include:

‘Allen Brent’s Political History of Early Christianity is breath-taking and ground-breaking. He argues that the Jesus Movement, from its earliest days until it blossomed into the officially sanctioned Christianity of the Roman Empire under Constantine at the start of the fourth century, was inextricably linked to and in tension with the political concerns of wider culture. However, Brent demonstrates that this does not reduce Jesus and the movement that evolved in his name to a group of mere social revolutionaries. Rather, the value-inverting and world-negating philosophy they espoused stemmed from deep-seated apocalyptic beliefs. Brent is master of four centuries of Christian history and deploys this knowledge to build a case that is convincing and compelling. A first-rate book from a first rate-scholar.’ - Paul Foster, University of Edinburgh, UK.

Five Stones and a Sling
Memoirs of a Biblical Scholar
Michael Goulder

Michael Goulder is a scholar who has always taken an original approach to the Bible and biblical criticism. He has developed five major theories, which challenged received opinion among the learned; and the book tells the story of how these ‘stones’ fared when confronting the biblical establishment. He wryly admits that his slinging has been rather less successful than David's against Goliath.

Among his five theories a special place must be given to his demonstration of how much of the teaching ascribed to Jesus actually derived from the evangelists—the Lord's Prayer for example being composed by Matthew out of Jesus' prayers in Gethsemane. The parables too are the composition of the evangelists, Matthew characteristically writing of kings and rich merchants, while Luke speaks of women, stewards, a beggar and a Samaritan. A long-rooted error Michael Goulder has valiantly opposed has been the belief that Matthew and Luke were both dependent on a lost source, Q; in fact, he argues, Luke was familiar with Matthew's Gospel and copied or developed its teaching as he thought best.

Goulder has worked at the Old Testament as well as the New. He concludes that the Psalms were not the individual prayers of pious Israelites, as Gunkel and others supposed, but the compositions of kings or their poets, deploring national disasters and praying for blessing at the great autumn festival.

This account of Goulder's scholarly work is fascinatingly interwoven with that of his life and ministry; and there are many anecdotes and vignettes of other people that are both amusing and interesting. He was ordained a priest in the Anglican Church, and though he resigned his Orders in 1981, he never lost his love of the Bible.

Michael Goulder was Professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Birmingham prior to his retirement in 1994.

978-1-906055-84-4 paperback
Publication November 2009 (not yet published) - HT: Mark

And courtesy of Joel Willitts over at Euangelion

The friendship of Matthew and Paul: A response to a recent trend in the interpretation of Matthew’s Gospel

Author: Joel Willitts

David Sim has argued that Matthew’s so-called Great Commission (Mt 28:16–20) represents a direct anti-Pauline polemic. While this thesis may be theoretically possible and perhaps fits within the perspective of an earlier era in New Testament research, namely that of the Tübingen School, the evidence in both Matthew and the Pauline corpus does not support such a reading of early Christianity. In this paper, I argue that an antithetical relationship between Matthew’s Great Commission and Paul’s Gentile mission as reflected in his epistles is possible only (1) with a certain reading of Matthew and (2) with a caricature of Paul. In light of the most recent research on both Matthew’s Great Commission and the historical Paul, these two traditions can be seen as harmonious and not antithetical in spite of the recent arguments to the contrary. My argument provides a further corrective to the view of early Christianity, which posits a deep schism between so-called Jewish Christianity and Paul’s ostensibly Law-free mission to the Gentiles.

You can find the article here at HTS.

Radical Orthodoxy for Dummies

Go here for more information.  Ouch!

The Deliverance of God: Chapter 1 – The Justification Theory

Chapter 1 (pp.11-35) is Campbell’s account of what he terms ‘the justification theory’ of salvation (nb. that title represents a deliberate rejection of the idea of a ‘Lutheran’ interpretation and moves past the JF acronym of his earlier work).  Given that Campbell offers a lengthy propositional summary of the Justification Theory in §4, I will not reproduce it here, but attempt instead a brief summary of the overall gist of his description.

The Justification Theory is a soteriology of two halves. It is crucial to note the relationship between them.  The first ‘phase’ articulates explicitly (or operates implicitly) with an understanding of human beings as rational, self-interested and therefore ethical. It proceeds to construe the identity of God using the fundamental category of justice: the omnipotent law-giver and judge.  God’s judgement is retributive (i.e. it is directed towards punishment / reward of the unethical/ethical actions of rational self-interested human beings. Thus phase 1 is essentially an account of an anthropological ‘problem’. This basic articulation renders soteriology in largely contractual terms, and in its Pauline manifestation is nuanced by additional factors (e.g. that reward / punishment is eschatological; that human beings are expected to come under conviction of sin via introspection; that their response to this conviction is either despair (good) or boasting (bad)). 

The aim of the first phase is to portray the human condition in such a way as it becomes self-evident that there is no escape from condemnation. There would be no escape were it not for a new offer, a second phase, to which the first phase directly points and which takes its description from the initial construal of God and humanity found in the first phase. 

Thus the second phase seeks to satisfy God’s retributive justice, and enable human beings to appropriate a solution to their problem.  The basic contractual structure of phase 1 is retained, so that (a) God still has to punish - atonement and (b) human beings must do something – faith. 

While abstract and theoretical, Campbell’s description recognizes the explanatory power of this model of salvation.  We could go on to identify its more popular manifestations (think Billy Graham, or a Journey into Life tract).  However the supplementary point I wish to make here is that this is a theoretical account of the gospel that has a deeply existential connection for many of us who came to faith within a broadly evangelical tradition.  Thus, for me and I imagine for many others, the challenge of Campbell’s work, indeed of the New Perspective on Paul in general, concerns not just the definition of Paul’s gospel, but the nature of my own Christian identity.  One should not expect these concerns to be at the forefront of an academic argument, but for many readers of this book it will lie in a shadowy and perhaps scary form in the background.  If nothing else, Campbell’s analysis will raise questions about what we believe and what we preach.  The Justification Theory has been so dominant within my own tradition, that it exerts a clear anxiety of influence over any attempt to reconsider its validity. However, Campbell believes that it has inherent and ultimately fatal problems and deeply disturbing implications.  That is the topic of chapter 2.

The Beaker Folk

Catriona and others have drawn attention to the wonderful resource for contemporary spirituality that is the Community of the Beaker Folk at Husbourne Crawley.  The recent post on Comparative Religious (sic) I: Modern Christian Songs (my personal favourite is Section 3, question 1: "I want to be out of my depth in your love".  How deep, in your opinion, would be sufficient?) is excellent and thought provoking.

However those in need of more extensive exposure to the riches of this community should investigate the Beaker Common Prayer. I hope my good friends in the UCA will forgive me for noting that there are some expressions of worship in the Uniting Church that come very close to this (as, for the record, was also the case in my previous workplace).

Here is Archdruid Eileen on the foundational principles of the commnity:

I can share these three fragments of truth with you. Because let’s face it, they’ve made me happy. So why shouldn’t they make you happy as well? And they are these.

Secret 1 - People want to feel good in religion. They want to feel connected to the Ultimate – whatever that represents. Oh yeah, there’s a few that really like to feel bad – who bash themselves over the head with guilt, see the darkness of what some call sin, and the challenges of temptation - and make everyone else around them feel the same way. But who wants to hang around with them? They’re just depressing. The ones who want to feel a connection with the Divine – they don’t necessarily want to be challenged. They just want to feel good.

Secret 2 - Retreat centres are amazing places. People go there and you can offer them plain food, give them menial tasks to do (tell them it’s "discipline"), just leave them to their own devices (and call it "space"). And then you charge them a fortune. Just like my old school.

Secret 3 - It’s not good enough to let people discover themselves. People have to go abroad to learn news of home. If you offer them the good old Church of England, they’ll think of musty hassocks and dodgy cassocks and stay at home of a Sunday morning. But offer them Celtic Christianity and they’ll hear the wind blowing over the heather and the waves crashing on Iona’s shores. You can tell them to listen to the "whisper of the Wild Goose" – as if wild geese whisper. They honk. But never mind, if it keeps the punters happy tell you can tell them that wild geese sing 15^th century madrigals. Let people sing in Latin and they won’t understand it and they’ll be released from their mundane lives. Tell them it’s Primeval Mystic Truth, discovered by the Ancients, and they’ll swallow anything you want to feed them. Tell them it’s primeval spiritualism, and brings you one-ness with the universe, and they’ll give you all their money.

 

And here is my favourite liturgy

Winter Solstice Eve

Winter Solstice Eve is held at a really good time of day. It means we can get all our worshipping in early and then have the evening off. We celebrate the end of the Beaker year prior to the New Year’s celebrations that occur in a few hours’ time.

Sunset on Solstice Eve in Husborne Crawley is generally round about 4pm. The Beaker Folk are always reminded to be there sharp. This isn't one of those occasions when you can turn up late and wait for the worship to "warm up". It’ll just all be over.

The Gathering in Apprehension

Shivering in the cold of the Winter Air, but glowing in their orange hi-viz, the Beaker People gather on Aspley Heath.

Chorus:

"Raise your banners high. Don't die, Sun - don't die!" (repeat 12 times, in growing despair)

Looking to the South-East in Silence

All: "Is that the sun down there or is it just the floodlights from the Amazon warehouse?"

The Archdruid remembers that the sun sets in the other direction.

Looking to the South-West in Silence.

At the precise time of sunset, the Solstice Fire is lit from the eternal flame. An appropriate song (for example, "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles) may be played.

Chorus:

"Let the flames burn high - Goodbye, Sun - Goodbye!" (repeat 12 times, growing gradually sadder)

Hnaef: Does anyone have a lighter? The Eternal Flame seems to have gone out...

As it grows darker, panic may spread among the congregation. The Gibbon Moon folk, generally of an excitable nature, lose it completely and run off into the woods, howling with fear

Archdruid: Darkness falls and the night is with us. The year is dead.

Young, keen and generally stupid Beaker Folk may leap over the Solstice Fire, once Hnaef has finally lit it, in an age-old and traditional ritual. Those whose hi-viz vests catch fire are doused with water from the Safety Beakers.

The lighting of the Bling

Archdruid: OK, Hnaef - flick the switch

The Orchard is illuminated with the light of a thousand suns, as Santas, Snowmen, inflatable Alan Carrs, flashing lights, Singing Ringing Tree, dancing penguins, a sleigh and about a million blue LED icicles blaze into view. The congregation may go "Aaah".

The Dismissal

Archdruid: Off you go, then. Don’t forget – the midnight ritual is at midnight.

All: Isn’t this where we came in?

 

Leuven Seminar on Paul and Judaism

HT to Mike Bird for drawing attention to this conference (at which he is giving a paper).  In honour of Mike, I have printed the essays off (all available as pdf's next to the names of contributors) and will be looking through them while drinking a glass or four of Best's Bin No.1 Shiraz, 2006.