Sean the Baptist (in the UCA)

Crisis, What Crisis?: Bonhoeffer and the Need for Theological Leadership

One of the joys of returning to Melbourne has been the chance to open lots of lovely book packages; ordered while we were in Italy, but delivered to Australia to await our return. One of these contained the most recent volume in the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works in English series: volume 15 entitled Theological Education Underground: 1937–1940. The bulk of the volume consists of letters written by Bonhoeffer in the run up to, during and after his decision to leave Germany for the USA and then, within a month, to return again.

The longest of these letters are circular epistles to former seminarians from the recently closed Finkenwalde seminary, of which Bonhoeffer was Director. There is a growing sense of looming danger in these letters, as the stakes for Confessing Church pastors are raised by (among others) the Gestapo, the German Christian movement and the so-called 'neutrals' within the Confessing Church itself. In her excellent Editor's Introduction, Victoria Barnett makes the acute observation that Bonhoeffer's response to the crisis that all see coming is not yet the call to decisive action, or prophetic/sacrificial gesture (that comes arguable with his decision to return to Germany from the USA). Instead we see Bonhoeffer working as pastor pastorum, and his concern again and again is to remind his former students that they will offer leadership to the church exactly to the extent that they are prepared to wrestle theologically with questions of truth, which is to say gospel.

It struck me that both for Baptist colleagues in the UK, currently thinking about new possibilities, vision and strategies, as well as for UCA colleagues here, who face the common challenge of identifying what constitutes authentic Christian witness in a changed culture, Bonhoeffer's insistence pn the need for sustained theological effort is instructive. Here he is, in a letter written in late-January 1938. After a call to prayer, Bonhoeffer insists that prayer is not sufficient:

'But then we want to tackle what has been neglected. We want to struggle for full theological clarity about the insghts of the Confessing Church. We are not willing to let go before we have reached firm ground. We tend to move from questions of truth to the order of the day all too easily. Yet how should a clear leadership for a parish or a church be possible without a clear theology? The false front lines ... arise whenever the question of truth is bypassed. Let us resume the discussion also with those who confront us with questions! But it should be a discussion in ultimate truth. ... Only then will the inexhaustible field of work that is the Confessing Church's specific task begin.' (pp.35–36)

Pacifica Themed Issue on Bonhoeffer: Invitation to Contribute

This is a shot in the dark, but perhaps one that might meet with a welcome response from Bonhoeffer scholars, whether based in Australasia or beyond.

I am hoping to produce an issue of the journal Pacifica later this year celebrating the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the light of the recent completion of the DBWE project. 5 articles are currently commissioned, but I am looking for a sixth article that we might include in the proposal to go the journal's editorial board. I am looking for someone who is on Faculty (i.e. with their PhD and in an academic role) who might be able to contribute a 6,000 word article on an aspect of Bonhoeffer's thought, with special concern for Bonhoeffer's relevance for contemporary Christian thought and practice. The piece would need to be a fully critical research article, from someone with a track record in Bonhoeffer research. The articles already secured cover the following topics: Bonhoeffer and Spiriituality; Bonhoeffer and Theological Hermeneutics; Bonhoeffer and State Power; Bonhoeffer and Reading the Signs of the Times and Bonhoeffer's legacy in the light of the DBWE project. The sixth article should not overlap with these themes.

The deadline for final copy would be the end of April 2012 (the reason for the short notice is that other prospective contributors no longer feel able to meet that deadline).

If this is something that interests you then please send me an email with a proposal for your article, along with a brief academic CV, by 31st January 2012. I will only be able to select one proposal, but will contact everyone who sends one in with an indication of my decision. Emails can be sent to the address at the top of my staff page.

Please feel free to share this invitation with others on your own blog or by other means.

Biblical Studies Position at University of Sheffield

News has come through of a newly advertised Lecturship in Bible and Contemporary Culture at the University of Sheffield, joining the strong team already in place there. There is a preference for someone in the NT field.

Details can be found on the Department's blog here.

United Faculty of Theology: Commencement Lecture 2012

Conference Announcement 1: Paul in Conversation

A couple of conference announcements over the next 2 days. The first provides a platform for Michael Bird to share his thoughts on 'Paul in Conversation: Ancient and Modern'. The conference will be held at Wesley Institute, Drummoyne (Sydney NSW) on February 11th. Sessions by Mike include 'Paul and the Cult of Celebrity', and 'Paul, Property and Poverty'. Other speakers include Paul Barnett and Edwin Judge. Full details and registration form here.

 

Larry Welborn's New Book on 2 Corinthians

This is just a book notice, but some of you Pauline scholar type people might be interested to know that Larry Welborn's long awaited book on the background and purpose of 2 Corinthians, An End to Enmity: Paul and the 'Wrongdoer' of 2 Corinthians (BZNW 185) is now available from de Gruyter at the entirely manageable price of €129.95 / $US195!!! I saw a copy at SBL and it looks lovely (with a nice colour plate in the front of the book, which probably added $20 to the price).

Here is the blurb:

“An End to Enmity” casts light upon the shadowy figure of the “wrongdoer” of Second Corinthians by exploring the social and rhetorical conventions that governed friendship, enmity and reconciliation in the Greco-Roman world. The book puts forward a novel hypothesis regarding the identity of the “wrongdoer” and the nature of his offence against Paul. Drawing upon the prosopographic data of Paul’s Corinthian epistles and the epigraphic and archaeological record of Roman Corinth, the author shapes a robust image of the kind of individual who did Paul “wrong” and caused “pain” to both Paul and the Corinthians. The concluding chapter reconstructs the history of Paul’s relationship with an influential convert to Christianity at Corinth.

Welborn reads 2 Corinthians very differently from the way that I do. He holds to a complex partition theory (as does Margaret Mitchell who is writing the Hermeneia commentary on the letter), for example. But his scholarship is always first rate, so this will be a major interpretation of the letter.

ANZATS 2012 Call for Papers

Australian & New Zealand Association of Theological Schools

2012 Conference, 1-4 July, Brisbane

The Theological Interpretation of Bible, Church and World

CALL FOR PAPERS
The 2012 Conference Planning Committee is pleased to invite members of ANZATS, ANZSTS and the theological and wider academic community to submit the title of their proposed presentation at this conference and an abstract (250-300 words) by Monday 27 February 2012. This should be accompanied by contact details: name, institutional affiliation, postal address, phone number, and email address. Please address submissions to dmcewan@ntc.edu.au or to ANZATS 2012, c/- Revd Dr David B. McEwan, 40 Woodlands Drive, Thornlands, QLD 4164. It is expected that most presentations will occupy 30 minutes, including question time.

Plenary speaker
We are delighted to announce that the plenary speaker will be Professor John Goldingay, whose contribution in the field of Old Testament theology and biblical commentary is outstanding. John is the David Allan Hubbard Professor of Old Testament in the School of Theology of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, where he has served since 1997. He is also an associate pastor at St Barnabas’ Episcopal Church, Pasadena. Before coming to Fuller, Dr Goldingay was the Principal of St John's Theological College, Nottingham, England, teaching Old Testament and Hebrew. He is the author of many books and articles, including Old Testament Theology Volume. 1-3 (2003-2009), Walk On (2002), Men Behaving Badly (2000), To the Usual Suspects (1998), Models for the Interpretation of Scripture (1995), and Models for Scripture (1994), as well as commentaries on Daniel, Isaiah, and Psalms. Most recently, he
published Genesis for Everyone (Parts 1 and 2), the first two volumes of the ‘Old Testament for Everyone’ commentary series. He holds membership in the Society of Biblical Literature and serves on the editorial board for the Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies.

About the Conference
The 2012 ANZATS Conference Committee invites papers on research into the theological interpretation of the Bible, the Church and the World. Without intending to be restrictive, this theme draws particular attention to three focal areas of theological reflection: the Bible itself, the nature and mission of the Church, and the inter-relationship of the Christian faith and society. In this latter category, papers can deal with such subjects as the arts, culture, environment, ethics, justice, and politics. The conference will begin with registration and a lecture on the evening of Sunday 1 July, and conclude after lunch on Wednesday 4 July. The venue will be Emmanuel College in the University of Queensland. Delegates will be asked to make their own accommodation bookings separately from registration. For further information and updates please see the ANZATS website: www.anzats.edu.au/conferences.html.

MCD University of Divinity: Minister for Higher Education Statement

Baillieu Government creates Australia’s first specialised university

Thursday, 08 December 2011

From the Minister for Higher Education and Skills

Minister for Higher Education and Skills Peter Hall today announced the formal establishment of Victoria's newest university, MCD University of Divinity.

Mr Hall said following today's formal approval the university would operate as a specialised university from 1 January next year.

Mr Hall congratulated MCD on becoming the first university of specialisation in Australia and the first university established in the state since The University of Ballarat in 1993. The Melbourne College of Divinity has operated in Victoria for the past 100 years as a self-accrediting institution.

"This is a wonderful achievement for MCD and its staff and further strengthens Victoria's reputation as Australia's education, research and training capital," Mr Hall said.

"The university has satisfied a rigorous assessment process overseen by the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) and involving an expert panel."

To be recognised as a university MCD had to satisfy a detailed review of its courses, academic structures, capacity for scholarship and research, governance and organisational and administrative capacity.

"The addition of MCD to Victoria's world-class universities will provide more Victorians the opportunity to take part in higher education and will further increase their choice of subjects," Mr Hall said.

MCD was constituted by an Act of the Victorian Parliament, the Melbourne College of Divinity Act (1910), and celebrated its centenary in 2010. MCD offers courses from Diploma to Post-Graduate level in Ministry, Theology, and Philosophy.

MCD University of Divinity will deliver qualifications in the field of Philosophy and Religious Studies with teaching to be conducted through eight affiliated 'Recognised Teaching Institutes'.

"The federated model under which MCD University of Divinity will operate will represent a new model for a university operation in Australia," Mr Hall said.

Download PDF 206.20 Kb

Justice, Justification and the Problem of Translating Paul

I have just taken a closer look at Michael Gorman's excellent article in the first issue of the Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters: 'Justification and Justice in Paul, with Special Reference to the Corinthians' (Volume 1 (2011), 23–40.

I guess anyone who has tried to teach Paul knows that many students are unaware that significant terms from their English translations (justification, righteousness, making righteous, just, justice etc) are all related at the semantic level, and thus, so the argument goes, at the level of Paul's convictions. I have long used a little table in E. P. Sanders' short Paul volume to convey the point.  In the past I have always preferred a solution that maintains the link by translating δικαιόω as 'make righteous' thus preserving some connection with δικαιοσύνη, 'righteousness'. I think, however, that Gorman has now convinced me that the better option is to consistently translate δικαιοσύνη as 'justice' (understood primarily in restorative rather than retributive terms).

However my reason for taking this step is the diametric opposite of Gorman's. He argues (p.28) that it is necessary in order to counter the commonly found 'privatistic interpretation of Paul'. This is a well made argument especially in relation to certain forms of Protestant evangelicalism where Paul's language is too narrowly read to refer to the relationship between the individual and God.

However, the argument works with equal force when directed towards certain Christian traditions in which an emphasis on the divine mandate for social justice is in danger of being detached from what are, in my view, theologically necessary accounts of divine action, the δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ that is revealed in the gospel. In other words, for my students who state that they are Christian because they believe in social justice, to translate δικαιοσύνη as 'justice' and to make explicit the connection to 'justification' serves to remind them that their commitment is itself predicated on a particular narrative of salvation, centered on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that cannot be stepped around without distorting the motivation for and practice of justice in the social sphere.

The next step is to think again about what we do with πίστις language in Paul. I think that the language of faith needs to be preserved in English translations across the range of the Greek. But that is for another time.

Oh, and finally, if you are planning to attend the important conference at King's College London on Douglas Campbell's The Deliverance of God in December (unfortunately we leave Italy for the UK that weekend, so I am unable to be there) or if you want to know what all the fuss is about in relation to that book, then the three articles by Chris Tilling, Michael Gorman again, and Douglas Campbell himself, are essential reading. Get hold of a copy of JSPL, or better, take out a subscription - its really cheap, especially in the light of this end of year offer that came through just as I finished writing this post.

Job Vacancy: Professor of Systematic Theology

My good friend and colleague, Christiaan Mostert, is due to retire at the end of next year, 2012. So once again the search begins for a new colleague to join us on the Faculty here at the Centre for Theology and Ministry. Here are the details. Please feel free to draw people's attention either by reposting, or taking them to the relevant detail on the website here.

UNITING CHURCH THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE

CENTRE FOR THEOLOGY AND MINISTRY

SYNOD OF VICTORIA AND TASMANIA

Applications are invited for the position of

PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY

The appointee will teach in the field of Systematic Theology (primarily within the United Faculty of Theology, an ecumenical Associated Teaching Institution of the MCD University of Divinity), participate in the formation of candidates for Uniting Church Ministries and offer theological leadership within the Synod. In doing so, the appointee will enable students to explore the theological foundations of the Christian faith as represented in the Uniting Church Basis of Union, to give a coherent account of Christian belief and to be able to integrate their learning and ministry practice.

Appointment effective from January 2013 for a period of 7 years.

Closing date for applications:  31 January 2012

Contact for application information: heather.cameron@ctm.uca.edu.au

Applications should be addressed to the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee, Centre for Theology and Ministry,

29 College Crescent, Parkville 3052

Person Description

Biblical Studies Position at South Wales Baptist College, Cardiff

In the light of my good friend Simon Woodman's departure in Spring 2012 (to take up a position at Bloomsbury Baptist Church in London), the South Wales Baptist College are moving quickly to appoint a replacement. The advert and job details for the position of Tutor in Biblical Studies can be found here.

Update, Roundup, News...Call it What You Will

Blogging is, as usual, sporadic. But some of the poor, lonely souls who drop by here may want to know what I am up to at the moment. So here goes, in no particular order.

1. SBL Papers: I am currently writing my papers for SBL next week. Details here. As usual, I find myself falling between two stools, writing neither the fully argued, polished article that can be sent off to a journal (and then edited down for presentation), nor the 2,500–3,000 word presentation paper that is lively, interesting and unencumbered by overwhelming detail. I always do this (i.e. wait until too late to do the former, but find myself too interested in the detail to do just the latter). I am sure it will all be OK come Sunday week.

2. Book proposals: alongside this I am trying to complete an overdue book proposal for a book on 2 Corinthians, along with another proposal for an introductory volume. The latter will be done by the time SBL arrives (which is a good job because I am having lunch with the publisher). The former is proving complex, not least in the absence of a library.

3. Other writing: I just sent off a short piece to the journal Cross Purposes on the topic of the creedal confession in Jesus as son of God. The pre-publication version is here if you want to read it.

4. Visas: our application for a Permanent Visa to live and work in Australia was finally lodged earlier this week on a 'decision-ready' basis. Now we wait, and hopefully for not too long. I am not fond of any model of prayer that involves asking God for favours, but frankly we would like to hear good news as soon as possible, so...you know....if you wanted to ask...that would be OK with me.

5. Reading: while we have been away I have discovered John Le Carre (A Perfect Spy and now The Constant Gardener, which is very different from the film). Apparently, when it was published, Philip Roth called A Perfect Spy the best English novel since the war. Not quite sure about that, but Le Carre is a great writer and a suprisingly (to me at least) literary one. And he is related to Brian Haymes (can't quite remember how).

6. Eating: living in Italy over these past few months has reminded me what I love about Italian food and the cultural norms associated with eating here: ingredients are everything; most restaurants are an extension of the home kitchen rather than wannabe versions of some Michelin starred venue; lunch is taken seriously; no-one tries to rip you off (no pressure to eat or drink anything you don't want to - in fact you have to ask specially if you want to drink anything other than house red or white); unlike the French, the Italians value and know what to do with vegetables (greens especially); innovation is generally (and usually correctly) frowned upon. Today's lunch was home made pasta with sausage, funghi and truffles followd by grilled lamb, fried potatoes and chicory in oil - it was splendid in every way. The prize for value for money goes to the local Hotel Caroline, whose Sunday lunch menu is as follows:

Antipasto freddo (prosciutto, salumi, formaggio, olive)

Antipasto caldo (verdure ripiene - stuffed zucchini, melanzane, funghi, pomodori etc)

Canelloni della casa

Spaghetti della casa

Carne alla griglia

Contorni (patatine fritte; ciccoria, bietole etc etc)

Dolce

Frutta

The price of €20 includes water, wine, coffee and a digestivo to accompany the last of these and, yes, there are 2 antipasti, and 2 primi not as choices, but to be taken consecutively.

7. Purchasing: while we have been here we have had the chance to buy some things that, in Australia, wuld be prohibitively expensive. Shoes, of course, for Katherine. But more importantly things for the kitchen and dining room, the pinnacle of which were the set of Fissler Original Pro saucepans and frying pan that we bought today. Years ago, in successive John Lewis sales, I managed to pick up two Fissler pans which I confess are the things that I would save beyond all others should our kitchen be overwhelmed by fire, quake or flood. Now they have some competition as the photograph at the top of this post demonstrates.

Latest Regent's Reviews

The latest issue of the reviews journal out of Regent's Park College in Oxford, Regent's Reviews, is now available in the rather snazzy aXmag format here.

There are reviews of books by Joseph Blenkinsopp, Douglas Farrow, Nigel Biggar and Lloyd Pietersen (among many others), of some recent commentaries and of two recent books about the work of N. T. Wright. In the midst of all of that there is my review of Robert Jenson's Canon and Creed.

Professor Nigel Watson

I have heard today that Professor Emeritus Nigel Watson, one of my predecessors as Professor of New Testament in the Uniting Church Theological College (and before that at Ormond College) died peacefully on Sunday 23rd October, surrounded by his family.

Nigel served as Professor of New Testament for more than thirty years and was a dearly loved teacher and tutor. His formation as a scholar took place in New Zealand, Cambridge and Princeton (where he wrote his doctorate under W. D. Davies). He spent a year at Göttingen and I recently had several conversations about time he spent working with Jeremias and Käsemann while in Germany. He will be known to many for his two helpful commentaries on the Corinthian correspondence in the Epworth series (work for which generated a number of good scholarly articles) as well as a book entitled Striking Home on preaching from the New Testament. For many more, especially in Victoria, he will be know as the author of innumerable popular level works that were focussed on helping bible study groups engage with the biblical text in a responsible, critical and pastoral manner.

No dooubt more formal tributes will be paid in due course.

Anthony Thiselton on Reception Theory

Anthony Thiselton's books have long been placed in the category of 'books-I-think-I-probably-should-read'. I have lots of them, and haven't ever enjoyed reading a single one. It started with The Two Horizons, and carried on from there. At first I thought it was because I was thick, and didn't understand any of it. I now think it is down to other aspects of his writing that I find just plain infuriating.

As an example, consider his recent 'textbook' Hermeneutics: An Introduction (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009). Bear in mind the proposed genre for this work. Both publisher's and readers' (Moberly and Torrance) use the word 'textbook' to define it. That suggests to me that, in relation to the topics covered in the book, we should find within its pages a clear, concise, accurate and fair treatment of the topic or issue, and the various ways in which it has been approached in scholarship.

The section on Reception Theory (pages 316–325), in the light of this expectation, comes across as, frankly, quite bizarre. It begins well enough with a statement about the overall aim of Reception Theory, a clear and necessary mention of Luz's distinction between Wirkungsgeschichte and Auslegungsgeschichte and a nod to Gadamer. But then we find the following sentence; "Reception history was founded, in effect, by Hans Robert Jauss" (316). This is misleading because of the shift from "theory" to "history" and is liable to give the impression that Jauss was the first person to formulate an act of biblical reception. Anyway, as David Parris has shown, Ernst von Dobschütz was arguing for an approach to the Bible via a study of its reception in the early 1900s.

What follows this very brief opening is a short biographical summary of Jauss's career (a favourite tactic in Thiselton books and one which adds precisely nothing to the student's understanding of the theory under discussion). This leads into a one and half page summary of Jauss's inaugural lecture "Literary History as a Challenge to Literary Theory". Half way through we get the line: "This takes us through the first twenty pages of Jauss's lecture". Then Thiselton lists the seven theses that emerge in the rest of the lecture. What one looks for, in vain, is any sense that Thiselton is telling the (student?) reader what Reception Theory actually is. What is offered (and this happens time and again in his work) is an account of what someone else once thought about stuff that clearly has something to do with Reception Theory and biblical hermeneutics. But there is no real attempt to interpret, analyse, systematize or formulate a clear argument. The discussion of Jauss ends by mentioning his "next essay" (i.e. the next one in Toward an Aesthetic of Reception) and concludes with the admission that Jauss nowhere asks how his work applies to the Bible. Regrettably, Thiselton does not step up to fill in.

The next section describes how "reception theory or reception history has recently begun to seize people's imagination" (which people?). Mention is made of the EKK series (but only Luz and Wilckens are mentioned by name), Thiselton's own 1 Corinthians commentary (the sections of which are largely accounts of the letter's Auslegungsgeschichte rather than anything broader) and the Blackwell's Bible Commentary series some volumes of which are then (rightly) criticized for being "only a history of interpretation". [A side note: Thiselton mentions three of the BBC volumes: those on Judges, John and Revelation, and then states that "two or three" of the recent volumes do not measure up to Luz's definition and offer an "abitrary" selection of texts. Given that only three volumes are listed, The impression is that these volumes are guilty as charged, which in the case of two of them I would suggest is a mistaken assessment]. The IVP Christian Commentary on Scripture series is dismissed as a "random history of interpretation", whereas in fact it gathers in one place a rather handy and sometimes fairly comprehensive set of excerpts from patristic commentaries in a contemporary English translation. Thiselton then declares reception history to be so new that it fails to appear in The Dictiionary of Biblical Interpretation edited by John Hoyes (sic: it should read Hayes) or the Dictionary of Theological Interpretation of the Bible.

And that is it, as far as a general treatment of the topic goes. The next section gives some examples of reception history at work. Given Thiselton's criticisms of early volumes of the BBC, you might expect something other than what we are offered:

Childs on Exodus 2:11–25 and 3:1–4:17: examples of reception discussed = Gregory of Nazianzus; Tertullian; Ambrose; Aquinas; Calvin; Irenaus; Luther; James Barr

Luz on Matthew 1:18–25 and 2:1–12: examples = Luther, Calvin, Jerome, Schleiermacher, a general statement about post Vatican II Catholic biblical scholarship (with Fitzmyer's name spelt wrong in the footnote; perhaps that is where all my students learn how to misspell it, as they almost always do); Justin (Justin who? the undergraduate may well ask); the Medieval and Reformation periods and 'art'. Lovely closing sentence: "The text itself has little influence on its reception" (322) - Huh???

Luz on Matthew 5:1–18: examples = Clement of Alexandria; Gregory of Nyssa; Luther; Post-reformation Pietism; Athanasius.

Thiselton on 1 Corinthians 15: examples = Ignatius; Polycarp; Didache, I Clement; Justin Martyr; Treatise on the Resurrection; Irenaus; Tertuallian; Origen; Luther (in one Luther footnote the English LW series is fully cited, for the second and third, a cross reference to WA is also provided); Barth.

Throughout this section one has the feeling that one is reading Thiselton's research notes. The final straw comes when he mentions Judith Kovacs treatment of 1 Corinthians with the faint praise tnat it "remains relevant" and then points out that both Stephen Fowl and David Parris, whose books are mentioned, "were my formerly successful Ph.D. candidates" (325). Final mention is given to Ormond Rush's book The Reception of Doctrine for reasons that are less than clear.

The result? In my view, mystification for anyone who is coming to this topic for the first time, and frustration for anyone who is working in the area. And in addition, a strong sense that there is a real need for an introductory textbook that introduces students to the theory and practice of reception history in a clear, accessible and instructive way. Anyone looking to Thiselton to provide the necessary introductory information and discussion will leave this book, I suspect, not much the wiser (although they will know the topic of Jauss's Habilitationsschrift.)

A New Colleague in Old Testament: Dr Monica Melanchthon

I have been involved for some months (and at a distance) in the process for appointing a new Professor of Old Testament as my colleague at the Centre for Theology and Ministry. News came today that the appointment has been confirmed by the Synod.

Dr Monica Melanchthon, ordained within the Lutheran Church in India in 2009,  is currently Professor of Old Testament studies at Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, Chennai, India. She is an internationally-known OT scholar with degrees from Serampore University and Bangalore University in India, and a doctoral degree from the Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago.

With a rich contribution of articles and monographs over the last ten years, two of Monica’s forthcoming publications give a taste of her interests and passions: “Mapping feminist Biblical Studies in Asia” in Feminist Biblical studies in the 20th century edited by Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza and “Biblical and Theological Perspectives of Ecumenism: Old Testament Perspective” in Learning Ecumenism Together: Resources from Asian Perspectives.

Dr Melanchthon’s current commitments in India will conclude in April 2012 and she will begin her appointment with us from May 2012.

A warm welcome to Monica as she prepares to move from India to Australia and join the Faculty here.

C. K. Barrett Obituary

Robert Morgan has written an elegant obituary for C. K. Barrett in the Guardian. The picture of Barrett is also great!

Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters

Nijay hepfully points to the release of the first full issue of this new journal devoted to Pauline studies (information via the Eisenbrauns website here). The first issue includes the following articles:

“Philippians 2:6-11: Incarnation as Mimetic Participation” (Susan Eastman)

“Justification and Justice in Paul, with Special Reference to the Corinthians” (Michael Gorman)

“Reading Romans with Arthur Schopenhauer: Some First Steps towards a Theology of Mind” (Richard Bell)

“The Eschatology of the The Thessalonian Correspondence: An Exercise in Pastoral Pedagogy and Constructive Theology” (Paul Foster)

“The Deliverance of God, and of Paul?” (Chris Tilling)

“Douglas Campbell’s The Deliverance of God: A Review by a Friendly Critic” (Michael Gorman)

“What is at Stake in the Reading of Romans 1-3? An Elliptical Response to the Concerns of Gorman and Tilling” (Douglas Campbell)

“Colossae: The State of Forthcoming Excavations” (Michael Trainor)

I am hoping that my copy is on its way to Melbourne, because I subscribed what seems like a year ago.

ANZATS Conference 2012: Hermeneutics

Looking ahead to next year I have found out that the ANZATS (Australian and New Zealand Association of Theological Schools) Conference for 2012 is going to be held in Brisbane from July 1-4. The conference theme will be Hermeneutics. More details to follow, but the more hermeneutically inclined might want to put the dates in their diaries.

Mellel and Bookends Offer

Mac users who want to use Hebrew scripts and what them to work properly (i.e. from Right to Left) will know that Mellel is the word processor of choice. Those who use Mellel often use Bookends as their bibliographic management software (although I am currently still EndNote dependent). The good news is that the people at MacUpdate have bundled those two software programmes, along with eight others (including Roxio Toast 11 Titanium) for the nice price of $49.99. I have just made the purchase, and maybe others will want to as well. You had better be quick though, there is only 1 day and a bit left on the offer.