Taking a Break in 2017

Friends —

Just a quick note to say that the working group ‘Explorations in Theology and Apocalyptic’ will be taking a break and will not be hosting special sessions during the annual meetings of the AAR/SBL this November, 2017.  We plan to pick up our conservation again during the 2018 meetings once again.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for the April 2018 issue of Theology Today which will be a special issue on the theme of ‘Theology and Apocalyptic’. It will present a rich collection of papers, some of which have emerged from our meetings in recent years. Nancy Duff (Princeton Theological Seminary) and Philip Ziegler (University of Aberdeen) are together editing the issue.

Other recent publishing notes:

• There is a valuable new book edited by Loren Stuckenbruck and Benjamin Reynolds that will of interest. It’s entitled The Jewish Apocalyptic Tradition and the Shaping of New Testament Thought (Fortress, 2017).
• Also, watch out for Travis Kroeker‘s fine collection of essays Messianic Political Theology and Diaspora Ethics, to be published this autumn by Wipf & Stock.

Beverly Gaventa to Deliver SBL Presidential Address: Reading Romans 13

Everyone who has been involved in the conversations of the ‘Explorations in Theology and Apocalyptic’ group over recent years will not want to miss out on hearing Professor Beverly Gaventa’s SBL Presidential Address during this year’s annual meeting of the AAR/SBL.

 

SBL Presidential Address (Session: S19-401)

Time & Date: Saturday, November 19th, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm / Room: TBC

• Michael Fox, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Introduction (10 min)
• Beverly Gaventa, Baylor University
  Reading Romans 13 with Simone Weil: Toward a More Generous Hermeneutic (50 min)

The Legacy of J. Louis Martyn for the Study of the Apostle Paul

In lieu of second evening session this year during the AAR/SBL annual meeting, the ‘Explorations in Theology and Apocalyptic’ group is  delighted to be able to co-sponsor this session of the Pauline Theology group (S20-219) reflecting on the legacy of J. Louis Martyn and his work

Time & Date: Sunday, November 20th, 1:30 – 3:30 pm

Location: TBC

Theme: 

• John M. G. Barclay, University of Durham, Presiding
• Beverly Gaventa, Baylor University
  J. Louis (Lou) Martyn: His legacy for the study of the Apostle Paul (15 min)
• Doug Harink, King’s University (Edmonton)
  The legacy of J. Louis (Lou) Martyn for the study of the Apostle Paul: questions of continuity and discontinuity (15 min)
• Joel Marcus, Duke University
  The legacy of J. Louis (Lou) Martyn for the study of the Apostle Paul: Judaism, Israel, and the Torah (15 min)
• Susan Eastman, Duke University
  The Legacy of J. Louis (Lou) Martyn within Pauline Scholarship: Questions of Agency (15 min)
• A. Katherine Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary, Respondent (15 min)

A Love That Turns the Ages: Thinking Apocalyptically About Incarnation and Crucifixion’

The working group, ‘Explorations in Theology and Apocalyptic’ is delighted to announce the first of two sessions to be held at this year’s annual meeting of the AAR/SBL in San Antonio, TX, from November 19-22, 2016.

This panel session involves four short papers investigating various aspects of the meaning, shape and consequence of the doctrine of incarnation and the theology of the cross in an apocalyptic perspective.

Date & Time: 6:30 – 8:30 pm on Sunday, November 20th

Location: El Mirador C West room in the Hilton Palacio del Rio

Panellists:

• R. David Nelson, ‘The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ as Interruption: Toward an Apocalyptic Theologia Crucis’
• David W. Congdon, ‘Apocalypse as Perpetual Advent: The Christmas Sermons of Rudolf Bultmann’
• Shannon Nichole Smythe, ‘The Way of Divine and Human Handing-over: Pauline Apocalyptic, Centering Prayer, and Vulnerable Solidarity’
• Justin Jeffcoat Schedtler, ‘The Slaughtered Lamb Is King—From Theologia Crucis to Theologia Gloriae in the Book of Revelation’

Call for Papers : Theology & Apocalyptic at the AAR/SBL 2016

Explorations in Theology and Apocalyptic

AAR/SBL Annual Meeting 2016, San Antonio, November 19-22

Call for Papers

‘A Love That Turns the Ages: Thinking Apocalyptically About

Incarnation and Crucifixion’

The AAR/SBL have adopted the overarching theme of ‘revolutionary love’ for their annual meetings in November 2016.  Connecting with this rubric, the organizers of the Explorations in Theology & Apocalyptic group invite proposals for short papers (20-25 minutes in length) investigating the meaning, shape and consequence of the doctrine of incarnation and the theology of the cross in an apocalyptic perspective.

How can and ought these doctrines to be developed in an ‘apocalyptic key’ or within an apocalyptic orientation in Christian theology?  How might the concept of kenosis be re-thought in connection with Pauline apocalyptic? Could the understanding of Christmas be more fully and substantively interpreted in accordance with reference to the eschatological motifs that mark Advent? Is the Johannine prologue open to an apocalyptic hearing? Can the nature of the Second Coming illumine the reality and significance of the first? And are there particular resources in the theological tradition which ought to inform and guide such efforts?

Proposals should be no more than 300 words in length, and must be accompanied by a brief single-page CV.

Proposals should be sent to Philip Ziegler: p.ziegler@abdn.ac.uk

All proposals must be received by March 30^th, 2016

Theology and Apocalyptic Sessions at the 2015 AAR/SBL

The ‘Explorations in Theology and Apocalyptic’ group is pleased to announce a programme of two sessions to take place as ‘additional meetings’ once again this year during the annual meeting of the AAR/SBLin Atlanta.

I/ Saturday, November 21st, 6:30 – 8:30 (Lenox Room at the Hyatt Regency )

A Book Discussion Panel on Samuel V. Adams, The Reality of God and Historical Method: Apocalyptic Theology in Conversation with N.T. Wright (forthcoming 2015, Inter-Varsity Press).

• Grant Macaskill (University of Aberdeen)
• Chris Tilling (St Mellitus College, London)
• Joshua B. Davis (Birmingham, AL)
• Samuel V. Adams (Kilns College), responding
• Justin Klassen (Bellarmine University), presiding

II / Sunday, November 22nd, 6:30 – 8:30 (Room 213 at the Hilton Downtown)

The Place of Divine Judgement in an Apocalyptic Theology: A Panel Session

• Ry Siggelkow (Princeton Theological Seminary),  ‘The Harrowing of Hell: Ernst Käsemann’s Theology of Divine Judgement’
• Christopher C. Brittain (University of Aberdeen), ‘Disaster and Apocalyptic Theology–On Divine Judgement and Meaning’
• Evan F. Kuehn (University of Chicago, Divinity School), ‘The Judgement of God in Christ: A Proposal for an Apocalyptic Account of God-forsakenness’
• Scott Prather (Jackson Free Press), ‘Apocalypse and Apathy’
• Christopher Holmes (Otago University), presiding

Updates on the programme will be posted here in due course. Details of these sessions will also appear eventually in the AAR programme book in the ‘additional meetings’ section.

J Louis Martyn (1925-2015)

Beverly Gaventa (Baylor) has penned a memorial tribute to Lou Martyn which can be read on the SBL webpage here.

There is also a notice from the President of Union Theological Seminary, Serene Jones, which you’ll find here.

Fleming Rutledge has also written this memorial reflection here.

Joel Marcus (Duke) offers his own personal reflections on Martyn’s life and work here on Mark Goodacre’s NT blog.

 

(photo credit: Fleming Rutledge)