2020 Enoch Seminar Online

Title: Concepts of Evil in Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins

Participation is by invitation only. It is not a public conference (in streaming) followed by Q&A, but a series of workshop among invited specialists. After the presentation by three panelists there will be an hour of free discussion that will involve the respondents and the discussants and other people that from the audience will spontaneously join the conversation, like in our regular sessions at the Enoch Seminar.

Chairs: Gabriele Boccaccini and Lorenzo DiTommaso (with Kelley Coblentz Bautch, Loren Stuckenbruck and Jason Zurawski)

Date : June 29 - July 1-2 (Monday - Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday)

Daily schedule (EDT, Eastern Daylight Time): 10am-11:30am / 12:00pm-1:30pm / 2:30pm-4pm

Registration: In order to virtually attend the meeting and the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Awards, you must register via the online registration form here: https://forms.gle/2VfgpsT3EBYDjDt9A.

Description (by the Chairs)

Our Approach to this Online Seminar

Participants should keep in mind that the tenor of their presentations/responses ought to be prospective rather than retrospective. A survey of past work is not appropriate here, nor is the statement of an issue that has been “chewed over” for a long time. We seek, instead, new ideas, theses, or approaches. A statement of a major issue or question that has come to light in view of recent scholarship would be excellent, as well, especially if it is “thick,” in the sense that it contains ideas that could be unpacked and debated in group discussion for mutual profit.

Time Allotted for Each Presentation and Response

Each presentation is only 10-15 minutes and each response is 5 minutes in length. Unlike in-person Enoch Seminars, we do not require participants to pre-circulate their papers. Thus, the emphasis is on brevity, clarity, and, to a certain degree, generality, at least within the session parameters. Accordingly, participants should expect that they will be given ample time to revise/amplify their ideas for publication in the conference volume, ideally in dialogue with the formal responses (which, as discussed, will also be published) and informal group discussion.

The Nature of the Seminar

For this Online Seminar, questions posed are intended to be quite open-ended. On the one hand, this allows panelists and respondents maximum room for exploration within the compass of the session topic. On the other hand, we are issuing invitations to targeted specialists in the expectation they require the least in the way of guidance and have the most likelihood of sizing up the question and offering meaningful responses to it. For this reason, participation is by invitation only. It is not a public conference (in streaming), but a workshop among invited specialists.

A New Kind of Conference for this Distinctive Moment

This will be a new kind of conference experience for most of us. We've tweaked a few things in order to accommodate the new medium, according us maximum fluidity in the conference architecture without sacrificing traditional scientific rigour. We are excited that the Enoch Seminar is taking this initiative in light of the current moment and given the likelihood that online platforms will continue to be important and omnipresent in various academic contexts. The Seminar means to carry on despite these difficult times, not only to maintain continuity and connexions, but also because the Republic of Letters, of which we are citizens, may bend with stormy winds but will not break.

Schedule (New York Time Zone)

DAY 1 (Monday, June 29, 2020)

9:30am - Free gathering of participants from all around the world. Greetings.

10:00am-11:30am -- Welcome and Opening Remarks. [Gabriele Boccaccini, Lorenzo Di Tommaso, Kelley Coblentz Bautch]

"Awards Ceremony"

"Enoch Seminar Life Achievement Award" to honor Paolo Sacchi, George Nickelsburg, Robert Kraft, Michael Knibb, Michael Stone, Devorah Dimant, and James Charlesworth, "in gratitude for their exceptional contribution to the field of Second Temple Jewish Studies and their generous service in the Enoch Seminar."

Presenters: Gabriele Boccaccini, Kelley Coblentz Bautch, Annette Reed, John Collins, Jonathan Ben-Dov, Lorenzo DiTommaso, Loren Stuckenbruck

12:00pm-1:30pm [Chair Loren Stuckenbruck] -- 1. If "apocalyptic is the mother of theology," is the problem of evil the mother of "apocalyptic"?

Panelists: Ida Fröhlich, Albert Baumgarten, Emmanouela Grypeou
Respondents: Matthew Goff, Matthias Hoffmann, Alexander Kulik
Discussants: Gabriele Boccaccini, Mark Leuchter ...

2:30pm-4pm [Chair Lorenzo DiTommaso] -- 2. What was the nature and extent of Zoroastrian, Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Greco-Roman influences on the diverse notions of evil in Second Temple Judaism?

Panelists: Jason Silverman, Harold Attridge, Lorenzo DiTommaso
Respondents: Vicente Dobroruka, Pierluigi Piovanelli, David Hamidovic
Discussants: Giovanni Bazzana ...

DAY 2 (Tuesday, June 30, 2020)

9:30 - Remarks from DAY 1: Gabriele Boccaccini, Miryam Bard, Loren Stuckenbruck, Lorenzo Di Tommaso, Lawrence H. Schiffman

10am-11:30am [Chair Kelley Coblentz Bautch] -- 3. Which are the different ways in which evil was understood to enter into the world? Which historical or social circumstances prompted the preference from one or the other? Was it a case of a religious development in response to fundamental changes in the religious environment? In both cases, where and why?

Panelists: Carol Newsom, Loren Stuckenbruck, James VanderKam
Respondents: Matthias Henze, Lester Grabbe, Anathea Portier-Young
Discussants: Fiodar Litvinau, Daniel Assefa ...

12:00pm-1:30pm [Chair Jason Zurawski] -- 4. How do non-apocalyptic texts of the period engage with the issue of the origin of evil and the theological problems it raises? Is there literary evidence, explicit or implicit, for contemporary debate regarding the existence of multiple explanations for the origin of evil in the world, particularly regarding the ways that each explanation addresses theological and existential issues?

Panelists: Gerbern Oegema, Karina Martin Hogan, Greg Sterling
Respondents: Hindy Najman, Benjamin Wright, Samuel Adams
Discussants: Erich Gruen, Francis Borchardt ...

2:30pm-4pm [Chair Lorenzo DiTommaso] -- 5. Are evil human or superhuman figures a necessary and functional part of the earliest expressions of evil, or did they develop later?

Panelists: Kelley Coblentz Bautch, Ryan Stokes, Archie Wright
Respondents: Michael Morris, Lorenzo DiTommaso, Angela Kim Harkins
Discussants: Jonathan Ben-Dov, Joshua Scott ...

DAY 3 (Wednesday, July 1, 2020)

9:30 - Remarks from DAY 2: Gabriele Boccaccini, Kelley Coblentz Bautch, Jason Zurawski, Lorenzo Di Tommaso, Lawrence H. Schiffman

10am-11:30am [Chair Loren Stuckenbruck] -- 6. The origin of evil in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Panelists: John Collins, Jutta Leonhardt-Balzer, Miryam Brand
Respondents: Timothy Lim, Elisa Uusimäki, Benjamin Wold
Discussants: Cecilia Wassen, Esther Chazon ...

12:00pm-1:30pm [Chair Gabriele Boccaccini] -- 7. How is the problem of evil and its origin addressed in the Parables of Enoch and the Synoptics?

Panelists: Leslie Baynes, Gabriele Boccaccini, Darrell Bock
Respondents: Jim Davila, Eric Noffke, Benjamin Reynolds
Discussants: Daniel Boyarin, Daniele Minisini, Isaac Oliver, Daniel Assefa ...

2:30pm-4pm [Chair Ben Reynolds] -- 8. Do Paul and John stand in line with trajectories already evident in the Synoptics and Jewish apocalyptic literature of the era, or do they represent a new direction? Do we have evidence of divergent notions on the origin of evil in the early Jesus movement?

Panelists: Paula Fredriksen, Adele Reinhartz, Edmondo Lupieri
Respondents: Matthew Thiessen, Jutta Leonhart-Balzer, Craig Koester
Discussants: Gabriele Boccaccini, Paul Anderson, Charlotte Hempel, Isaac Oliver, Karen King ...

DAY 4 (Thursday, July 2, 2020)

9:30 - Remarks from DAY 3: Gabriele Boccaccini, Benjamin Reynolds, Loren Stuckenbruck, Lorenzo Di Tommaso, Lawrence H. Schiffman

10am-11:30am [Chair Jason Zurawski] -- 9. How is the problem of evil and its origin addressed in Rabbinic literature? Does it/they stand in line with trajectories already evident in the Jewish literature of the Second Temple Period, or does it represent a wholly new explanation?

Panelists: Hector Patmore, Steven Fraade, Paul Mandel, Daniel Boyarin
Respondents: Ishay Rosen-Zvi, Ronit Nikolsky, Mika Ahuvia
Discussant: Rebecca Wollenberg, Isaac Oliver ...

12:00pm-1:30pm [Chair Kelley Coblentz Bautch] -- 10. How is the problem of evil and its origin addressed in "gnostic" (Valentinian, Sethian, Mandaean) literature? Do they stand in line with trajectories already evident in the Second Temple Period, or represent a wholly new explanation?

Panelists: Jason BeDuhn, Alberto Camplani, James McGrath
Respondents: April DeConick, Nicola Denzey-Lewis, Dylan Burns
Discussants: Karen King ...

2:30-4pm - Wrap-up session

2:30pm-3:45pm - Panelists: Lorenzo DiTommaso, Kelley Coblentz Bautch, Loren Stuckenbruck, Miryam Brand, John Collins, Gabriele Boccaccini
3:45pm - Final remarks [Gabriele Boccaccini]: Twenty Years of Activities of Enoch Seminar: From Florence to the Cyberspace. In memory of Hanan Eshel, Shemaryahu Talmon, J. Harold Ellens, Klaus Koch, Michael Bonner, Geza Xeravits, and Larry W. Hurtado. Committed to building the new generation of scholars in Second Temple Judaism.

Confirmed Participants

Elisabetta Abate, researcher (University of Gottingen, Germany)*
@ Sofanit Abebe (PhD candidate, University of Edinburgh, UK)*
@ Samuel Adams [respondent]
Federico Adinolfi (Istituto Superiore di Scienze Religiose "S. Francesco", Italy)*
@ Mika Ahuvia (University of Washington, USA) [respondent]
@ Paul Anderson (George Fox University, USA) *
@ Joseph Angel (Yeshiva University) *
@ Giancarlo Paolo Angulo (PhD candidate, Florida State University, USA)*
@ Luca Arcari (University of Naples, Italy)
@ Daniel Assefa (Capuchin Franciscan Institute Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
@ Kenneth Atkinson (University of Northern Iowa, USA)
@ Harold W. Attridge (Yale University, USA) [panelist] *
Thomas Babu (Serampore University, India)*
@ Florentina Badalova Geller (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany)
Kyung Baek, Instructor (Trinity Western University, Canada)*
Alexander Bailey (University of Oxford, UK) *
Samuel Balentine, Professor of Old Testament (Union Presbyterian Seminary, USA) *
Lori Baron, Assistant Professor of New Testament (St. Louis University, USA)*
John Barton, Professor emeritus of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture (University of Oxford, UK)*
@ Albert I. Baumgarten (Bar-Ilan University, Israel) [panelist] *
@ Leslie Baynes (Missouri State University, USA) [panelist] *
@ Giovanni Bazzana (Harvard University, USA) [discussant] *
Jason BeDuhn (Northern Arizona University, USA) [panelist]
Luca Bertolino, Associate Professor (University of Turin, Italy)*
Harvey Van Bik (Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong)*
Laura Bizzarro (Pontificia Universidad Catolica Argentina, Argentia)*
@ Gabriele Boccaccini (University of Michigan, USA) [panelist] *
@ Darrell Bock (Dallas Theological Seminary, USA) [panelist] *
@ Francis Borchardt (Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong)*
Andrew Bowden (PhD candidate, LMU Munich, Germany)*
@ Daniel Boyarin (University of California Berkeley, USA) [panelist]
Connor Boyd (University of Edinburgh, Scotland)*
@ Miryam T. Brand (W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Israel) [panelist]
Lucas Brandon (PhD candidate; Florida State University, USA)*
Tom de Bruin, Lacturer in New Testament Exegesis (Newbold College, UK) *
@ Dylan Burns (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany) [respondent]
Piero Capelli (University of Venice, Italy) *
@ Alberto Camplani (University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy) [panelist]
Rodney Caruthers (Ashland Theological Seminary, USA)
Beryl Chan (Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong)*
@ Kelley Coblentz Bautch (St Edward's University, USA) [panelist] *
Federico Moises Colautti (International Theological Institute, Austria)*
@ John J. Collins (Yale University, USA) [panelist] *
Robert Costello (University of Aberdeen, UK)*
@ Sidnie White Crawford (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA)
Marianne Dacy (University of Sydney, Australia)*
@ James Davila (University of St Andrews, Scotland) [respondent]
@ April DeConick (Rice University, USA) [respondent]
@ Nicola Denzey-Lewis (Claremont Graduate University, USA) [respondent]
Kindy De Long (Pepperdine University, USA)*
Michael DeVries (University of Birmingham, UK)*
Magdalena Díaz Araujo, Professor of Judaism and Early Christianity (Universidad Nacional de La Rioja / Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Argentina)*
@ Devorah Dimant (University of Haifa, Israel) [awardee] *
@ Lorenzo DiTommaso (Concordia University Montreal, Canada) [respondent] *
@ Vicente Dobroruka (Universidade de Brasília, Brazil) [respondent] *
@ Jan Dochhorn (Durham University, England)
@ Rachel Dryden, post-doc (University of Cambridge, England)
@ Oliver Dyma (WWU Münster, Germany)*
Florence Abimbola Egbeyale (PhD Candidate; Florida State University, USA)*
@ Jason von Ehrenkrook (University of Massachusetts at Boston, USA)*
@ Torleif Elgvin (NLA University College, Norway)
@ Esther Eshel (Bar-Ilan University, Israel)*
Yael Fisch, post-doc (University of Oxford, UK)*
@ Crispin Fletcher-Louis (University of Gloucestershire, UK)*
@ Deborah Forger (Dartmouth College, USA)
@ Steven Fraade (Yale University, USA) [panelist]
@ Paula Fredriksen [panelist]
Rachel Frish (Bar-Ilan University, Israel)*
@ Ida Frölich (Catholic University Budapest, Hungary) [panelist]
Bonifatia Gesche (University of Saarbruecken and Vetus Latina Institute, Germany)*
@ Matthew Goff (Florida State University, USA) [respondent]
John Goldingay, Professor of Old Testament (Fuller Theological Seminary, USA) *
Batsheva Goldman-Ida, PhD (Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel)*
David Goodin, Instructor (McGill School of Religious Studies, Canada)*
@ Lester Grabbe (University of Hull, UK) [respondent]
Maxine Grossman (University of Maryland, USA)*
@ Erich Gruen (University of California Berkeley, USA) [discussant] *
@ Emmanouela Grypeou (Stockholm University, Sweden) [panelist]
@ David Hamidovic (Univerisity of Lausanne, Switzerland) [respondent]*
Todd Hanneken (St. Mary's University, USA)*
@ Angela Kim Harkins (Boston College, USA) [respondent]
@ Christine Hayes (Yale University, USA)*
@ Charlotte Hempel (University of Birmingham, UK) *
@ Matthias Henze (Rice University, USA) [respondent] *
Gregory Hillendahl (London School of Theology, UK)*
Vered Hillel (MJTI, Israel)*
Matthias Reinhard Hoffmann (Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Germany) [respondent]
@ Karina Martin Hogan (Fordham University, USA) [panelist] *
Kerwin Holmes Jr., PhD candidate (University of Virginia, USA)*
Giovanni Ibba (Istituto Superiore di Scienze Religiose S. Caterina da Siena, Italy)*
Lorenzo Innocenti (Facoltà Teologica dell'Italia Centrale, Italy)*
David R. Jackson (Australia)*
Jozef Jancovic, Senior Research Fellow (Comenius University, Slovakia)*
@ Jutta Jokiranta (University of Helsinki, Finland)*
@ Jonathan Kaplan (The University of Texas at Austin, USA)*
Martina Kepper, Lecturer (Philipps-University Marburg, Germany)*
Paul Kim (Methodist Theological School in Ohio, USA)*
Bethany Kinderman (University of Oxford, UK)*
Ian Kinman (Fordham University, USA)*
@ Karen King (Harvard University, USA)[discussant] *
@ Michael Knibb (King's College London, UK) [awardee] *
@ Craig R. Koester (Luther Seminar, USA) [respondent]
@ Robert Kraft (University of Pennsylvania, USA) [awardee] *
@ Alexander Kulik (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel) [respondent]
Un Sung Kwak (University of Oxford, UK)*
@ David Lambert (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)*
Peter Lanfer, Assistant Professor (Occidetal College, USA)*
Natalie Lantz, PhD student (Uppsala University, Sweden)*
Nitzan Lebovic, Associate Professor (Lehigh University, USA)*
@ Jutta Leonhardt-Balzer (University of Aberdeen, Scotland) [panelist]
Jim Lepkowski (University of Michigan, USA)*
@ Mark Leuchter (Temple University, USA)
Joseph Levi (Shemàh School of Jewish Studies and culture Margulies Levins, Florence, Italy)*
@ Amy-Jill Levine, Professor of New Tetstament (Vanderbilt University, USA) *
@ John R. (Jack) Levison (Southern Methodist University, USA)
@ Liv Ingeborg Lied (Norwegian School of Theology, Norway)*
@ Timothy Lim (University of Edinburgh, Scotland) [respondent]
@ Fiodar Litvinau, PhD candidate (LMU Munich, Germany) [discussant] *
Drew Longacre (University of Groningen, Netherlands)*
Geert Lorein (Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven, Belgium)*
Jared Ludlow (Brigham Young University, USA)*
@ Edmondo Lupieri (Loyola University Chicago, USA) [panelist]
@ Paul Mandel (Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, Israel) [panelist] *
Ferran Mateo Hernandez (Faculty of Theology of Catalonia, Spain)*
Moses Matias (Morehouse College, USA)*
Joshua Matson (Florida State University, USA)*
Luca Mazzinghi (Pontificia Università Gregoriana, Italy) *
Alexander McCarron (University of Oxford, UK)*
Gavin McDowell (PhD Student, Université Laval, Canada) *
@ James McGrath (Butler University, USA) [panelist] *
Enric Cortes Minguella, Professor (Facultat de Teologia de Catalunya, Spain)*
Daniele Minisini (PhD candidate, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy) *
@ Michael Morris [respondent]
Craig Morrison, Professor (Pontifical Biblical Institute, Italy)*
@ Hindy Najman (University of Oxford, England) [respondent]
@ Mark Nanos (Lund University, USA)*
@ Carol Newsom (Candler School of Theology, USA) [panelist]
@ George W.E. Nickelsburg (emeritus, University of Iowa, USA) [awardee]
@ Ronit Nikolsky (University of Groningen, Netherlands) [respondent] *
@ Eric Noffke (Waldensian School of Theology, Italy) [respondent]*
@ Gerbern Oegema (McGill University, Canada) [panelist] *
@ Isaac Oliver (Bradley University, USA)*
Jessica Ontek, graduate student (Florida State University, USA)*
@ Andrei Orlov (Marquette University, USA)
Juan Carlos Ossandón (Pontificia Università della Santa Croce, Italy)*
Sara Parks, Assistant Professor (University of Nottingham, UK)*
Tali Partock, post-doc (University of Cambridge, UK)*
Hector Patmore (KU Leuven, Belgium) [panelist]
Alexander Perkins, PhD candidate (Fordham University, USA)*
Chad Pierce, Professor (General Synod, USA
@ Pierluigi Piovanelli (University of Ottawa, Canada) [respondent]
@ Anathea Portier-Young (Duke University, USA) [respondent]
Kirill Porubaev, PhD Student (Pontifical Biblical Institute, Italy)*
Jeremy Punt, Associate Professor (Stellenbosch University, South Africa)*
Andrea Ravasco, Professor (Istituto Superiore di Scienze Religiose Ligure, Italy)*
Annette Reed (New York University, USA)*
@ Adele Reinhartz (University of Ottawa, Canada) [panelist] *
Megan Remington, PhD candidate (UCLA, USA)*
@ Benjamin Reynolds (Tyndale University, Canada) [respondent]
Jean-Michel Roessli (Concordia University, Canada)*
@ Ishay Rosen-Zvi (Tel Aviv University, Israel) [respondent]*
@ Paolo Sacchi (emeritus, University of Turin, Italy) [awardee]
@ Lawrence Schiffman (New York University, USA)*
Eileen Schuller, Professor (McMaster University, Canada)*
James Scott (Trinity Western University, Canada)*
@ Joshua Scott (PhD Candidate, University of Michigan, USA)*
@ Shayna Sheinfeld (Sheffield Institute for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies, USA) *
Anna Shirav (University of Birmingham, UK)*
@ Jason Silverman (Winthrop University, USA) [panelist]
Isaac Soon, PhD student (University of Durham, UK)*
@ Gregory Sterling (Yale University, USA) [panelist]
@ Ryan Stokes (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, USA) [panelist]
@ Michael Stone (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel) [awardee] *
@ Loren Stuckenbruck (University of Munich, Germany) [panelist] *
Carla Sulzbach (McGill University, Canada)*
@ David Suter (Saint Martin's University, USA)*
Balazs Tamasi (Budapest Jewish University, Hungary)*
Seng Tawng (Myanmar Institute of Theology, Myanmar)*
@ Joan Taylor, Professor (King's College London, England)
Hanna Tervanotko (McMaster University, Canada)*
@ Matthew Thiessen (McMaster University, Canada) [respondent]
Marcus Tso (Trinity Western University, Canada)*
Emmanuel Ordue Usue (Benue State University, Nigeria)*
@ Elisa Uusimäki (Aarhus University, Denmark) [respondent]*
Jordi Cervera Valls (Facultat de Teologia de Catalunya, Spain)*
@ James VanderKam (University of Notre Dame, USA) [panelist]
@ Cecilia Wassen
Catrin Williams (University of Wales Trinity Saint David, UK)*
@ Benjamin Wold (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) [respondent]
@ Archie Wright (Regent University, USA) [panelist] *
@ Benjamin Wright (Lehigh University, USA) [respondent]*
Yan Yu (Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong)*
Chi Yau Yue (Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong)*
Ziony Zevit (American Jewish University, USA)*
Jason Zurawski (University of Groningen, Netherlands)