The Early Reception of Paul the Jew / 7th Nangeroni Meeting (2016 Rome), conference
Chair:
- Isaac W. Oliver, Bradley University
Co-Chair:
- Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan
Paul was no doubt a complex Second Temple Jewish thinker whose figure, writings, and ideas were repeatedly appropriated and recast in various ways by his earliest interpreters. The study of the reception history of Paul during the first two centuries of the Common Era has traditionally been performed without sufficient appreciation for the Jewish matrix and heritage of early Christianity, built on the assumption that Paul had forsaken his Jewishness after “converting” to “Christianity” and that “the ways had already parted” between all Jews and Christians once the first generation of Jesus’ Jewish followers had passed away. The following seminar will focus on the earliest reception of Paul by assessing how his first interpreters handled and perceived his relationship to Judaism within the broader framework and scholarly study of early Jewish-Christian relations. Special attention will be granted to the interpretation of Jewish themes in the early reception history of Paul such as Torah observance and Jewish-Gentile relations. The seminar will seek to uncover the neglected Jewish strata of Paul’s Wirkungsgeschichte during the first two centuries of the Common Era in an attempt to comprehend the complex and diverse nature of Jewish-Christian relations at the time. A wide spectrum of writings and figures from right after Paul’s time until roughly the end of the second century CE will be assessed, including, to name just a few: Marcion and his recasting of Paul’s thought over against Judaism, the depiction of Paul as a Torah observant Jew in the Acts of the Apostles, the denunciation in the Pastoral Letters of “Jewish myths” (e.g., Titus 1:10–16; 3:9), the condemnation of Paul as an apostate Jew (“anti-Paulinism”) in writings such as the Pseudo-Clementines, the handling of Jewish-Gentile relations in Deutero-Pauline Epistles such as Ephesians, as well as the relationship between Pauline teachings and canonical gospels such Matthew. An edited volume containing chapters written by the participants of the conference on the relevant primary sources will be published with the aim of serving as a reference on the topic. For further information, including paper proposals, please contact Isaac W. Oliver at ioliver@bradley.edu.
Advisory Board
- Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
- Robert B. Foster, Madonna University
- Isaac W. Oliver, Bradley University
- Eric Noffke, Waldensian School of Theology
Confirmed Participants
Albert I. Baumgarten, Bar Ilan University: Respondent
Giovanni Bazzana, Harvard University: Pseudo-Clementines and Paul
Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan (co-chair)
Daniel Boyarin, University of California – Berkeley: Mark and Paul
William S. Campbell, University of Wales – Trinity Saint David: Ephesians and Paul
George Carras, Washington and Lee University: The Acts of the Apostles and Paul
James C. Charlesworth, Princeton Theological Seminary: The Acts of the Apostles and Paul
David J. Downs, Fuller Theological Seminary: 2 Peter and Paul
Kathy Ehrensperger, University of Wales – Trinity Saint David: The Pastorals and Paul
Robert B. Foster, Madonna University (advisory committee): Ephesians and Paul
Gabriella Gelardini, University of Basel: The Letters to the Hebrews and Paul
Anders Klostergaard Petersen, Aarhus University: Colossians and Ephesians
Judith Lieu, Cambridge University: Marcion and Paul
Harry O. Maier, Vancouver School of Theology: 1 Clement and Paul
Eric F. Mason, Judson University: Respondent
Simon Claude Mimouni, École pratique des hautes études: Paul, James, and Peter in Acts
David Nienhuis, Seattle Pacific University: Letter of James and Paul
Eric Noffke, Waldensian School of Theology (advisory committee): Ephesians and Paul
Isaac W. Oliver, Bradley University (chair): The Acts of the Apostles and Paul
Ilaria L.E. Ramelli, Catholic University, Milan: Paul and Seneca
Yann Redalié, Waldensian School of Theology: The Pastorals and Paul
David Rudolph, The King’s University: The Acts of the Apostles and Paul
Timothy B. Sailors, Tübingen (discussant)
David Sim, Australian Catholic University: Matthew and Paul
Matthew Thiessen, Saint Louis University: Ephesians and Paul
James Waddell, Ecumenical Theological Seminary: Colossians and Paul
Luigi Walt, University of Regensburg: Paul and 6 Ezra
Sze-kar Wan, Southern Methodist University: Respondent
Emma J. Wasserman, Rutgers University: Respondent
Benjamin White, Clemson University: Justin Martyr and Paul
Joel Willits, North Park University: Revelation of John and Paul
Provisional Schedule
Sunday, June 26, 2016
8:00-15:00 -- Arrivals
17:00 -- Opening Session & Welcome (Hotel Casa Valdese)
17:45–19:30 -- Session 1
20:00 -- Dinner (Hotel Casa Valdese)
Monday June 27, 2016
8:00 -- Breakfast
9:00-12:30 -- Morning Sessions
12:45 - Lunch (Hotel Casa Valdese)
14:15–18:00 -- Afternoon Sessions
18:15pm (public lecture): Daniel Boyarin: Moses in Mark and Paul: When Mark Isn't Pauline (Waldensian Faculty)
Free Dinner
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
8:00 -- Breakfast
9:00-12:30 -- Morning Sessions
12:45 -- Lunch (Hotel Casa Valdese)
14:00 -- Afternoon Bus Tour to the Hadrian Villa in Tivoli, near Rome and dinner at a restaurant in Tivoli.
22:30 -- Return from Tivoli.
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
8:00 -- Breakfast
9:00–12:30 -- Morning sessions
12:45 -- Lunch (Hotel Casa Valdese)
14:30–18:00 -- Afternoon Sessions
Free Dinner
Thursday, June 30, 2016
8:00 -- Breakfast
9:00–12:30 -- Final sessions
12:45 -– Lunch & Farewells (Hotel Casa Valdese)