British New Testament Conference (Durham): Update

The Annual British New Testament Conference will be held in Durham this year at St. John’s College.

I have previously announced the plenary speakers (John Barclay, Loveday Alexander, Edward Adams, Dale Martin), but the papers being read are still in the process of final consideration. Some subject seminars have already finalized their group of papers. Currently, the ‘SOcial World of the NT’ seminar has announced their agenda. Session 1 includes a paper by John K Goodrich – a doctoral student at Durham University who is studying with John M G Barclay. John will be giving a paper entitled: ‘The Apostle on Trial: The Political Context and Rhetorical Purpose of Paul’s Judicial Language in 1 Corinthians 3-4′.

I am also very excited about another session in this group which will feature a discussion of a new book project based on Wayne Meek’s First Urban Christians. A new book, based on Meek’s classic, will be entitled After the First Urban Christians (eds. Todd Still and David Horrell). A group of NT scholars will each take a chapter of Meek’s book to reflect on and develop further. The contributors include Peter Oakes, Bruce Longenecker, Eddie Adams, Todd Still, Louise Lawrence and Dale Martin. This project will be discussed at the conference. The book is not due out until well into 2009. For more details of the seminar, see HERE.