#YCAS2015 Fifth Panel

Last updated on: September 26, 2015 at 10:11 am By James F. McGrath

The morning of the second day of the York Christian Apocrypha Symposium began with Gregory Fewster discussing assumptions scholars work with regarding pseudepigraphy, and the question of what made a pseudepigraphal work “successful,” focusing in particular on 3 Corinthians. Among the assumptions we take for granted is that, for pseudepigraphy to work, the reputation of the purported author must be leveraged, and the text must not stray too far from the outlook of the purported author. Fewster drew on the... Read more

Ahab and Jezebel in Psalm 45

Last updated on: September 26, 2015 at 6:50 am By James F. McGrath

A recent post by Wil Gafney about sexuality and eroticism in the Bible made the suggestion that Psalm 45 is about King Ahab and Jezebel. It is an interesting suggestion, which I had probably read before but forgotten about – for instance, Claude Mariottini blogged about the possibility in 2007, and commentaries mention it as well. The psalm refers to the queen forsaking her own people, and to gifts from Tyre, and Jezebel is the only instance we know of... Read more

Bart Ehrman’s Keynote Address at #YCAS2015

Last updated on: September 25, 2015 at 9:49 pm By James F. McGrath

After a delightful dinner, we returned to the main conference venue. Tony Burke introduced Ehrman, saying that he needs no introduction but it would be rude not to offer one. Burke said he is not one of the Johnny-come-lately Ehrman fanboys. He was a fan since The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, and then Misquoting Jesus became a hit, and it was like being a fan of a band which then goes mainstream. The address tonight relates most directly to his... Read more

#YCAS2015 Fourth Panel

Last updated on: September 25, 2015 at 4:50 pm By James F. McGrath

I chaired this session, and so took the opportunity to take a photo of the audience (see below). The first presenter was Tony Burke, a key organizer of the event, but this was his first time presenting, apparently. His paper explored forgeries in centuries past, and how these things compare to genuine discoveries. Sometimes lack of detail was common in the time. As scholarship develops and gets more sophisticated, so too do forgers. He also notes the tendency of Classicists... Read more

#YCAS2015 Third Panel

Last updated on: September 25, 2015 at 1:57 pm By James F. McGrath

The session after lunch began with Brandon Hawk talking about the use of apocryphal narratives in medieval English preaching (as also in art), using the interdisciplinary approach of transmission studies. His specific focus was Pseudo-Matthew, which was particularly popular in that context, and which is used in the manuscript known as Bercelli 6, a Christmas sermon which illustrates the focus on Jesus' deeds in preaching in Anglo-Saxon England. He engages the study of art as evidence for narrative traditions and... Read more

Imitation, Forgery, and Education #YCAS2015

Last updated on: September 25, 2015 at 1:38 pm By James F. McGrath

The discussion of forgery led to a discussion on the way to lunch about the role of imitation in ancient pedagogy. That led me to ponder whether we might not benefit from doing more of that in modern teaching. Many students struggle to express themselves well. Perhaps we should return to this older method of asking them to learn by imitating other authors, and doing so explicitly? In other domains, such as music, it is simply taken for granted that... Read more

#YCAS2015 Second Panel

Last updated on: September 25, 2015 at 12:35 pm By James F. McGrath

The first paper in the second session at the York Christian Apocrypha Symposium was by Brent Landau, focused on the Revelation of the Magi. In that text, Christ himself is the star that leads the magi, and he multiplies their food. When they and others eat that food, they experience visions of Christ. Landau suggests that this reflects practices and religious experiences of Christians in the time when Revelation of the Magi (RM) was composed. He suggests that a hallucinogen... Read more

#YCAS2015 First Panel at the York Christian Apocrypha Symposium

Last updated on: September 25, 2015 at 10:33 am By James F. McGrath

Brent Landau got the day started by highlighting the Gospel of Jesus' Wife, and whether it is still worth talking about even if it is a forgery. An important question running through the symposium is whether our interest in ancient apocrypha as academics ought to be different from our interest (or lack thereof) when it comes to more recent compositions. Are the same range of motives found for making such works throughout history? The first panelist in the first session... Read more

#YCAS2015 Begins

Last updated on: September 25, 2015 at 9:21 am By James F. McGrath

Last night I reached Toronto, where the York Christian Apocrypha Symposium is bing held, and met with Scott Brown and Timo Paananen for dinner. Both have written important studies of the so-called Secret Gospel of Mark, and Timo also contributed in a significant way to the discussions about the Gospel of Jesus' Wife by writing an article which I hosted on my blog. Tomorrow's session will include a significant amount about the role of blogging in the unfolding study and... Read more

Doctor Who: Image of the Fendahl

Last updated on: September 25, 2015 at 6:40 am By James F. McGrath

Image of the Fendahl is a great episode for those interested in the show’s exploration of religion. It also has a moment which may be alluded to and revisited in a great episode from the Peter Capaldi era. The episode begins with the discovery of a skull, 8 million years (based on potassium-argon dating) before a human-like skull should have been on Earth. The episode features many details that relate to “the old religion” – a coven and pentagrams, and the suggestions... Read more