Vocation and Interreligious Engagement at #NetVUE2019AAR #AARSBL19 Part 2

Last updated on: December 9, 2019 at 6:55 am By James F. McGrath

The next speaker at the Interfaith/Interreligious Studies and Vocation workshop was Jacqueline Bussie, who said that her institution has an interfaith peacebuilding center with a name that does not immediately convey what they do. They developed an Interfaith Studies minor at Concordia, an ELCA school that was once predominantly Lutheran, but now is much more diverse, as their context has changed dramatically. Institutional vocation questions should also be asked, and not only individual ones: What does it mean to be a Christian institution in... Read more

Vocation and Interreligious Engagement at #NetVUE2019AAR #AARSBL19 Part 1

Last updated on: December 7, 2019 at 4:18 pm By James F. McGrath

I was delighted to attend the NetVUE (Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education) pre-conference workshop in San Diego last month. The Religion program at Butler University has been exploring the possibility of offering a minor in interreligious engagement ever since I read an article by Eboo Patel proposing an interfaith curriculum, and I realized that we already offered almost every class listed there (or something very close that could become what was listed with minor tweaking). In the context of... Read more

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Last updated on: December 6, 2019 at 10:05 am By James F. McGrath

I began writing this just after seeing the movie about Mr. Rogers starring Tom Hanks (who looks like him at least in part because he’s related to him). The movie is very creatively done, framed as though it were an episode of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. I’ve long admired how Rogers, a Presbyterian minister, put his faith into practice to help others in ways that weren’t preachy but appealing. Christianity at its best, in so many ways. The movie focuses on... Read more

Nazoreans and Enochic Judaism at #AARSBL19

Last updated on: December 4, 2019 at 10:06 pm By James F. McGrath

The first session of AAR/SBL proper that I attended this year (after the pre-conference NetVUE workshop and Enoch Seminar symposium) was focused on the references to Nazarenes/Nazoreans in a variety of ancient sources. My own interest in this stems from the fact that Mandaean sources use the term nasurai as a way of referring to themselves. Yet they don’t esteem Jesus. How does one explain this? By the end of this session, I felt the problem even more acutely –... Read more

Call for Names, Editors, and Contributors: Journal/Magazine of Fiction by Academics #CFP

Last updated on: December 4, 2019 at 6:43 pm By James F. McGrath

I really shouldn’t start new projects. But I’ve had so many conversations recently with academics in my field about writing fiction that I think the time has come to do something about it. And so I’m going to be announcing soon the launch of a new periodical dedicated to fiction written by academics. This post aims mainly at gauging interest (and more specifically the kinds of interest there may be both from potential contributors and from potentially readers) and tackling... Read more

ReligionProf Podcast with Juli Gittinger

Last updated on: December 3, 2019 at 6:55 pm By James F. McGrath

I’m delighted that Juli Gittinger’s book Personhood and Science Fiction is now out, and that I had the chance to talk with her about it in this latest episode of the ReligionProf Podcast. I had the privilege of reading the manuscript prior to publication, and here’s the endorsement that I provided: In Personhood in Science Fiction, Juli L. Gittinger does more than merely survey or even analyse the treatment of persons human, alien, and android across some of the most popular... Read more

Research Fellowship Opportunity: Second Temple Judaism: The Challenge of Diversity

Last updated on: December 2, 2019 at 11:16 am By James F. McGrath

Research Fellowship Opportunity ACADEMIC YEAR: 2021-2022 THEME: Second Temple Judaism: The Challenge of Diversity The Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan seeks scholars for a residential fellowship in 2021-2022 to explore the challenges of diversity in Second Temple Judaism. Diversity of ethnicity, religion, social status, gender, age, and ability was as much a feature of the ancient Mediterranean world as it is in the present. We aim to explore the diversity of religious, cultural, and... Read more

Jesus, James, and Peter Mythicism

Last updated on: November 30, 2019 at 10:18 pm By James F. McGrath

It is worth noting precisely what it is that mythicists do with Paul’s references to Jesus in his letters, and just how easily the same could be done with James, the brother of Jesus, whom most mythicists accept was an actual person, while denying that he was actually Jesus’ brother. They emphasize that he is not called “the brother of Jesus” but “the brother of the Lord” as though the Lord, for Paul, were not clearly Jesus. Some have even... Read more

Mandaean Book of John Review Panel at #AARSBL19

Last updated on: November 29, 2019 at 1:12 pm By James F. McGrath

In the past I’ve tried to blog while at the AAR and SBL joint annual meetings, and I may manage on some future occasions. This year my conference was packed too full for that to be feasible, and wonderfully so. And so instead I am sharing some highlights after the fact, which I know many other attendees will still appreciate. I have a long list of sessions I’d have loved to be at, but could not, and will be happy... Read more

A Disastrous Call for Papers #CFP

Last updated on: November 29, 2019 at 1:09 pm By James F. McGrath

It looks like it may still be possible to submit proposals to this if you act fast! Call for Papers: Apocalypse, Dystopia, and Disaster Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA) 41st Annual Conference, February 19-22, 2020 Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center Albuquerque, New Mexico http://www.southwestpca.org Proposal submission deadline: EXTENDED to November 20th Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 41st annual SWPACA conference. One of the nation’s largest interdisciplinary academic conferences, SWPACA offers nearly 70... Read more

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