Midwest Regional SBL – personal report

Last updated on: February 15, 2010 at 2:25 am by Nijay Gupta

Midwest Regional SBL – personal report 2010-02-15T02:25:30-08:00 Nijay Gupta

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This weekend I attended the Midwest regional SBL which met at Valparaiso University. Unfortunately, I could only attend the Saturday sessions, but I am glad that I did because there were several outstanding papers. I attended the Gospels and Acts group in the morning – I confess that I know little about the scholarship of these NT books, but I like to try and stay current with some basic issues and debates.

I particularly liked Brian Dennert’s presentation that re-assessed the view of the messiah in Psalms of Solomon 17 and how that affects the way we view the title ‘Son of David’ in Matthew.

The Paul group, in which I presented, also had a nice group of papers – Jeffrey Asher gave a fascinating paper arguing that a major reason why scholars are obsessed with finding “enemies” in Paul’s letters (such as Colossians) comes from a heritage of ecclesial interest in preserving ‘orthodoxy’ and fighting ‘heresy’. He wonders why the academy is so intent on finding opponents around every corner for Paul? Very interesting stuff!

I had lunch and chatted a bit with two fine “scholars” and bloggers – Michael Halcomb and James McGrath. Michael presented an interesting paper on Paul’s “all things to all people” language, while James was there to soak in the wisdom of the papers (did I mention he attended my paper and sat in the front row?).

My paper went very well – I presented on a particular rhetorical pattern I have found in the NT and how the poor interpretation and translation of it can lead to hasty theological decisions. The pattern was well understood by the group and no one challenged my readings of the case studies (Philippians 2.4 and Eph. 6.12). Of course, if Troels Engberg-Pedersen were there (and he has done some work on Phil. 2.4), he certainly would have taken a shot at me! In his absence, though, things went very smoothly. I am having trouble doing good research for it, because this kind of wide-ranging discussion is rare and no one else has discussed the pattern as a whole (the grammar BDF has a short 3-4 paragraph discussion). Also, for the national meeting, it doesn’t really fit a particular group (too broad for the Pauline, not grammatical enough for the grammar groups, not rhetorical enough for those groups, etc…). Oh well, we’ll see.

Overall – a fun time and the university was nice. This was my first regional SBL (as a student/scholar) and it was enjoyable. Strangely, for me, I just moved back to the USA and to the Midwest, but in the summer I am moving to Seattle, so I will be transferring to ANOTHER region. Oh well. The life of an academic….

Uncategorized

Previous Post

February 10, 2010

Jan 2010 issue of Biblical Interpretation

Next Post

February 15, 2010 My Regional SBL Book Purchase

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category (Mis)Understanding Philippians 10 Things I Can't Live Without 2023 New Books 30 OT HB Scholars to Read and Follow 5 Books Series 50-2-Follow Academia Christian Theologians to Read and Follow Cruciform Scripture: Contributor Reflections Crux Sola TV Editors Behind Great Books in NT Studies Education Gendering the Holy Spirit Gupta FB Live Lectures In Faith and Doubt In Their Own Words Living the King Jesus Gospel My Top 6 OT Commentaries New Testament Resource Guide New Word Biblical Themes Nijay's A Very Library Christmas Shopping Guide Notes from an Editor Notes on New Books NTRG OT in the NT Paul Seminary Now The Bible in God's World The Word Felt Among Us SPENCER Translating Philippians Uncategorized Why I Use Accordance Women in Ministry

Select a Month March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz