SBL Denver Annual Meeting 2018

Last updated on: November 20, 2018 at 1:08 pm by Kermit Zarley

SBL Denver Annual Meeting 2018 2018-11-20T13:08:13-07:00 Kermit Zarley

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.

I just enjoyed a worthwhile experience attending the joint Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) and the American Academy of Religion. It was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver this past Friday through Monday.

I have been a member of SBL since 1999, so the past twenty years. This 130+ year-old organization consists of about 10,000 members worldwide. Most are biblical scholars with PhDs who are professors, although that is not a requirement for joining. My friend Dr. Scot McKnight talked me into joining it because I write theological books.

Since I have been an SBL member, I have attended its Annual Meeting all of the twenty years of my membership, except I missed one year. This event is often a highlight for me for the year. This affair occurs in North America in a different city each year. There are about a dozen cities that rotate for the location each year. It must be a large city that has a downtown convention center that can accommodate this conference.

This Annual Meeting of SBL/AAR is the largest meeting of biblical scholars in the world each year. So, you often see there some of the world’s most distinguished Bible scholars. For example, England’s Tom (N.T.) Wright, who is considered by his peers and religious book publishers to be the leading New Testament scholar in the world, always attends this convention. Bart Ehrman, an agnostic though an authority on Christian origins and New Testament textual criticism, does too. I have the privilege of meeting many of these people and sometimes getting to know them more personally.

I think Tom and Bart are still the best-selling authors in the U.S. of books having to do with the Bible. HarperOne publishes some of their books. This publisher is tops in the U.S. for religious books aimed at the general public. Many books on theology and biblical studies written by professors are not that accessible to popular audiences. This causes a disjunct between people of the pew and the academy. This is a problem that some religious publishers are encouraging authors to try to solve. Tom and Bart are doing it. This is the main reason I decided long ago to try to become an author of theological books.

This Annual Meeting consists mostly of two parts: each of about a thousand SBL sessions meet for usually 2.5 hours in which about four or five scholars deliver papers that take 20-30 minutes to read. Afterwards, there is often discussion or Q&A between the presenters and the attending audience, who are members. Sometimes, the session may consist only of a panel of 3-6 scholars who discuss among themselves some theme, with the audience being able to ask questions. Occasionally, a session may consist of a panel critiquing some new book recently published about a theological topic or a book on biblical studies, and that author being present to reply.

I will be posting on my blog for the next few days about some of my SBL experiences this weekend. So, stay tuned.

Current Events

Society of Biblical Literature

Bart Ehrman

Tom Wright

Previous Post

November 14, 2018

Trump the Hypocrite

Next Post

November 30, 2018 CNN Fires Marc Lamont Hill Due to Palestine Remarks

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Angels Billy Graham Blog Description Book Reviews Christian Living Christianity Christology Church History Current Events Deity of Christ? Disarmament Eschatology Evangelicalism Ezekiel 38-39 Film Reviews God Golf Gospel Harmonization Health History Holy Spirit Incarnation? Interview Islam Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Jesus Last Empire Literary Announcements Major Championship Winners Masters Monotheism My Books New Testament Old Testament Politics Primitive Weapons Ryder Cup Science Society of Biblical Literature The Bible The Restitution of Jesus Christ Trinitarianism Trinity? Uncategorized Unconditional Love? War on Terrorism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 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 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 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 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

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What tribe is Paul from?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Benjamin Simeon Asher Reuben

Books by This Author Books by Kermit Zarley Blog

See All Titles »