Eva Mroczek on “The Literary Imagination in Jewish Antiquity”

Dr. Eva Mroczek talks about her landmark book, The Literary Imagination in Jewish Antiquity (OUP, June 2016), in a “Frankely Judaic” podcast from the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies. The host of “Frankely Judaic” is Jeremy Shere.

Mroczek discusses:

• the importance of the Dead Sea scrolls for understanding the literary production of the works which became the Bible and works which did not become the Bible, such as the books of Enoch;
• the depiction of David as an angelic scribe or bard in the first century CE;
• that there is no biblical book of Psalms in the Second Temple Period;
• the Hellenistic understanding of the writing of Genesis and Exodus evidenced by the book of Jubilees.
• that the ways ancient Jews thought about scripture “goes far beyond the Bible that we now have”

David Clines: Varieties of Creation in the Bible

Emeritus Professor David J.A. Clines (University of Sheffield) discusses the different ideas about Creation found in the Bible, criticising the tendency to homogenize these differences. He discusses Genesis 1, Job 38-41, Psalm 104, and various New Testament texts.

His talk was delivered at the New Directions in Cosmology Conference, St John’s College, Durham University, January 10-11, 2013, and is available both on Vimeo and as a pdf.

Daniel J. Harrington: “Lament and Hope: The Contributions of the Biblical Lament Psalms”

Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., STM professor of New Testament (until his death on February 7, 2014), presents “Lament and Hope: The Contributions of the Biblical Lament Psalms“, at Boston College, on October 6, 2010.

Fr. Harrington offers reflections on the key elements of the biblical laments, including Psalms 3, 5, and 22, and their message for those who suffer today.