On July 20, 2020, Dr Sarah Rollens (Rhodes College) and Prof Candida Moss discussed “The Difference Gender Makes in Scholarship, Publication, and Promotion”.
The discussion is the 12th in the Centre for the Social-Scientific Study of the Bible’s 2020 Online Discussion Series.
For the first time ever, the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) will host its Annual Meeting virtually! The Meeting will take place from April 17-18 and 24-25, 2020, and registration is free and open to everyone.
Over 45 sessions will be webcast via Adobe Connect during the 4 day event covering 14 topic areas. Sessions will run from 8:00am EDT to 3:45pm EDT.
The Theology Programme at the University of Otago is offering three free Zoom talks on selected Biblical topics: The sexually abused Jesus, Passover traditions in the Bible, and New Testament house churches.
Each session will involve input followed by facilitated discussion.
Click links to enrol:
Tuesday 7 April, 7:30-8:30pm (NZ Time; 8:30-9:30am UK Time)
David Tombs: Seeing His Innocence, I See My Innocence: Responses to Jesus as a Victim of Sexual Abuse
Wednesday 8 April, 7:30-8:30pm (NZ Time; 8:30-9:30am UK Time)
James Harding: Biblical traditions relating to Passover (Recorded)
Thursday 16 April, 7:30-8:30pm (NZ Time; 8:30-9:30am UK Time)
Paul Trebilco: House Churches in the First Century: Community in the New Testament
On October 10, 2019, Professor Johanna Stiebert (University of Leeds) delivered her Inaugural Professorial Lecture:
‘Why I Love Studying the Bible even though (and because) It’s Perverse’
(Johanna Stiebert’s lecture begins at 16:08)
“In this inaugural lecture Professor Stiebert discusses her chequered and international career learning and teaching about Hebrew language and biblical studies. Her lecture focuses especially on biblical texts that surprised her – not least on account of their graphic nature. Her concluding remarks focus on the responsibilities of professors and on academic integrity.”
A Notre Dame edX course begins today (February 20, 2018) with the foremost scholar on the sources of the Qur’an, Gabriel Reynolds: “Introduction to the Quran: The Scripture of Islam”.
About this course
According to Islamic tradition, the Quran is not simply an inspired scripture. It is a divine book brought down from heaven by the angel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad, and its message is the key to heaven. Join us for an exploration of the scripture that is the word of God to over a billion people.
This course will introduce you to various aspects of the Quran, including its basic message, the historical context in which it originated, the diverse ways in which Muslims have interpreted it, and its surprisingly intimate relationship with the Bible. By the end of the course, you will gain an appreciation for the perspectives of Muslim believers and academic scholars alike on the origins and the meaning of the Islamic scripture. No background in Islam or Arabic is necessary for this course.
What you’ll learn
Basic organization, structure, and literary style of the Quran
The Quran’s role within Islam and its meaning to Muslims
Traditional Islamic and critical academic perspectives on the origin of the Quran
Strategies utilized within the Quran to construct persuasive arguments
Place of Biblical characters and traditions within the Quran
Analysis of the Quran from an academic perspective
Professor Jonathan Z. Smith (d. December 30, 2017) delivered the plenary address at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, “Reading Religion: A Life in Scholarship” (October 31, 2010). The lecture is available on YouTube.
I am far from insensible to the honor, interest and – yes – forbearance you have extended me by your invitation to speak with you on this occasion, under the general rubric of a lifetime of learning address. I take some comfort from the implication of the first element in that assignment, that the chief criterion for your selection is a measure of longevity.
The lecture begins at 7:00.
In addition, J.Z. Smith’s presidential address at the 2008 Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, “Religion and Bible” is available on the SBL website:
Associate Professor Barry Scott Wimpfheimer (Northwestern University) is the instructor for an online course (MOOC) on the Talmud, commencing April 18, 2016. The course is called “The Talmud: A Methodological Introduction“, and may be taken either at certificate level (for US$50) or audited for free.
The Talmud is one of the richest and most complicated works of literature the world has ever known. Since being composed around 1500 years ago it has inspired not only religious reverence but significant intellectual engagement. In this course learners will be introduced to the unique characteristics of this text and the challenges that inhere in studying it while studying a chapter of the Talmud. Students of the course can expect to develop an appreciation for how the Talmud works and why it continues to inspire religious and intellectual devotion. They will be challenged to employ critical reading skills and to analyze legal and historical concepts.
Harvard University are offering a free online course (MOOC) entitled “Religious Literacy: Traditions and Scriptures” (HDS 3221.1x), commencing March 1, 2016. Register online here. The course is run by Professor Diane L. Moore and Anna Mudd.
What you’ll learn
- Tools for how to interpret the roles religions play in contemporary and historic contexts;
- How religions are internally diverse
- How religions evolve and change
- How religions are embedded in all human cultures
- The strengths and limitations of learning about religions through their scriptures.
While you can take the course according to your own pace, it will be rolled out as follows:
The latest Biblical Studies Online podcast (BSO06) is now available on iTunes for download here or, for non-iTunes users, here. It is an interview with Ward Blanton, Reader in Biblical Cultures and European Thought, University of Kent. Blanton talks about Paul, politics, philosophy, Jewishness, revolutionary thinking, Pauline studies, and his book, A Materialism for the Masses: St Paul and the Philosophy of Undying Life (Columbia University Press, 2014).
Stephen Knight interviews Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou (University of Exeter) about her work as a biblical scholar, biblical scholarship, feminism, her views on religion, and rituals for dealing with the dead. The interview was Episode 65 in the Godless Spellchecker’s Podcast series.
Available on Mp3, iTunes and Stitcher.
We talk the historicity of Jesus, Sunday morning television barneys, Richard Dawkins, Feminism, faith schools, the destruction of ancient temples in Palmyra, the Qur’an pages found in Birmingham and why she loves corpses! Also, Star Wars or Star Trek?
Dr. John T. Strong (Missouri State University) presents a series of 37 lectures introducing the Hebrew Bible, as part of his course, REL 101: Literature and World of the Hebrew Bible.
The University of Chester provides a series of seminars on video aimed mainly at PhD students, but also useful for other researchers in biblical studies, theology, and religion. The seminars currently available are as follows:
The website of Justin Meggitt (Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge) includes details of his projects such as the Origins of Christianity, Religion, Magic and Medicine in Antiquity, and Open Access and the Humanities. It also includes PDFs of publications, such as ‘Popular Mythology in the Early Empire and the Multiplicity of Jesus Traditions’ and ‘Taking the Emperor’s Clothes Seriously: The New Testament and The Roman Emperor’.
The latest BSO online interview is now available for download from iTunes or streaming from here. In BSO5 James Crossley interviews Chris Keith. Chris Keith is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity and Director of the Centre for the Social-Scientific Study of the Bible at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London.
BSO interviews Chris Keith, discussing some of the most contentious areas in historical Jesus studies today. This include: social memory, the so-called criteria of authenticity, form criticism, and various issues in historical Jesus studies.
Relegere: Studies in Religion and Reception is an online, open-access journal “dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of innovative research in reception history, broadly conceived, within and across religious traditions”.
Many of the articles relate to the reception of the Bible and other Jewish and Christian texts, in the arts (including literature, film, and painting), culture, history, philosophy, politics, etc.
The journal also boasts an extensive collection of reviews in biblical studies and reception.
The journal is edited by Sean Durbin, Deane Galbraith, James Harding, Eric Repphun, and Will Sweetman.
Biblical Studies Online 