On July 22, 2011, Professor emerita Carolyn Osiek (Brite Divinity School) delivered a lecture at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry Continuing Education: “Women Disciples, Leaders, and Apostles: Mary Magdalene’s Sisters”.
Boston College
Barbara Reid on Mary Magdalene and the Women Disciples in the Gospel of Luke
On July 21, 2017, Professor Barbara Reid (Catholic Theological Union at Chicago) delivered the lecture for the 9th Annual Mary of Magdala Celebration, at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry Continuing Education: “Mary Magdalene and the Women Disciples in the Gospel of Luke”.
Click here for a transcript of this presentation.
Adele Reinhartz: “The Gospel of John and the ‘Parting of the Ways'”
Professor Adele Reinhartz (University of Ottawa) presented a paper at Boston College on April 8, 2014 on how the Gospel of John informs the debate about the separation of Christianity from Judaism.
The question of when and how the Jesus movement—one first-century Jewish group among many—became a separate and distinct set of institutions, communities, beliefs, and practices, is perhaps the most contentious issue in the study of early Christianity. A key text in this debate is the Gospel of John, which is thought by many to allude to the expulsion of Jewish believers in Jesus from the synagogue. This lecture examines the ways in which the Fourth Gospel has been used in this debate, and considers the expulsion theory as well as its alternatives in the context of the larger question of the “Parting of the Ways.”
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.
Richard J. Clifford: “Genesis 1-11: What Do Adam and Eve Teach Us Today?”
Prof. Richard J. Clifford presents a lecture entitled, “Genesis 1-11: What Do Adam and Eve Teach Us Today?” The lecture was delivered at Boston College on March 14, 2013.
To many people today, the opening chapters of Genesis—the seven-day creation account and the stories about Adam and Eve and the flood—are merely entertaining. To ancient readers, however, the stories answered serious questions about human life. Can these stories instruct us today?
Leong Seow: “Ethics in the Book of Job”
Leong Seow, professor of Old Testament language and literature, Princeton Theological Seminary, presents a lecture on ethics in the Book of Job (March 19, 2009).
In the history of Christian interpretation, Job has always been held up as an example of moral excellence, with the early exegetes pointing to the Prologue (chapter 1-2) and Job’s own assertions in chapters 30 and 31. This lecture explores the ethical perspectives represented in these and other important but less-noticed passages in the book.
Leong Seow is the author of Job 1-21: Interpretation and Commentary (Eerdmans, 2013), a commentary that focuses on the reception history of the Book of Job.
Peter Machinist: “The Problem of Myth in the Hebrew Bible”
Peter Machinist, Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages, Harvard University, delivers a lecture on “The Problem of Myth in the Hebrew Bible“, March 14, 2012, at Boston College.
The word “myth” has been used in many different ways, sometimes positively, but more often, and especially recently, negatively. Many would argue that it has no relevance for the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament; indeed would be expressly rejected by the biblical writers. But is this correct? The answer, this lecture argues, is no – that, in fact, myth is a word and a set of concepts which can lead to a deep and varied understanding of the Hebrew Bible, set against the broader ancient Near Eastern world from which it comes.
Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan on “African American Spirituals Engaging Scripture”
Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan, professor of theology and women’s studies, Shaw University Divinity School, presents a lecture entitled, “Is the Pen or Collective Song more Powerful than the Sword? African American Spirituals Engaging Scripture” at Boston College, March 20, 2012.
This presentation provides an overview of African American spirituals, their connection with Scripture, and how the living and performance of these “chants of collective exorcism” served as transformative bolsters of courage and faith during the antebellum and 1960s Civil Rights Eras. Parallels are also drawn between the spirituals and selected hip hop music.
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