The Academic Programme

The President delivered his Presidential Address with the title ‘Das frühe Christentum und die Bildung’ at the opening plenary session of the Society.

Main papers in plenary sessions were read by M. R. D'Angelo (Cambridge, MA, USA), ‘Roman “Family Values” and the Apologetic Concerns of Philo and Paul’; J. K. Elliott (Leeds, UK), ‘Change and Consistency in New Testament Textual Criticism’; and K.-W. Niebuhr, ‘Jakobus und Paulus über die Menschen’.

A new programme element, Quaestiones Disputatae, was inaugurated in Szeged. Three speakers, Profs. G. H. van Kooten (The Netherlands), O. Wischmeyer (Germany) and N. T. Wright (UK), debated the question ‘How Greek is Paul's Eschatology?’ in a plenary session, which was chaired by the President.

Fifteen short papers were presented in three sessions of simultaneous papers. First session: P. Danove (USA), ‘The Rhetoric of the Characterization of Peter in the Gospel of Mark’; A. Reinhartz (Canada), ‘Reproach and Revelation: Ethics in John 11’; M. Holmes (USA), ‘Creation, Transmission, Collection: Reflections on the Formation of the Pauline Corpus’; M. Wojciechowski (Poland), ‘Healings, not Exorcisms: Evils Spirits as Impersonal Powers in the Gospels’; P.-B. Smit (Netherlands), ‘The Rise and Fall of the Passivum Divinum’. Second session: E. Aquilar (USA), ‘The Death of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark (Mark 15.37–9’; W. Campbell (UK), ‘“A Remnant of Them Will Be Saved” (Rom 9.27)’; J. Gundry (USA), ‘“Why Should They Give Birth in Pain Only to Bury in Grief?” The Fate of Procreators in Apocalyptic Texts and the Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 7.28’; D. MacDonald (USA), ‘The Creation of the Title Son of Man by the Author of the Lost Gospel’; Th. Witulski (Germany), ‘Die vier apokalyptischen Reiter – ein neuer Versuch ihrer Deutung’. Third session: P. Anderson (USA), ‘The Johannine Situation – Seven Crises over Seven Decades, a Key Component in John's Dialogical Autonomy’; R. Aus (Germany), ‘The Cursing of the Fig Tree in Mark 11.12–14, 20–1 and Judaic Tradition on Ps 1.3’; A. du Toit (South Africa), ‘A Rhetoric of Severity: Galatians and the περὶ ἰδεῶν λόγου of Hermogenes: Gal 1.1–10 as a test passage’; E. Ramelli (Italy), ‘Apokatastasis in the New Testament: A Critical Assessment of Terminology and Notions’; E. Wong (Hong Kong), ‘Matthew Externalizes Jesus Christ in the Narrative of Baptism’.

Fifteen seminars, with the following topics and presenters, met three times each during the General Meeting:

1. 1. Christliche Literatur des späten ersten Jahrhunderts und des zweiten Jahrhunderts/Christian Literature of the late first century and the second century (convenors: F. Prostmeier, W. Pratscher, J. Kelhoffer). (a) Wolfgang Wischmeyer (Vienna, guest), ‘Die Ignatianen in der Welt des zweiten Jahrhunderts’; (b) Thomas Johann Bauer (Switzerland), ‘Polykarp von Smyrna und die Briefe des Ignatius von Antiochia: Anmerkungen zum Stand der Diskussion’; (c) Ferdinand R. Prostmeier (Germany), ‘Cui bono? Ignatius in Rom’.

2. 2. The Greek of the New Testament (convenors: C. C. Caragounis, J. W. Voelz). (a) Presentations of recent research by Adelbert Denaux (Belgium), James W. Voelz (USA) and Jesús Peláez (Spain); (b) Herman du Toit (South Africa, guest), ‘The Semantics and Syntax of Relative Sentences in the Greek New Testament’; (c) Presentations of recent research by David du Toit (Germany) and Chrys C. Caragounis (Sweden).

3. 3. Inhalte und Probleme einer neutestamentlichen Theologie (convenors: C. Landmesser, M. Seifrid). (a) Sigurd Grindheim (USA), ‘The Kingdom of God according to Matthew and according to Paul: A Comparison’; (b) Petr Pokorny (Czech Republic), ‘Reich Gottes im lukanischen Doppelwerk’; (c) Johannes Beutler, SJ (Germany), ‘Reich Gottes im Johannesevangelium’.

4. 4. The Johannine Writings (convenors: M. Gruber, Ch. Karakolis). (a) Gilbert van Belle (Belgium), ‘The Signs Source in the Fourth Gospel: A Critical Evaluation of the Semeia Hypothesis in Recent Research (1994–2013)’; (b0 Michael Labahn (Germany), ‘“Im Zeichen wurde ihnen Gottes Gabe zum Leben sichtbar”: Erwägungen zu Theologie, Christologie und Soteriologie in den johanneischen Wundererzählungen’; (c) Christos Karakolis (Greece), ‘Is Jesus a Prophet in the Fourth Gospel? The Witness of the Semeia-Narratives’.

5. 5. The Rise and Development of Jesus Traditions (convenors: T. Holmén, S. E. Porter). (a) Alan Kirk (USA, guest), ‘Cognitive Science of Memory, Cultural Media and the Origins of the Synoptic Tradition: What Are the Connections?’; (b) Bruce Chilton (USA), ‘Jesus Tradition in a Phase: The Platform of Mark's Gospel, its Aramaic Sources and Mark's Achievement’; (c) Armand Puig i Tàrrech (Spain), ‘From the Last Supper to the Lord's Supper: A Test Case in Tradition’.

6. 6. The Mission and Expansion of Earliest Christianity (convenors: E. Eung-Chun Park, P. Trebilco, G. Yorke). (a) Jostein Ådna (Norway), ‘The Eschatological Reconstitution of Israel and the Mission to the Nations: The Great Commission Pericope Read within the Context of the Gospel of Matthew’; respondent: Eugene Park (USA); (b) Gosnell Yorke (Jamaica), ‘From Jerusalem to the Ends of the Earth: An Afro-Missiological Take on Acts 1.8’; (c) Jean de Dieu Rafalimanana (Madagascar, guest), ‘Biblical Reconciliation and Malagasy fihavanana: A Malagasy Reading of Ephesians 2.11–22’; respondent: Paul Trebilco (New Zealand).

7. 7. Christian Apocryphal Literature (convenors: T. Nicklas, C. M. Tuckett, J. Verheyden). (a) Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev (UK, guest), ‘The Messiah as Puer-Senex in the Armenian “Lord's Infancy’ and in Cognate Sources”’; (b) Korinna Zamfir (Romania), ‘The Acts of Paul and Thecla: Some Observations for Further Discussion’; (c) Christopher Tuckett (UK), ‘How “Apocryphal” Were Apocryphal Gospels?’.

8. 8. Social History and the New Testament (convenors: H. Löhr, M. Öhler, A. Runesson). (a) Cecilia Wassén (Sweden, guest), ‘Impurity of Men and Women in the Dead Sea Scrolls’; (b) Cilliers Breytenbach and Christine Zimmermann (Germany), ‘Christian Women in Ancient Lycaonia’; (c) Margaret MacDonald (Canada), ‘Re-evaluating Gender in the Pastoral Epistles in Light of Ancient Concepts and Practices of Education and Apprenticeship’.

9. 9. Early Jewish Theologies and the New Testament (convenors: J. Herzer, G. Oegema). (a) Lutz Doering (UK/Germany), ‘Community with and without a Temple in the Dead Sea Scrolls’; (b) Christfried Bottrich (Germany), ‘Das Lukasevangelium im Kontext frühjüdischer Literatur’; (c) Gerbern S. Oegema (Canada), ‘The Apocalyptic Legacy of Early Christianity’.

10. 10. Reconsidering Literarkritik of the Pauline Letters and its Impact on their Interpretation (convenors: E.-M. Becker, R. Bieringer). (a) Dietrich-Alex Koch (Germany), ‘Die Bedeutung der Literarkritik für die Auslegung des 2. Kor’; (b) Reimund Bieringer (Belgium), ‘Literary Criticism (Literarkritik) of 2 Corinthians: 1994–2014’; (c) Wolfgang Wischmeyer (Austria, guest), ‘Die Ignatiusbriefe im Lichte literarkritischer Forschung’.

11. 11. Matthew in Context: an Exploration of Matthew in Relation to the Judaism and Christianity of its Time (convenors: M. Konradt, W. Kraus, W. Loader). Theme: ‘What light does Matthew's use of Mark in Relation to the Topic Throw on Matthew's Theological Location?’ (a) Lidija Novakovic (USA), ‘In Relation to its Christology?’; respondent: Eric Wong (Hong Kong); (b) Beate Kowalski (Germany), ‘In Relation to its Attitude towards Gentiles?’; respondent: Gerd Häfner (Germany); (c) Dan Gurtner (USA), ‘In the light of Matthew 26–28?’; respondent: William Telford (UK).

12. 12. Papyrology, Epigraphy and the New Testament (convenors: P. Arzt-Grabner, J. S. Kloppenborg). (a) James R. Harrison (Australia), ‘The Delphic Canon and the Ephebic Ethical Curriculum: Cultivating the Self and the Gods for Harmonious Social Relations in the Household and Polis’; respondent: Giovanni Bazzana (USA); (b) John S. Kloppenborg (Canada), ‘Financial Structures in Graeco-Roman Associations and the Organization of Pauline Christ Groups’; respondent: Christina Kreinecker (Austria); (c) Richard S. Ascough (Canada), ‘Epigraphic Evidence for Association Buildings and Early Christ Group Size’; respondent: Daniel Smith (Canada).

13. 13. Reading Paul's Letters in Context: Theological and Social-Scientific Approaches (convenors: W. Campbell, M. Bachmann). (a) Larry Welborn (USA), ‘Inequality in Roman Corinth and Paul's Rejuvenation of the isotes Ideal in 2 Corinthians 8’; respondent: Judith M. Gundry (USA); (b) Philip F. Esler (UK), ‘Pauline Ecclesiology in 2 Corinthians from the Perspective of Social Identity Theory’; respondent: William S. Campbell (UK)’; (c) Kathy Ehrensperger (UK), ‘The Pauline ἐκκλησίαι and Images of Community in Early Enoch Traditions in Bicultural Perspective’; respondent: Robert L. Brawley (USA).

14. 14. New Testament Textual Criticism (convenors: C. Clivaz, U. Schmid, T. Wasserman). (a) Peter Williams (UK), ‘The Tyndale House Greek New Testament: Rationale and Editorial Principles’; respondent: Ulrich Schmid (Germany); (b) David Trobisch (USA, guest), ‘What is the Function of Printed Critical Editions?’; respondent: Claire Clivaz (Switzerland); (c) Klaus Wachtel (Germany), ‘Constructing Local Stemmata for the Editio Critica Maior of Acts’; respondent: Tommy Wasserman (Sweden).

15. 15. Memory, Narrative and Christology in the Synoptic Gospels (convenors: Profs. S. Byrskog, J. Schröter and Dr S. Hultgren). (a) Joseph Verheyden (Belgium), ‘Memory and Gospel Writing – in Dialogue with Robert McIver’; respondent: Robert McIver (Australia); (b) David du Toit (Germany), ‘Treasuring Memory: Narrative Christology in and beyond Mark's Gospel’; (c) Stephen Hultgren (Australia), ‘Narrative Christology before the Gospels? Elijah Typology and the Memory of Jesus’.

The Business Meetings

At the two Business Meetings of the Society, members formally elected Prof. Judith Lieu (UK) to the post of President for the 70th General Meeting in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 2014 (until which time she assumes the office of President-Elect). The Committee intimated the nomination of Prof. Carl Holladay (USA) to the post of President at the 71th General Meeting in Montreal, Canada in 2016. As nominee, he becomes Deputy President-Elect until the 2015 General Meeting in Amsterdam, when his nomination will be voted on by the Society.

Profs. Adele Reinhartz (Canada) and Josef Verheyden (Belgium) retired from the Committee at the conclusion of the General Meeting in Perth. Profs. Christine Gerber (Germany) and Johan Thom (South Africa) were elected to replace them and will serve on the Committee for a period of three years.

The Society received the Treasurer's Report and formally accepted the statement of accounts as presented by the Treasurer, Dr Kathy Ehrensperger (UK).

The Assistant Secretary for International Initiatives, Prof. William R. G. Loader (Australia), reported on the work of the various liaison committees (of which there are four: the Eastern European Liaison Committee, the African Liaison Committee, the Asian/Pacific Liaison Committee, and the Latin America/Caribbean Liaison Committee) and the SNTS Electronic Library. The main goals of the international initiatives of the Society remain to promote the scholarly study of the New Testament in all parts of the world, to expand the Society's footprint internationally, and to increase its membership in regions where it is underrepresented.

The Editor of New Testament Studies, Prof. Francis Watson (UK), reported that 107 articles had been submitted to the Journal over the past year; 27 were accepted for publication. Profs. Reimund Bieringer (Belgium), Andreas Dettwiler (Switzerland), David du Toit (Germany), Ann Jervis (Canada), Angela Standhartinger (Germany) and Manabu Tsuji (Japan) were due to retire from the Board at the end of 2014. To replace these members, the Editorial Board nominated, and the Society elected, the following members to serve in their place, during the period January 2015–December 2017: Edward Adams (UK), Eve-Marie Becker (Denmark), Lukas Bormann (Germany), Claire Clivaz (Switzerland), Philip Esler (UK), Jan-Willem van Henten (The Netherlands) and Moisés Mayordomo Marin (Switzerland).

The Editor of the Monograph Series, Prof. Paul Trebilco (New Zealand), reported that three monographs have been published since the previous General Meeting, three volumes are in production, and three projects have been contracted.

The Society received with regret news of the deaths of the following: Profs. Ellen Aitken, François Bovon (former president), Maurice Casey, Giuseppe Ferraro, R. T. France, Sean Freyne (former president), Birger Gerhardsson (former president), Hans Kvalbein, Robert Kysar, Kikuo Matsunaga, Paul W. Meyer, Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, Charles Perrot, Dieter Zeller. Members observed a minute's silence in memory of these scholars.

The following New Testament scholars were elected to the Society: Prof. Pieter J. J. Botha (Professor of New Testament & Early Christian Studies, University of South Africa); Prof. Douglas Campbell (Professor of New Testament, The Divinity School, Duke University, USA); Dr David J. Downs (Associate Professor of New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary, USA); Prof. Dr Alain Gignac (Professeur titulaire, Université de Montréal, Canada); Rev. Prof. Hans-Georg Gradl (Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Director of the Emil-Frank-Institute, University of Trier, Germany); Rev. Dr Mark Harding (Dean and CEO, Australian College of Theology); Dr J. Ross Wagner (Associate Professor of New Testament, Duke University Divinity School, USA); Dr Stephan Witetschek (Privat Dozent at the Faculty of Catholic Theology, University of Munich, Germany); Dr Adrian Wypadlo (Professor für Exegese des Neuen Testaments, University of Münster, Germany).

Social Events

Social events at the General Meeting included a concert at the New Synagogue and a reception and gala dinner sponsored by Cambridge University Press to celebrate the 60th anniversary of New Testament Studies. There was an optional excursion to Budapest on the Saturday.

Future General Meetings

The Society will hold its annual General Meeting in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 2015, in Montreal, Canada in 2016, in Pretoria, South Africa in 2017, and in Athens, Greece in 2018.

1.1.2015