The Academic Programme

The President delivered his Presidential Address entitled ‘Social Networks in Early Christianity’ at the opening plenary session of the Society. Main Papers were presented by Profs. Martin de Boer (Netherlands), ‘Expulsion from the Synagogue: J. L. Martyn's History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel Revisited’; Alain Gignac (Canada), ‘Lorsque le katechon permet de repenser le politique. Discussion critique d'une thèse de Georgio Agamben en regard de la discursivité de 2 Thessaloniciens 2,1–12’; Laura Nasrallah (USA), ‘A Theology of defixiones? Roman Corinth, the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore, and Christ-Followers’; and Thomas Schmeller (Germany), ‘Dissimulatio artis? Paulus und die antike Rhetorik’.

A Presidential Plenary Panel Discussion explored the subject ‘Bultmann and Demythologising: Then and Now’, and included the following contributions: Lukas Bormann (Germany), ‘Bultmann's “Mythology and New Testament” (1941) in Context’ / ‘Bultmanns Entmythologisierungprogramm im Kontext des Jahres 1941’; Stephen Patterson (USA), ‘Demythologising in America’; and Angela Standhartinger (Germany), ‘The Legacy of Bultmann's Demythologising’.

Twelve short papers were presented in two sessions of simultaneous papers. First session: František Ábel (Slovakia), ‘The Role of Israel towards the Gentiles in the Context of Romans 11.25–7’; Cornelis Bennema (UK), ‘A Common Model of Mimesis in John and Paul?’; Paul Danove (USA), ‘What God Possesses from Human Beings and God's Responses to These Possessions in the Gospel of Mark’; Dietrich-Alex Koch (Germany), ‘Der 1829 von H. A. W. Meyer begründete “Kritische und exegetische Kommentar über das Neue Testament” in forschungsgeschichtlicher Sicht’; Adele Reinhartz (Canada), ‘The “Parting of the Ways” and the Criterion of Plausibility’; Samuel Vollenweider (Switzerland), ‘The Saviour in a Camouflage Suit: Gnosticism and Orthodoxy in the Greek Physiologus (2nd century)’. Second session: Roger Aus (Germany), ‘The Noun anatolē and its Cognate Verb as “Sprout” and “Sprout up” in Early Judaic Sources and Luke 1.78–9’; Edwin Broadhead (USA), ‘Narrative and Neurology: Ten Things Every New Testament Scholar Should Know’; Christos Karakolis (Greece), ‘Romans 6.10: Exegetical and Theological Problems’; David Neville (Australia), ‘Apostle of Peace? Probing a Tension in Paul's Theological and Moral Vision’; Alexey Somov (Russia), ‘Individual Resurrection in the New Testament: The Case of Matthew 27.52–3’; Oda Wischmeyer (Germany), ‘Ist der Jakobusbrief “Literatur”? Offene Fragen zum literarischen Charakter des Briefes’.

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

1. 1. Constructions of the Histories of Early Christianity (convenors: Cilliers Breytenbach and Clare Rothschild): (a) Joseph Verheyden (Belgium); respondent: Henk Jan de Jonge (Netherlands); (b) Johan Thom (South Africa); respondent: Paul Foster (UK); (c) Lee McDonald (USA); respondent: Cilliers Breytenbach (Germany).

2. 2. The Greek of the New Testament (convenors: Paul Danove, Jesús Peláez and James Voelz): (a) James Voelz (USA), ‘Standard/Classical Greek Grammatical Features in the Gospel according to Mark and their Importance for Interpretation’; (b) Stanley Porter (Canada), ‘Linguistic Stylistics and the Possibilities of New Testament Interpretation’; (c) Adelbert Denaux (Belgium), ‘Semitisms in the Gospel of Luke’.

3. 3. Inhalte und Probleme einer neutestamentlichen Theologie (convenors: Christof Landmesser and Mark Seifrid): (a) Thomas Söding (Germany), ‘Kerygma ohne Jesus? Bultmanns Paulusbild als Provokation’; (b) Andreas Lindemann (Germany), ‘“Die Geschichte der synoptischen Tradition” und die hermeneutische Theologie Rudolf Bultmanns’; (c) Stephen Hultgren (Australia), ‘Event, Word, Faith: (Critically) Engaging Bultmann in Johannine Theology’.

4. 4. The Johannine Writings (convenors: Jörg Frey, Christina Hoegen-Rohls and Catrin Williams): (a) Jörg Frey (Switzerland), ‘The Farewell Discourses in Scholarly Discussion’; respondent: Christina Hoegen-Rohls (Germany); (b) Martin Winter (Germany), ‘Die Gattungsfrage in Johannes 13–17 im neueren Diskurs’; respondent: Craig Koester (USA); (c) Klaus Scholtissek (guest, Germany), ‘Jesu Abschied? Liebe, Einwohnung und Geist in Johannes 14’; respondent: Olivia Rahmsdorf (guest, Germany).

5. 5. The Development of Early Christian Ethics within its Jewish and Greco-Roman Contexts (convenors: Matthias Konradt and William Loader): (a) Stefan Schreiber (Germany), ‘Der politische Lukas: Zur kulturellen Interaktion des lukanischen Doppelwerks mit dem Imperium Romanum’; respondent: Christfried Böttrich (Germany); (b) Kathy Ehrensperger (Germany), ‘“Every Tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2.11) and Subordination to the Ruling Powers: Struggling with Paul in the Shadow of the Empire’; respondent: Ann Jervis (Canada); (c) Stephan Witetschek (Germany), ‘Distanz und Teilhabe: Positionierungen gegenüber römischer Herrschaft und hellenistischer Normalität in der Johannesapokalypse’; respondent: Fabian Santiago (guest, Mexico).

6. 6. The Mission and Expansion of Earliest Christianity (convenors: Eugene Eung-Chun Park, Paul Trebilco and Gosnell Yorke): (a) Eugene Eung-Chun Park (USA), ‘Katallagē as a New Paradigm of Paul's Understanding of his Apostolic Mission in Second Corinthians’; respondent: Gosnell Yorke (Zambia); (b) Manabu Tsuji (Japan), ‘“Suffering as a Christian’ (1 Peter 4:16): Christian Identity in the Early Christian Mission’; respondent: Paul Trebilco (New Zealand); (c) Rachael Tan (guest, Taiwan), ‘The Carmen Christi in Early Christianity and an Alternative Reading of Philippians 2.5–11 with Emphasis on phroneō and Paul's Perspective on Humiliation and Exaltation’; respondent: Vicky Balabanski (Australia).

7. 7. Hebrews (convenors: Christian Eberhart and Wolfgang Kraus): (a) Hermut Löhr (Germany), ‘Der Hebräerbrief und die “Zweite Sophistik”: Zu Einleitungsfragen des Hebräerbriefs’ / ‘Hebrews and the “Second Sophistic”: On Introductory Matters of Hebrews’; respondent: Gabriella Gelardini (Switzerland); (b) Mary Ann Beavis (Canada), ‘Intention and Purpose of Hebrews’ / ‘Absicht und Zielsetzung des Hebräerbriefs’; respondent: Wolfgang Kraus (Germany); (c) Christian Grappe (France), ‘Absicht und Zielsetzung des Hebräerbriefs’ / ‘Intention and Purpose of Hebrews’; respondent: James Thompson (USA).

8. 8. Social History and the New Testament (convenors: Hermut Löhr, Markus Öhler and Anders Runesson): (a) Alexander Weiss (guest, Germany): ‘Jesus, Paul and the Augustan Marriage Laws’; respondent: Margaret MacDonald (Canada); (b) Lutz Doering (Germany), ‘Jewish Law in Antiquity: Between Norm and Praxis’; respondent: Karin Zetterholm (Sweden); (c) Albert Harrill (USA), ‘Laying down the Law for All: Hellenistic Circular Edicts (ἐντολαί) and the Epistolary Form of Ephesians’; respondent: Bärbel Bosenius (Germany).

9. 9. The Phenomenon of Pseudepigraphy (convenors: Christine Gerber and Adela Yarbro Collins): (a) Olivia Stewart Lester (guest, USA), ‘Second Temple Jewish literature’; respondent: John Collins (USA); (b) Martina Janßen (Germany), ‘Greek Literature’; respondent: Annette Merz (Netherlands); (c) Adela Yarbro Collins (USA), ‘Pseudepigraphic Motives and Practices in Elite Latin Writers’; respondent: Stefan Krauter (Germany).

10. 10. Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: Reassessment and Roads Forward (convenors: Simon Butticaz, Jens Schröter and Janet Spittler): (a) Bart Ehrman (USA), ‘Katabasis in the Acts of Thomas’; (b) Janet Spittler (USA), ‘Resurrection in the Acts of John’; respondent: Silke Petersen (Germany), joint session with seminar Resurrection: New Methods and Approaches; (c) Rémi Gounelle (guest, France), ‘Les Actes apocryphes des apôtres: des textes énigmatique’.

11. 11. Papyrology, Epigraphy and the New Testament (convenors: Peter Arzt-Grabner and James Harrison): (a) James Harrison (Australia) ‘The Ephesian Citizenship Decrees and the New Testament Understanding of an Alternative Citizenship’; (b) Peter Malik (guest, Germany), ‘P.Beatty iii (P47) and Company: Reinvestigating the Papyri of the Johannine Apocalypse’; respondent: Tommy Wasserman (Sweden), joint session with seminar New Testament Textual Criticism; (c) Philip Esler (UK), ‘Joseph's Marital Problem (Matthew 1.18–25) in Light of Judean Legal Papyri’.

12. 12. Reading Paul's Letters in Context: Theological and Social-Scientific Approaches (convenors: William Campbell and Judith Gundry): (a) John Barclay (UK), ‘Συγκοινωνοί μου τῆς χάριτος (Philippians 1.7): Paul and the Double Reconstitution of the Self’; respondent: Korinna Zamfir (Romania); (b) Thomas Blanton (USA), ‘Was Paul a skēnopoios: A Critical Assessment of the Linguistic and Literary Evidence’; respondent: Todd Still (USA); (c) Daniel Boyarin (USA), ‘Mark and Paul: A Surprising Convergence’; respondent Robert Brawley (USA).

13. 13. New Testament Textual Criticism (convenors: Claire Clivaz, Hugh Houghton and Tommy Wasserman): (a) Hugh Houghton (UK), ‘Codex Zacynthius: New Light on the Oldest New Testament Catena Manuscript’ – respondent: Claire Clivaz (Switzerland); (b) Peter Malik (guest, Germany), ‘P.Beatty III (P47) and Company: Reinvestigating the Papyri of the Johannine Apocalypse’ – respondent: Tommy Wasserman (Sweden) joint session with seminar Papyrology, Epigraphy and the New Testament; (c) Ulrich Schmid (Germany), ‘The oldest edition of a (Latin) New Testament – Codex Fuldensis (Fulda, Bonifatiushandschrift 1)’ – respondent: Annette Hüffmeier (guest, Germany).

14. 14. Memory, Narrative, and Christology in the Synoptic Gospels (convenors: Samuel Byrskog, David du Toit and Stephen Hultgren): (a) Simon Butticaz (Switzerland), ‘Israel, Jesus and the Apostles: the Lukan Memory of Christian Origins’ / ‘Israël, Jésus et les apôtres: la mémoire des origines selon Luc’; (b) David du Toit (Germany), ‘From Rudolf Bultmann to Memory Theory: Reflections on the Problem of the Modalities of Transmission in the Synoptic Tradition’; (c) Risto Uro (Finland), ‘Ritual, Memory and Early Christian Tradition’.

15. 15. Philo and Early Christianity (convenors: Per Jarle Bekken and Greg Sterling): (a) Florian Wilk (Germany), ‘Einflüsse von oder Parallelen zu philonischem Denken im ersten Korintherbrief des Paulus?’; (b) Athanasios Despotis (Germany), ‘Aspects of Cultural Hybridity in Philo's Anthropology and a Short Comparison with the Human Condition in John’; (c) Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr (Germany), ‘Der Philosoph Hans Leisegang als Philon-Forscher’.

16. 16. Acta Politica: The Book of Acts and the Political Culture of the Roman Empire (convenors: Knut Backhaus, Carl Holladay and Daniel Marguerat): (a) David Balch (USA), ‘Luke-Acts as Political Biography/History: A Conversation with Prof. Hubert Cancik’; respondent: Carl Holladay (USA); (b) Sabine Müller (guest, Germany), ‘Jerusalem und der Alexanderroman’ / ‘Jerusalem and the Alexander Romance’; respondent: Knut Backhaus (Germany); (c) Michal Beth Dinkler (USA), ‘The Politics of Stephen's Storytelling: Narrative Rhetoric and Reflexivity in the Context of Empire’; respondent: Michael Wolter (Germany).

17. 17. Resurrection: New Methods and Approaches (convenors: Shelly Matthews and Daniel Smith): (a) Deborah Prince (guest, USA), ‘Do Appearances Matter? Navigating the Complexities of Seeing the Risen Jesus’; respondent: Daniel Smith (Canada); (b) Janet Spittler (USA), ‘Resurrection in the Acts of John’; respondent: Silke Petersen (Germany), joint session with seminar Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles; (c) Fred Tappenden (guest, Canada), ‘“In my Flesh I am Filling up what is Lacking …”: Cognitive and Mnemonic Aspects of Resurrection and the Pauline Body’; respondent: Alexey Somov (Russia).

18. 18. Reading Galatians in New Perspectives: Methods and Approaches (convenors: Martin Meiser, Dieter Sänger and Korinna Zamfir): (a) Michael Bachmann (Germany), ‘Die Opponenten des Paulus im Galaterbrief: Alte und neue Zugänge’; (b) Felix John (guest, Germany), ‘Kontextualisierung der paulinischen Gemeinden in der Galatia’; (c) Martin Meiser (Germany), ‘Self-Authorisation and Self-Stylisation: A feature of Paul's Literal Strategy in the Galatian Conflict’.

The Business Meetings

At the two Business Meetings of the Society, members formally elected Prof. Margaret Mitchell (USA) to the post of President for the 75th General Meeting in Rome, Italy in 2020 (until which time she assumes the office of President-Elect). The Committee intimated the nomination of Prof. John Barclay (UK) to the post of President at the 76th General Meeting in Melbourne, Australia in 2021. He becomes Presidential Nominee until the 2020 General Meeting in Rome, when his nomination will be put to the vote by the Society.

Profs. Uta Poplutz (Germany) and Risto Uro (Finland) retired from the Committee at the conclusion of the General Meeting in Marburg. Profs. Sandra Huebenthal (Germany) and Heike Omerzu (Denmark) were elected as replacements and will serve on the Committee for a period of three years. In addition, Prof. Gosnell Yorke (Zambia) was elected to serve on the Committee until the end of the General Meeting in 2021.

The Society received the Treasurer's Report and formally accepted the statement of accounts as presented by the Treasurer, Prof. Paul Foster (UK). Members were reminded that the collection of membership fees was being processed electronically by CUP. Members were encouraged to register and make payments online.

The Assistant Secretary for International Initiatives, Prof. William R. G. Loader (Australia), reported on the work of the various liaison committees (the Eastern European Liaison Committee, the African Liaison Committee, the Asia Pacific Liaison Committee and the Latin America Caribbean Liaison Committee). One innovation at this General Meeting was for nine members and guests from Nigeria, Ghana, Lesoto, India, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania to display research posters. 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. Important elements of this international work include authorising funding to provide sponsorships to assist members and approved guests from the Liaison Committees’ regions to participate in the General Meeting, and to assist with the running of an annual pre-conference.

The Editor of New Testament Studies, Dr Simon Gathercole (UK), reported that 111 articles had been submitted to the Journal over the past year. Twenty of these had been accepted for publication. Peter Arzt-Grabner (Austria), Helen Bond (UK), Hugh Houghton (UK), Konrad Huber (Germany), James Kelhoffer (Sweden), Candida Moss (UK) and Joseph Verheyden (Belgium) were due to retire from the Board at the end of 2019. To replace these members, the Editorial Board nominated, and the Society elected, pending appointment by the Press, the following members to serve in their place, for the period January 2020 – December 2022: Nathan Eubank (USA), Mark Goodacre (USA), Holger Strutwolf (Germany), Matthew Thiessen (Canada), Gregor Wurst (Germany) and Christiane Zimmermann (Germany).

The Editor of the Monograph Series, Prof. Edward Adams (UK), reported that three monographs had been published since the previous General Meeting, four volumes were in production, and one further project had been placed under contract.

The Society received with regret news of the deaths of the following: Profs. William Baird (USA; Life Member; January 2018); Frederick Borsch (USA; April 2017); John Court (UK; March 2019); Margaret Davies (UK; March 2019); Paul Ellingworth (UK; Life Member; November 2018); Owen Evans (UK; October 2018); Robert Fortna (USA; February 2017); Corrado Marrucci (Italy; June 2016); Gail O'Day (USA; September 2018). Members observed a minute's silence in memory of these scholars.

A record number of fifty-seven New Testament scholars were elected to the Society: Prof. Dr Bartosz Adamczewski, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw (Poland); Dr Garrick Allen, Dublin City University (Ireland); Dr Eric D. Barreto, Princeton Theological Seminary (USA); Dr Vemund Blomqvist, University of Oslo (Norway); Dr Sherri Brown, Creighton University (USA); Dr Tony Burke, York University (Canada); Dr Alan Cadwallader, Charles Sturt University (Australia); Dr Robert Calhoun, Texas Christian University (USA); Dr Stephen Carlson, Australian Catholic University (Australia); Prof. Ronald Charles, St. Francis Xavier University (Canada); Prof. Dr Carsten Claußen, Theologische Hochschule Elstal (Germany); Prof. L. Stephanie Cobb, University of Richmond (USA); Dr Matthew Crawford, Australian Catholic University (Australia); Prof. Dr Matteo Crimella, Facoltà Teologica dell'Italia Settentrionale – Milano (Italy); Prof. Chris De Wet, University of South Africa (South Africa); Dr Susan Eastman, Duke University Divinity School (USA); Dr Benjamin Edsall, Australian Catholic University (Australia); Dr Samuel Fernández, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile); Dr Christopher Frilingos, Michigan State University (USA); Prof. Joshua Garroway, Hebrew Union College (USA); Prof. Kirsten Marie Hartvigsen, University of Oslo (Norway); Dr Meghan Henning, University of Dayton (USA); Prof. Dr Rainer Hirsch-Luipold, Universität Bern (Switzerland); Dr Annette Bourland Huizenga, University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (USA); Prof. Steven Hunt, Gordon College (USA); Dr Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre, Drew University Theological School (USA); Dr David Joy, Kerala United Theological Seminary (India); Prof. Dr Ursula Ulrike Kaiser, University of Braunschweig (Germany); Prof. Jacobus Kok, Evangelische Theologische Faculteit Leuven (Belgium); Dr Maia Kotrosits, Denison University (USA); Dr Kasper P. Larsen, Aarhus University (Denmark); Prof. Louise Lawrence, University of Exeter (UK); Prof. Nicola Denzey Lewis, Claremont Graduate University (USA); Dr M. David Litwa, Australian Catholic University (Australia); Dr Davina Lopez, Eckerd College (USA); Prof. Elizabeth Mburu, Pan Africa Christian University (Kenya); Dr Robert Moses, High Point University (USA); Dr Alicia Myers, Campbell University (USA); Dr David Nienhuis, Seattle Pacific University (USA); Dr Wilfrid Guillaume Okambawa, Institut de Théologie de la Compagnie de Jésus (Ivory Coast); Prof. Jeremy Punt, Stellenbosch University (South Africa); Prof. Rafael Rodriguez, Johnson University (USA); Prof. Dieter Roth, Boston College (USA); Dr Hildegard Scherer, Theologische Hochschule Chur (Switzerland); Dr Eckart Schmidt, Mainz University (Germany); Prof. Mitzi Smith, Columbia Theological Seminary (USA); Dr Alan Streett, Criswell College (USA); Prof. Ladislav Tichý, Palacký-University of Olomouc (Czech Republic); Dr Michael Trainor, Australian Catholic University (Australia); Prof. J. Brian Tucker, Moody Theological Seminary (USA); Prof. Ernest Van Eck, University of Pretoria (South Africa); Dr Jermo Van Nes, Evangelische Theologische Faculteit Leuven (Belgium); Prof. Dr Tor Vegge, University of Agder (Norway); Prof. Lily Vuong, Central Washington University (USA); Dr James Wallace, Christian Brothers University (USA); Dr Joel White, Freie Theologische Hochschule Giessen (Germany); Dr Travis B. Williams, Tusculum University (USA).

Following extensive review, feedback and discussion over the last three years, Prof. John Kloppenborg (Past President) reported that the Committee is implementing a number of changes to its practices. From the Rome 2020 General Meeting, the frequency of an individual attending as a personal guest is being increased to three times within a five-year period, which can be repeated. This will be reviewed by the Committee at regular intervals to ensure that it continues both to widen access, but still incentivise nominations for membership. Additionally, members will be allowed to invite up to two guests and are strongly encouraged to keep the Society's commitment to diversity in mind when doing so.

From the Melbourne 2021 General Meeting, there will be six Main Papers, instead of four. It is intended that this will broaden the range of contributors to the Academic Programme.

The Committee will also prepare a resolution regarding Associate Membership for the membership to consider at its meeting in Rome in 2020.

Social Events

On the Wednesday evening, there was an Organ Concert in the Elisabethkirche, with music from England, France and Germany; and on the Thursday evening, there was a Dinner at the Restaurant Dammühle. There were optional excursions on the Saturday to various places of cultural, historic and local interest.

Future General Meetings

The Society will hold its annual General Meeting in Rome, Italy in 2020, and in Melbourne, Australia in 2021.

1.1.2020