We are pleased to announce that the next EABS Graduate Symposium will take place at the University of Graz, Austria 21st–23rd February 2024

Abstract submission deadline: 15th of October 2023

Please send your abstract to [email protected]

All graduate students, Ph.D. candidates, and postdoctoral researchers are invited to present on topics in their area of research including Hebrew Bible, the ancient Near East, Biblical Archaeology, New Testament, Early Christianity, Rabbinics, Patristics, and any other relevant cognate areas. Candidates should submit their abstracts of no more than 300 words to [email protected] by 11:59 pm (CET) on October 15, 2023. Please do not forget to include your name, university affiliation, email address, and the topic of your presentation in the abstract. 

Non-EABS members are also encouraged to submit abstracts; however, they must be a member at the time of presentation. The one-year student membership is €10. Membership entitles you to all student benefits, including monthly Junior Researcher’s Meetings, the student newsletter, and access to the 24/7 online research portal.

The goal of the symposium is to provide a supportive and nurturing environment for the development of research and to encourage authors to submit them to research seminars for the 2024 EABS Annual Conference. 

Doctoral students are also encouraged to enter the EABS Student Prize by submitting their papers for evaluation after the symposium (deadline: 15th of May 2024). Please note that only papers presented at the EABS Annual Conference are eligible for the Student Prize which is typically awarded at the opening ceremony of the Annual Conference. The EABS Annual Conference 2024 will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria from July 15–17, 2024.

 Confirmed Speakers:

Prof. Dr. Katharina Pyschny | Old Testament Studies at the University of Graz

Prof. Dr. Dominik Markl SJ | Old Testament Studies at the University of Innsbruck

Prof. Dr. Christoph Heil | New Testament Studies at the University of Graz

Prof. Dr. Veronika Burz-Tropper | New Testament Studies at the KU Leuven 

Prof. Dr. Dr.h.c. Irmtraud Fischer | Old Testament Studies at the University of Graz

CALL FOR PAPERS

for a topical issue of Open Theology

DOUBTING PAUL: THE LEGACY OF THE DUTCH RADICAL SCHOOL 

"Open Theology” (https://www.degruyter.com/opth) invites submissions for the topical issue "Doubting Paul: The Legacy of the Dutch Radical School" edited by Wolfgang Grünstäudl and Jacco Pekelder (University of Münster, Germany).

DESCRIPTION  

This topical issue seeks to open a new perspective on one of the most controversial themes of New Testament Studies in Modern Europe: The rise and decline of the so-called “Dutch Radical School” (ca. 1850–1950). Unlike the mainstream of New Testament studies from the middle of the 19th century onwards, which recognized at least four (more often: seven) Epistles of the Apostle Paul as authentic, a small group of Dutch scholars (stemming from different cities, religious backgrounds and academic disciplines) claimed that there is no such thing as an authentic writing of Paul. 

We are especially interested in the biographical, historical, political, social and religious background of these “radical” scholars, in their connections and conflicts with each other and in their national and international linkages and reception. In our view, this group consists of members with highly different profiles and we even wonder if it is justified and helpful to call it a “school”. Moreover, we are eager to learn which aspects of these scholars’ work might be of ongoing relevance for present historical and/or theological discussions. 

We invite researchers to submit papers that contribute to the reflection about the history and legacy of the Dutch Radical School, especially in regard of its contribution to the intellectual history of the Netherlands as well as its place in the history of scholarship on Paul and his letters. Please note that the thematical issue is mainly interested in the treatment of Paul and his letters by the Dutch Radical School and not so much in questions surrounding the historicity of Jesus, although it will not be possible to clearly separate these two issues from one another in each and every case. Especially welcomed are papers that 

• study the biographical, historical, political, social and religious background of scholars associated with the Dutch Radical School (e.g., A. Pierson, A. D. Loman, W. C. van Manen, G. A. van den Bergh van Eysinga),
• analyze connections and conflicts between those scholars (Is it helpful to speak of a “school”?),
• utilize fresh approaches not yet used to analyze this topic (e.g., network analysis, cultural anthropology, sociology of knowledge, history from below),
• identify and describe international relationships of Dutch Radicals inside and outside of Europe,
• demonstrate the place of the Dutch Radical School within the broader context of the intellectual and religious history of the Netherlands, and
• evaluate critically the historical, literary and exegetical arguments put forward by the Dutch Radical School in light of most recent research on Pauland Early Christianity.

Because "Open Theology" is published under an Open Access model, as a rule, publication costs should be covered by Article Publishing Charges (APC), paid by authors, their affiliated institutions, funders or sponsors. Authors without access to publishing funds are encouraged to discuss potential discounts or waivers with Managing Editor of the journal Katarzyna Tempczyk (katarzyna.tempczyk@degruyter.com) before submitting their manuscripts. 

HOW TO SUBMIT  

Submissions will be collected until January 31, 2024, via the on-line submission system at

http://www.editorialmanager.com/openth/  

Choose as article type: Doubting Paul

Before submission the authors should carefully read the Instruction for Authors, available at:

https://www.degruyter.com/publication/journal_key/OPTH/downloadAsset/OPTH_Instruction%20for%20Authors.pdf  

All contributions will undergo critical peer-review before being accepted for publication.  

Further questions about content for this thematic issue can be addressed to Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Grünstäudl ([email protected]) and Prof. Dr. Jacco Pekelder (jacco.pekelder@uni-muenster.de). Financial questions should be directed to journal Managing Editor Katarzyna Tempczyk at katarzyna.tempczyk@degruyter.com. In case of technical problems with submission please write to AssistantManagingEditor@degruyter.com.  

Please see the attached leaflet for a Colloquium on Jewish Readings in New Testament Manuscripts, to be held at the Monastery of Montserrat on 22-25 January 2024.

The deadline for registration is 15 December 2023.

Contributions are invited on the Jewish features of NT variant readings and/or the current state of research on the text of early versions and patristic/apocryphal writings. Written papers may be submitted in English, French or Spanish and will sent out to participants 2 weeks before the Colloquium. Discussion during the colloquium will mainly be in English, with translation available as necessary. Hybrid arrangements may be possible.

For further information, please contact the organisers:

Professor Susan Docherty:
[email protected]

Dr Jenny Read-Heimerdinger:
[email protected]

In search of the unity of the book of Isaiah

The Book of Isaiah is too diverse to be considered as a unified whole but too united to be regarded as just a mere compilation of different parts. The issue is not about unity or complexity, but about unity in complexity. After decades of combat, the time is ripe not only for a cease-fire but for a common effort among synchronists and diachronists. Both should mutually accept the restrictions of their approaches and recognize the strengths of each other’s methodology. One restriction concerns the possibility to decipher in full the redaction history, the different stages of the literary development. There is a growing scepticism about editorial layers that shaped the whole Book of Isaiah from the beginning to the end. But this does not mean the end of any redaction-critical work, but calls for a self-limitation to separate first of all the more probable from the less probable and to consider the consequences of a diachronic decision on one pericope on the whole of the book. The paradigm appropriate to this book seems not that of one final redaction or final redactions, but that of sectional compositions (Teilkompositionen) building upon one another. Methodologically needed is a »diachronically- reflected synchrony«, which analyses the existing textual fabric keeping in mind the nearly four hundred years of literary growth. A promising way seems to apply the »diachronically-reflected synchrony« to the commonly recognized sections of the book (1–12; 13–27; 28–35; 36–39; 40– 55; 56–66). The outcome might be that each of these sections represents the book of Isaiah in a nutshell under different aspects but surely always from the perspective of Israel in the Late Persian/ Early Hellenistic Period.

But what is the whole book about? It is certainly not sufficient to single out key words or similar phenomena and follow them throughout the sixty-six chapters, since the book of Isaiah is as complex on the synchronic as on the diachronic level. Every synchronic observation should be accompanied by a diachronic reflection taking into account the changing historical situation of the text-producer and their first addressees. It’s not enough to pretend that the book of Isaiah has grown more or less stringently from front to back so that the oldest texts stand at the beginning and the youngest at the end. The requirements for the interpretation of Proto-Isaiah are particularly high in this respect, because not only in the first chapter, but in all others as well, the growth of the entire book must always be taken into account. If one takes the interpenetration of older and younger texts seriously, then only scribal circles can be held responsible for this ambitious enterprise. This is all the more valid when one considers the literary connections both in the 66 chapters itself and with regard to other parts of the Hebrew Bible, to the Pentateuch, to other prophetic books and especially to the Psalms. The leading traditions of Ancient Israel like the ones of the patriarchs, Exodus, Moses, David, Zion, but also of the Paradise Garden, Noah, etc. were creatively integrated into this multi-layered, multifaceted literary masterpiece from four centuries of prophetic reflection on YHWH, His people and the nations. The dynamics, the poetical forces, the tradents (Trägerkreise) behind this magistral book will be examined, as well as the question of how the earliest receptions read and understood it.

10 Main lectures (4 english; 4 german; 2 french)

Ulrich Berges: Presidential address:

1. Auf der Suche nach der Einheit des Buches Jesaja. Zwischen synchronem Anspruch und diachroner Herausforderung

2. Hugh Williamson: Redaction-criticism in Proto-Isaiah and its repercussions on the Book of Isaiah

3. Marvin Sweeney: Gains and losses of a one view reading of the book of Isaiah

4. Konrad Schmid: Zeit und Geschichte als Determinanten des Jesajabuchs

5. Judith Gärtner: Das Buch Jesaja und seine Trägerkreise

6. Katie Heffelfinger, Lyrics and Poetics in the Book of Isaiah and the consequences for the history of composition

7. Uta Schmidt : Das Buch Jesaja in genderkritischer/ feministischer Perspektive

8. Marcello Fidanzio/ Hagit Maoz: Le grand rouleau d’Isaïe de Qumrân : approche matérielle.

9. Rodrigo de Sousa: L’Isaïe grec et ses implications pour la recherche de l‘unité du livre d'Isaïe hébreu

10. Antti Laato : The Book of Isaiah in Jewish-Christian reception

4 Seminars

 
Nederlands: Archibald van Wieringen: Leesstrategieën in en van het boek Jesaja

German: Joachim Eck: Intra-textuelle Verbindungen des Jesajabuchs zur hebräischen Bibel

English: Alphonso Groenewald/ Liza Esterhuizen: The Book of Isaiah and trauma/ resilience studies

French: Pierre van Hecke: Métaphores et langage figuratif et la cohérence du livre d’Ésaïe

Offered short papers

 
The offered short lectures can cover all topics related to the book of Isaiah and its ancient versions. A wide variety of methods is expressly desired. The focus is on literary, historical, literary-historical and reception-historical observations. It would be desirable if these individual studies would always also take into account the book of Isaiah.

Parallel Session I/ V: Literary Issues

Parallel Session II/ VI: Historical Issues

Parallel Session III/ VII: Literary Historical Issues (Especially Intra- and Intertextuality; redaction and composition)

Parallel Session IV/ VIII: Reception Historical Issues