WEDNESDAY SESSIONS I AIM TO ATTEND:

UPDATE: Finally got the Edinburgh wireless access working. Excellent Judaica session, although unfortunately Edwin Broadhead's paper was canceled. Also, I am very sorry to report that although Susan Haber had been scheduled to present a paper on "Jesus, the Law, and Purity Practices: First Day Ablutions in the Temple?" we've gotten word (also noted on the Agade list) that she died a short time ago. The online program book had already been updated accordingly before I pasted in the schedule here.

5-10
Judaica
7/05/2006
8:45 AM to 12:00 PM
Room: G.10 - Adam Ferguson

Theme: Non-Rabbinic Judaisms

Esther Chazon, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Presiding (5 min)

Edwin K. Broadhead, Berea College
Was there a Jewish Christianity? (25 min)

Abstract
WAS THERE A JEWISH CHRISTIANITY? This presentation is based on my current sabbatical project at Oxford on the reconstruction of Jewish Christianity in the first four centuries of the common era. Attention is given not only to the historical evidence for Jewish ways of following Jesus, but also to the hermeneutical impact of this phenomenon. The search for historical traces of Jewish Christianity must be multi-disciplinary, and it must be built upon a series of critical inquiries and reconstructions. First among these is the attempt to articulate a meaningful definition. Secondly, points of origin must be defined: among these are the Jewishness of Jesus, the composition of the earliest communities, and the form of some of the earliest Christian writings. Thirdly, the patristic representation of Jewish Christianity must be critically evaluated in search of plausible historical evidence. Fourthly, other areas must be analyzed: Jewish Christian texts, rabbinical texts, archeological evidence, sociological factors. Taken together, these lines of evidence make plausible the argument that Jewish Christianity existed as a vital, enduring movement which presented a variety of forms, locations, and connections. Finally, the hermeneutical impact of such evidence must be considered. Demonstration of vital, enduring forms of Jewish Christrianity would require dramatic changes in current perceptions of primitive Christianity, but also in recent descriptions of Judaism between the Temple and the Mishnah.

Jonathan G Campbell, University of Bristol
The New Judaic Scriptures from Qumran (25 min)

Abstract
This paper considers the nature of various new Judaic writings from Qumran that have been officially published recently in the Discoveries in the Judaean Desert series in volumes XIII, XIX, XXII, XXX, XXXVI, and XXXVIII (1994-2000). Normally categorized as ‘parabiblical texts’, the relevant materials include inter alia 4QVisions of Amram (4Q543-547); 4QApocryphon of Moses (4Q375-376); 4QApocryphon of Joshua (4Q178-179); 4QApocryphon of Jeremiah (4Q383, 384, 385a, 387, 387a, 388a, 389-390); 4QPseudo-Ezekiel (4Q385, 385b, 386, 388, 391); and 4QPseudo-Daniel (4Q243-5). Closer analysis, however, raises the important issue of the precise status of these new Judaic compositions at Qumran and elsewhere. In particular, despite their often fragmentary state, they seem largely indistinguishable in terms of content and genre from other long-known Second Temple scriptures. Their possible scriptural status for some Jews and Christians before 70 CE is a question that must, therefore, be taken seriously by scholars. Indeed, 4QApocryphon of Joshua appears to be cited in the sectarian scriptural anthology known as 4QTestimonia. Hence, this paper tries to answer the above question on the initial assumption that there was no universally agreed ‘canon’ of scripture in Judaism before 70 CE. So not only does the analysis aim to shed light on these new Judaic texts from Qumran but, in so doing, it also hopes to comment on the nature of late Second Temple scripture in the process.

Yaakov Teppler, Beit Berl College
"Sifre Minim": The Books of the Heretics (25 min)

Abstract
Sifre Minim – The Books of the Heretics" The most discussed and thoroughly investigated are the Talmudic warnings about "Books of the Heretics, Sifre Minim. Although these warnings were seen in post-Mishnaic literature, the sages who discuss this issue are primarily from second century Palestine, and one may confidently suppose that they reflect an actual conflict from earlier Tanaitic time. Understanding their essence of these "books" might help to shed more light on the identity of the minim. Our sources claim these books placed enmity, jealousy, and strife between Israel and their Father who was in heaven. It is certain that basically the "Books of the Heretics" refers to the Christian Gospels. They do look sacred and contain “memorials” as well as biblical verses. That was the result of attaching and attributing the Jesus narrative to the Bible (Old Testament) in order to make these scriptures authoritative. Later, it was developed as a result of the need to create and define the “Canon”, perhaps as a response to Gnostic acts of selecting scriptures. This Canon consisted of the structure of the New Testament and the Old Testament as one complete book, and served also as a statement of the role of the New compared to and as a continuity with the Old. The late reference of the sages to the "Books of the Heretics" refers to the completed version of the Christian Bible. Ultimately, that was the reason for the Talmudic prohibition that a Torah Book that was written by min must be burnt. Christian copies of the Torah scroll were obviously written not for Jews to use in synagogues, but as an integral part of the Christian scriptures, containing different versions of the Old Testament and New Testament scriptures and apocrypha.

Break (45 min)

Discussion (45 min)

5-17
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
7/05/2006
2:00 PM to 5:45 PM
Room: Lecture Theatre - William Robertson

Pierluigi Piovanelli, University of Ottawa, Presiding

Petri Luomanen, University of Helsinki
Jewish-Christian Gospels: A New Reconstruction (30 min)

Abstract
Several Church fathers refer to Jewish-Christian gospels in their writings. Since no manuscripts of these gospels have survived, scholars have been compelled to reconstruct the number, contents and character of these gospels on the basis of fragments preserved by the Church fathers. According to a widely accepted theory there were three Jewish-Christian gospels: the Gospel of the Ebionites, the Gospel of the Nazarenes and the Gospel of the Hebrews. Although some scholars (including the presenter) have pointed out problems with criteria that have been used in the reconstruction of these gospels and the distinction between the Gospel of the Nazarenes and the Gospel of the Hebrews has occasionally been questioned, no detailed alternative reconstructions have been presented recently. The present paper first summarizes what problems there are in the present standard reconstruction of the three different gospels and then moves on to argue for an alternative reconstruction. The new reconstruction presumes only two Gospels: the Gospel of the Ebionites and the Gospel of the Hebrews and suggests that in practice Jerome's "Gospel of the Nazarenes" was a limited collection of anti-Rabbinic passages from the canonical Matthew.

Bas van Os, University of Groningen
The Date and Provenance of the Gospel of Philip (30 min)

Abstract
Many scholars accepted the Gospel of Philip (Nag Hammadi Codex II,2) as a work from Syria, written between 150-300 CE. A clearly Syrian influence can be found in the Syrian etymologies and the metaphoric language. But there are also links with Egyptian Hellenism, Italian Valentinian thinking and so-called 'western' baptism rites. In this paper, I will give an overview of the various indicators, sketching a multi-facetted picture of the environment in which this work originated. By assigning a date and provenance to the Gospel of Philip, we -- by implication -- also say something about for example the dissemination of post-baptismal chrismation to that place and time. I will review several candidates in place and time, to see where and when the Gospel of Philip could have been written, demonstrating that Edessa and Antioch belong to the least likely candidates.

Johanna Brankaer, Université Catholique de Louvain
Myth as Demonstration: The Program of On the Origin of the World (NHC II, 5; XIII, 2) (30 min)

Abstract
The narrator of the Treatise on the Origin of the World presents himself as engaging in a debate about the origin of the world. He takes position by criticizing his opponents who claim that nothing existed prior to chaos, and he pretends to demonstrate the truth of his own opinion. He presents his discourse as a convincing form of argumentation: this argumentation is not the product of revelation, but it is constructed by the narrator himself (in interpreting several sources he mentions without granting them any special authority). The narrator somehow proclaims his own omniscience. In the introduction (II, 97, 24-98, 10), he thus transmits a program that defines the rhetorical and scientific value of the mythical narrative that follows. The myth is somehow detached from divine revelation and becomes an argumentative means of human reason. We can therefore situate On the Origin of the World typologically after 1) other Gnostic texts it is related to (HypArch, ApocJn, ParShem...) who still present the myth as received by revelation and 2) after Gnostic texts that don't present the myth as revelation, but do not attribute to it any rhetorical of philosophical qualities.

Break (45 min)

Vahan Hovhanessian, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary
The Apocryphal Acts of Thomas: A Glance at a Lost Original or an Orthodox Revision? (30 min)

Abstract
The Greek and Syriac versions of the apocryphal Acts of Thomas have been extensively studied by scholars, although still arguable as to which version preserves the original text. Meanwhile, very little has been published about the existing Armenian version of the Acts of Thomas with its variations. An examination of the Armenian text will highlight passages, textual variations and contextual facts that can arguably place the Armenian text in the temporal forefront. A comparison with the better-known versions may reveal that the Armenian text is actually the original witness, or support the current scholarly consensus that it is a later orthodox revision of the original.

Jon Ma Asgeirsson, University of Iceland
Between the God of the Hebrews and the God of the Sun: Building the Kingdom of Heaven in the Latin Passio-Version of the Acts of Thomas (30 min)

Abstract
While generally considered a rendition rather than a faithful translation from a Greek text of the Acts of Thomas, the Latin Passio-Version retains the basic structure of the story intact. To this integrity of the basic outline, the Latin reveals a complex texture of intertextual composition and omissions from the more original Greek prototype. Structured around three encounters of the apostle Thomas with equally many foreign (Indian?) royal courts, the Acts of Thomas personifies the seeds of salvation in diverse roles of characters. In the Latin Passio-Version of the Acts of Thomas these roles are partially accented by adding characters to the story as well as by geographical locations such as the city of Helipolis and by confronting opponents such as the deity of the Sun, Helios, in comparison to the Greek text in its background. The present paper traces the personae, loci, and adversarii (such as represented as idols) in the Passio Sancti Thomae apostoli as topics of intertextual elaboration over against the original Acts of Thomas for the purpose of demonstrating the manipulation of the original text to meet different social and ideological circumstances. Between the hearalding of a flute and the demolishing of an idol, the walking dead reveals a stratified kingdom.

Paul G. Schneider, University of South Florida
The Johannine Origins and Purpose of the Lord's Secret Sacrament in the Acts of John (30 min)

Abstract
According to the Gospels of Mark (14:26) and Matthew (26:30), Jesus and his twelve disciples sang a hymn after the Last Supper. According to the Acts of John what was performed in the upper room was a Gnostic mystery rite, comprising three hymns, a liturgical dance and final instructions for the initiates. But what is the purpose of this rite? Despite its ‘synoptic setting,’ this paper proposes that the purpose and origins of the Lord’s secret sacrament can be found in Johannine Christianity and with the Johannine secessionists of 1 John.