Proposals for papers are invited for the British New Testament Society Meeting 2021 to be hosted by the University of St Andrews from Thursday 19 to Saturday 21 August. Paper proposals must include the presenter’s name and institutional affiliation (where appropriate), a title, and an abstract of 150-175 words (max). Proposals should be sent directly to the relevant seminar chairs by Monday 29 March 2021. Now extended until Monday 26 April 2021. Proposals for the Simultaneous Short Paper session should be sent by Monday 26 April 2021.

Note: the BNTS Code of Conduct can be downloaded here: PDF.

Book of Acts

Sean Adams (sean.adams@glasgow.ac.uk)
Monique Cuany (monique.cuany@het-pro.ch)

The Acts seminar welcomes seminar papers approaching Acts from a variety of angles and using a variety of methods: historical, literary, textual-critical, theological, archaeological, the social world, possible links/parallels with other biblical and ancient writings, and so on. We also include topics for discussion which relate Acts to the wider contexts of Luke-Acts and the Pauline corpus, where they are relevant and helpful to the study of Acts. Offers of papers are welcome both from research students (this is a great opportunity to ‘try out’ your ideas) and from more established scholars.

We will have a joint session with the Later Epistles seminar that will examine cultic motifs (e.g., temple, priesthood, sacrifice, atonement, sacrilege, etc.) in Acts and Hebrews. Proposals focusing on some cultic matter from the perspective of both Hebrews and Acts are especially encouraged and will be considered first.

We make papers available on the British New Testament Society web site a few weeks before the conference so that seminar members can read them in advance. At the seminar, the paper’s author presents a 10-15 minute summary before discussion, in order to maximise discussion time in the seminar.

Book of Revelation

Garrick Allen (garrick.allen@glasgow.ac.uk)
Meredith Warren (m.j.warren@sheffield.ac.uk)

The Revelation seminar is accepting papers for two open sessions and one session on “Revelation and Other Apocalypse.” For the open sessions, papers on any exegetical, textual, thematic, and reception-historical issues are invited, as are papers on other issues relating to the Book of Revelation, its broader textual culture, and historical content. The themed session invites presentations on Revelation’s literary and generic connections to other early Jewish and Christian apocalypse, studies specific to other apocalyptic traditions, and the development of apocalyptic traditions. 

Early Christianity

Dominika Kurek-Chomycz ‎(kurekcd@hope.ac.uk)
Francis Watson (francis.watson@dur.ac.uk)

The New Testament texts exist within the broader phenomenon of Early Christianity as a whole, and this seminar is concerned especially with aspects of that total phenomenon that go beyond the New Testament. These include non-canonical texts (e.g. the so-called Apostolic Fathers, New Testament Apocrypha, Old Testament Pseudepigrapha in Christian usage, Nag Hammadi and associated literature, early patristic texts); and wider historical themes (e.g. orthodoxy and heresy, canon formation, gender, ritual, identity, martyrdom, social setting, material culture). 

This year we plan to host one invited paper session, one open session, and one session devoted to the theme of ‘the female body’, whether in texts, ritual, and/or iconography. Offers of short (25-30 min.) papers are invited relating either to the latter theme or to any other aspect of our area.

Johannine Literature

Cornelis Bennema(c.bennema@gmail.com)
Andy Byers (byers.andrew3@gmail.com)

The Johannine Literature seminar invites papers on the Gospel of John and/or the Johannine Epistles. Offers of papers are welcome both from established scholars and from research students and the seminar provides an excellent opportunity for feedback from experts in the field. Papers are normally 30 minutes, allowing time for questions and discussion, but shorter papers of 20 minutes are also welcome.

Later Epistles

David Moffitt (dm206@st-andrews.ac.uk)
Katherine Hockey ‎(katherine.hockey@abdn.ac.uk)

1. One session dedicated to the Petrine Epistles. While any topic on these texts will be considered, the session aims to focus particularly on the question of Petrine authorship. Proposals that address the issue of Petrine attribution in terms of the larger concept of authorship as a form of exemplarity in early Judaism and early Christianity are especially encouraged.
2. One open session addressing topics on any later epistle(s), including the wider Catholic Epistles collection and the deutero-Paulines.
3. One joint session with the Acts seminar that will examine cultic motifs (e.g., temple, priesthood, sacrifice, atonement, sacrilege, etc.) in Acts and Hebrews. Proposals focusing on some cultic matter from the perspective of both Hebrews and Acts are especially encouraged and will be considered first.

New Testament & Second Temple Judaism

Susan Docherty (s.e.docherty@newman.ac.uk)
Crispin Fletcher-Louis (cfletcherlouis1@glos.ac.uk)

The 2021 seminar will include one open-call session (3 x 30 minute slots), for which papers on any topic relating to the New Testament in its early Jewish context are warmly welcomed from both established scholars and research students. Another session will be devoted to consideration of a paper by Prof Philip Alexander on “The Apocalyptic Revival in Judaism Post-70 and its Reflection in Early Christian Writings”, and a response to it given by Prof Richard Bauckham. For the third session, there will be a review (held jointly with the Synoptic Gospels seminar) of Matthew Thiessen’s recently published and already well-received book Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospels’ Portrayal of Ritual Impurity Within First Century Judaism (Baylor University Press, 2020). The review will led by an invited panel, with Dr Thiessen in attendance.

Paul

Dorothee Bertschmann (d.h.bertschmann@durham.ac.uk)
Matthew Novenson (matthew.novenson@ed.ac.uk)

This year the Paul Seminar will hold a book panel on two new books on the “in Christ” motif in Paul: Teresa Morgan, Being ‘in Christ’ in the Letters of Paul, and J. Thomas Hewitt, Messiah and Scripture. For our two open-call sessions, we welcome paper proposals on any and all topics in Pauline studies, and in particular ones on the “in Christ” motif or participation in Christ more generally. 

Synoptic Gospels

Tim Carter (tim.carter@lst.ac.uk)
Kent Brower (kbrower@nazarene.ac.uk)

We plan to run the following sessions for 2021:

1. An open session of papers (2 or 3 depending on submissions)
2. A joint session with the Second Temple Judaism Group which we will be reviewing Matthew Thiessen’s Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospels’ Portrayal of Ritual Impurity within First-Century Judaism, with a response from the author.
3. A session with Richard Burridge on translation and performance of one-half of Mark.

For our open session, we welcome proposals from PhD students as well as more seasoned scholars. We are more than willing to consider papers that:

• relate to the issues surrounding Thiessen’s work, that is, purity-impurity, or other related topics
• connect with the work of Burridge on translation and oral performance
• any other topic that emerges out of research in the three synoptic gospels

The New Testament and Christian Theology

Erin Heim (erin.heim@wycliffe.ox.ac.uk)
Jamie Davies (jamie.davies@trinitycollegebristol.ac.uk)

We are launching this new seminar at BNTS 2021 with a focus on the topic of ‘The New Testament and the Doctrine of Scripture.’ There will be one session with invited panelists and two open-call short paper sessions. Papers are invited on any aspect of the topic, but we are particularly interested to receive proposals for papers that engage Christian theologians in dialogue with the NT, or readings of particular NT texts in conversation with the doctrine of Scripture. In addition to close exegetical discussions, we particularly welcome papers from those who would not ordinarily present at a New Testament conference, especially those working in systematic theology or at the intersection of New Testament and doctrine.

Simultaneous Short Papers

Tom de Bruin (tdebruin@newbold.ac.uk)
Michelle Fletcher (michelle.fletcher@kcl.ac.uk)

Though not a seminar group, this session includes 20–25 minute papers which showcase research that does not easily fit into one of the established seminar groups. We especially welcome papers that explore novel methodologies, are interdisciplinary, or focus on reception and use of the New Testament.