Proposals for papers are invited for the British New Testament Society meeting 2020 to be held in Durham from Thursday 3 to Saturday 5 September. Paper proposals must include the presenter’s name and institutional affiliation (where appropriate), a title, and an abstract of not more than 300 words, and should be sent directly to the relevant seminar chairs by Monday 9 March 2020. Proposals for the Simultaneous Short Paper session should be sent to the Secretary, Steve Walton (steve.walton@cantab.net), by Monday 27 April 2020. Specific seminar contact details and calls for papers are below.
If you prefer to download this Call for Papers in another format, please select one of the following: .pdf and .docx.
Note: the BNTS Code of Conduct can be downloaded here: PDF.
The Book of Acts
Sean Adams (sean.adams@glasgow.ac.uk)
Matthew Sleeman (matthews@oakhill.ac.uk)
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 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.
The Book of Revelation
Garrick Allen (garrick.allen@dcu.ie)
Meredith Warren (m.j.warren@sheffield.ac.uk)
The Revelation seminar is accepting papers for two 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. Our third panel will review the book Reading Revelation as Pastiche: Imitating the Past (T&T Clark, 2017) by Michelle Fletcher.
Early Christianity
Dominika Kurek-Chomycz (kurekcd@hope.ac.uk)
Francis Watson (francis.watson@dur.ac.uk)
At the 2020 conference we plan to hold two open sessions featuring papers on any topic within the remit of this seminar (see next paragraph), and to devote one session to a group discussion of key excerpts from the Shepherd of Hermas. We envisage two short papers in each of the open sessions, and would particularly welcome proposals relating to disability and Early Christianity for the first of them. Abstracts should state the paper’s thesis and outline the approach that will be taken.
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). We welcome papers relating to New Testament texts and themes so long as these are placed within the broader early Christian environment.
Later Epistles
David Moffitt (dm206@st-andrews.ac.uk)
Katherine Hockey (katherine.hockey@abdn.ac.uk)
This seminar focuses on the Later Epistles, including the disputed Paulines, Catholic Epistles and Hebrews. In conjunction with the Paul seminar we will hold a joint seminar with invited papers on the disputed Paulines. The remaining two sessions of the seminar will be open paper sessions. Whilst papers on any topic directly relevant to the study of the Later Epistles will be considered, we particularly invite proposals that investigate the interrelationship between paraenesis and eschatology in one or more of these texts.
Johannine Literature
Cornelis Bennema (cbennema@ust.ac.uk)
Andy Byers (a.j.byers@durham.ac.uk)
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. There will be a joint session with the Synoptic Gospels seminar on John and the Synoptics. In the remaining two sessions, there is scope for four to five papers. Papers are normally 30 minutes, allowing time for questions and discussion, but shorter papers of 20 minutes are also welcome.
New Testament and Second Temple Judaism
Susan Docherty (s.e.docherty@newman.ac.uk)
Crispin Fletcher-Louis (cfletcherlouis1@glos.ac.uk)
The 2020 meeting will offer one open-call session (to include 3 x 30 minute slots), for which papers on any topic relating to the New Testament in its early Jewish context are warmly welcomed. There will also be a panel discussion of a forthcoming new book by Sean Adams, Greek Genres and Jewish Authors: Negotiating Literature Culture in the Greco-Roman Era (Baylor University Press), held jointly with the Synoptic Gospels seminar (reviewers Elizabeth Shively and Helen Bond). In the final session, invited speakers (Crispin Fletcher-Louis and Kim Fowler) will present on current research projects in the area of “Judaism and Rome”.
Paul
Dorothee Bertschmann (d.h.bertschmann@durham.ac.uk)
Matt Novenson (matthew.novenson@ed.ac.uk)
This year the Paul Seminar will have two open-call sessions, for which we welcome paper proposals on any and all topics in Pauline studies. We are also planning a third session, co-sponsored with the new Later Epistles Seminar, featuring papers on the disputed Pauline letters. One or more of the papers in this lattermost session may be invited, but we also specifically welcome paper proposals showcasing research on the disputed letters.
Synoptic Gospels
Andy Angel (vicar@standrewsbh.org.uk)
Elizabeth Shively (ees3@st-andrews.ac.uk)
The 2020 meeting will offer one open-call session (for 3 x 30-minute slots), for which we invite paper proposals on any theme or topic relating to the Synoptic Gospels. A second session, held jointly with the NT and Second Temple Judaism Seminar, will present a panel discussion of a forthcoming new book by Sean Adams, Negotiating Genre: Jewish Authors and Greek Literary Forms (Baylor University Press), with reviewers Helen Bond and Elizabeth Shively. The final session, held jointly with the Johannine Literature Seminar, will feature an invited panel of speakers to discuss current research on John’s Use of the Synoptics.
Simultaneous Short Papers
Steve Walton (steve.walton@cantab.net)
Michelle Fletcher (michelle.fletcher@kcl.ac.uk)
Proposals for 20–25 minute papers are invited for the simultaneous short papers session. Preference will be given to papers that do not easily fit into one of the established seminar groups. Proposing the same paper for this section and one of the seminar groups is not permitted.