Session 1: Reception and the Catholic Epistles
Daniel Fook Boon Eng, University of Glasgow, ‘Navigating the Scripture through Paratexts in GA 181’
This paper explores the paratextual complexity and interpretive potential of the 11th-century Greek manuscript GA 181 (Reg. gr. 179), a Praxapostolos codex produced in Calabria. GA 181’s dense network of paratexts including prologues, lection lists, hypotheses, chapter titles, and quotation systems function not merely as organizational aids but as interpretive frameworks that guide reading behaviour and theological reflection. To illustrate this, I engage in a thought experiment, crafting a historically grounded fictional narrative of Leon, a monk and scribe in Southern Italy during the Norman invasions. Through Leon’s eyes and engagement with the manuscript, this paper demonstrates how the Euthalian features could help readers navigate Scripture in their quest for answers. Drawing from codicology and manuscript culture, this study affirms that GA 181 is not just a textual witness but a social artifact—shaped by, and shaping, the devotional and intellectual life of its users. The goal is to offer a favourable case for the formative role of paratexts in ancient Byzantine monastic reading and interpretive practice.
Jacob A. Lollar, Durham University, ‘The New Testament, Apocrypha, and Negotiating Tradition: the Case of Ephesians and the Evangelisation of Ephesus’
Later traditions do not always agree with details found in New Testament writings. The letter to the Ephesians, for example, has always been attributed to Paul but was not always addressed to Ephesus. Indeed, the connection between Paul and Ephesus is ambiguous in the NT. Acts claims that Paul was there but was not the first evangelist, and Paul acknowledges his time there but says very little about it. Meanwhile, in later texts, such as the Acts of John, Irenaeus, and Eusebius, Ephesus’s evangelisation is directly tied to John the son of Zebedee. Interestingly, the later received traditions appear to go against the NT in this instance, siding instead with texts normally classified as apocryphal. This paper explores the influence of apocryphal texts on the reception of NT apostolic traditions. The case of Ephesus’s evangelisation provides important insights into how bishops, historians, and theologians reconstructed their past by negotiating the classificatory boundaries of scripture versus non-scripture. This paper shows that different writers relied on various sources to make their cases about who evangelised Ephesus.
Lily Su, University of Glasgow, ‘The Pastoral Epistles in the Euthalian Tradition’
In manuscript tradition, the information regarding the places of origin of the three letters addressed to Paul’s coworkers, also known as the Pastoral Epistles (PE), presented in the Euthalian hypotheses often contradicts the information in their subscriptions (Willard 1970). Further, the information contained in their subscriptions is in conflict or difficult to reconcile with the contexts of the PE (Paley 1840; Metzger 1981). In order to elucidate the reception and interpretation of the PE from the perspective of early Christians, this study examines the manuscript paratextual evidence, which has been handed down to us by ancient scribes and readers. These paratextual features include the Euthalian apparatus, the subscriptions, and other early traditions related to the PE. Despite the awareness of some inconsistencies, late antique scribes and readers used paratexts to convey their reception of the PE and incorporated exegetical traditions into the Euthalian materials and the subscriptions to place the PE within the broader Pauline narrative. This study argues that manuscript paratexts provide valuable information for understanding the early reception and interpretation of the PE.
Session 2: Joint session with Ancient Judaism and Christianity
Madison Pierce (Western Theological Seminary), Philip Alexander (Manchester), and Yael Fisch (Hebrew University) will review Nicholas Moore’s (Durham, Cranmer Hall) The Open Sanctuary: Access to God and the Heavenly Temple in the New Testament (Baker Academic, 2024: https://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/the-open-sanctuary/411750).
Session 2: General Session
Michael Francis, The Catholic University of America, ‘Sympathy and Suitable Help: Jesus’ Affective Excellence in Hebrews 4:14-5:10’
The paper will address the emphasis on Jesus’ affective traits in relation to his qualifications and performance as high priest in Hebrews 4:14–5:10. The paper will focus, first of all, on the portrayal of Jesus as one able to sympathize with human weaknesses (4:15), an attribute parallel but not identical to the emotionally generous posture predicated of other high priests (5:2). The paper will then consider the portrayal of Jesus’ emotionally intense experience in the days of his flesh (5:7-10, whatever the link to Gethsemane traditions), and the relationship between this former fleshly experience and Jesus’ present posture as compassionate high priest suitably qualified to offer effective assistance to others (4:16; 2:17–18). The paper will argue that the portrayal of Jesus in affective terms across 4:14–5:10 is shaped so as to accommodate the fundamental change in Jesus’ own experience brought about by passage through the heavens as one now perfected (4:14, 5:9), yet without compromising the emotional realia of necessity somehow common to Jesus and those whom he is qualified to help.
Alan Garrow, Independent, ‘The Law Reflected in James’
There is every reason to suppose that James 1:21–25 refers, in different ways, to a single written authority. The “implanted word” is also the “word” the reader is enjoined to hear and do; which is also the mirror into which he or she may look; which is also the perfect law; which is also the law of liberty. This expression of the law was evidently well-known to the intended audience—they probably received it at baptism—but its precise identity has long since been lost to us. In 1883, Philotheos Bryennios discovered a multi-layered text with two features of interest. Not only does the Didache’s “Two Ways” contain every command specifically referred to in James but also it serves as a pre-baptismal catechism—causing it to fit the description of an “implanted word.” This paper argues that the law reflected in James was an element of the Complete Apostolic Decree—a document hidden within the folds of Bryennios’ Didache.
Magnus Rabel, University of Zurich, ‘Can There Be Too Much Knowledge? The Relationship Between γνῶσις and ἐγκράτεια in 2 Peter 1:6’
The sequence of virtues in 2 Peter 1:5–7 has traditionally been examined through the lens of ancient virtue ethics. This paper, however, explores the epistemological structure underlying the text, focusing on the relationship between γνῶσις (knowledge) and ἐγκράτεια (self-control) in 1:6. While Stoic influences on this passage are widely recognized, the question of whether knowledge can ever be excessive remains largely unexamined. Does 2 Peter suggest that knowledge, if unregulated, poses a danger? Or does the text assume that true knowledge necessarily entails self-control, making any excess inconceivable? This study argues that 2 Peter aligns with Stoic and Hellenistic Jewish thought in presenting γνῶσις as inherently self-regulating: genuine knowledge produces ἐγκράτεια as its logical consequence. By reassessing the epistemological dynamics of this passage, this paper contributes to a deeper understanding of 2 Peter’s intellectual framework and its implications for early Christian conceptions of knowledge and ethical formation.