Session A
Heike Omerzu, University of Copenhagen, ‘The Matthean infancy gospel at the crossroads between ancient bioi and Jewish messianism’
This paper will argue that Matthew retained the biographic genre employed by the Gospel of Mark but that he also amplified and complemented it. While following Mark’s overall episodic and topographical structure, Matthew adds or emphasises topoi in his account that are well-known from other bioi (such as Plutarch’s or Suetonius’s Lives, but also works entailing elements of bioi such as Josephus’s, Antiquities). This is especially true for the birth narrative in Matt 1–2 where already the inserted genealogy underlines Jesus’s divine conception and legitimacy. Besides, the plot of the endangered infant, including its exile and preservation are further well-known topoi from ancient bioi as are the various revelatory dreams and supernatural omens included in Matt 1–2. Eventually, Jesus’s early recognition and the foreshadowing of his later career can also be seen as engaging the biographical genre. It will be argued that Matthew’s infancy narrative stands firmly within the ancient bios/vita tradition while also reshaping it for early Jewish Christian theology. The result is a narrative that presents Jesus, from birth, as divinely authorized, historically legitimate, prophetically destined, publicly significant, and morally exemplary.
Annette Hjort Knudsen, University of Copenhagen, ‘A paratextual exploration of power and authority in the book of Acts’
Building on the notion of paratext, developed and coined by Gérard Genette and further developed for ancient texts by Loveday Alexander, the presented reading of Acts explores a possible interpretative framework for analysing the notion of power and authority in Acts.
According to Alexander “ancient authors made extensive use of prefaces, transitional summaries, and epilogues … [paratext] can in antiquity be found in the narrative itself, especially in its opening and closing scenes”. Following Alexander’s suggestion, the opening (1.1-12) and the closing (28.30-31) scenes are explored as paratextual elements of the narrative of Acts. A transitional summary is identified in 16.13-15 when Paul encounters Lydia by the riverside outside of Philippi. The title of the narrative, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, and its possible translations constitutes the fourth paratextual element explored in the presented reading of Acts.The proposed reading distinguishes between text that guides the reading (paratext) and text that tells the story (narrative), even if one and the same textual sequence can serve as both. The presented reading of Acts explores this transitional summary in light of the other identified paratextual elements in order to better understanding the notion of power and hierarchies presented in the book of Acts.
Session B
Lily Su, University of Glasgow, ‘The Margins of the Pauline Corpus: The Reception of the Pastoral Epistles’
The three letters addressed to Timothy and Titus, also known as the Pastoral Epistles (PE) since the eighteenth century, were widely received as Paul’s letters in antiquity, with a few exceptions. However, most scholars today regard the PE as pseudonymous, focusing on their language compared to that of the undisputed Pauline letters. Despite the use of scientific methods, the PE’s linguistic analysis often yields ambiguous results, which complicates the discussion of their reception. The role of manuscript evidence and ancient literary practices for understanding the reception of the PE is often neglected in ongoing debates. This study traces the reception history of the PE, paying particular attention to the PE’s use of earlier texts and manuscript paratextual evidence to elucidate their early reception. This paper argues that ancient readers and scribes received the PE as Pauline for containing broader Pauline ideas, using paratexts to shape the reading and interpretation of these texts as part of the Pauline corpus.
Norbert Nagy, University of Oxford, ‘Radical Scholarship in Historical Jesus Research: A Metacritical Analysis of Biblical Reception, Ideology, and Institutional Margins’
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed a proliferation of Lives of Jesus that helped consolidate modern Historical Jesus research. While often celebrated as a critical scholarly breakthrough, the political, imperial, ecclesiastical, and institutional conditions shaping biblical scholarship, and the marginalization of dissenting voices, remain insufficiently examined. This paper offers a metacritical re-reading of Historical Jesus research, understood as a culturally conditioned form of biblical reception, shaped by ecclesiastical interests, nationalism, and broader ideological currents. Drawing on overlooked archival sources, pamphlets, correspondence, lecture notes, and denominational publications, it recovers alternative interpretations of Jesus developed outside dominant academic networks, particularly among Nonconformist and radical scholars. The study argues that exegetical authority was constructed not only through methodological innovation but also through mechanisms of exclusion that defined disciplinary boundaries. By foregrounding these neglected trajectories, the paper reframes the history of Jesus research as a contested field and contributes to recent discussions within the Next Quest for the Historical Jesus and more broadly within the society concerning the social and reception history of biblical scholarship.