Dale Allison to Princeton Theological Seminary - Le Donne

The other shoe drops:

http://www.ptsem.edu/index.aspx?id=25769805953

-anthony

Who Started the Conflict in Mark's Gospel? - Le Donne

Over at Mark Goodacre's blog, he asks for a bit of input about online resources for teaching Mark. After commenting there, I thought I'd expand my suggestions here.


One of the points that I try to make in Jesus among Friends and Enemies (eds. Hurtado and Keith) is that as the plot of Mark unfolds, the Jewish leadership is revealed as adversaries of Jesus. This much is old hat. But if one looks more closely, these supposed "enemies" are narrated as asking questions about Jesus' peculiarities. I.e. it is not necessary to read these early exchanges as charged with animosity. As these "controversies" escalate, it is Jesus who provokes the conflict.

Here is an excerpt from my chapter, titled "The Jewish Leaders":

The Improper Temple Offering of Ananias and Sapphira - Le Donne

As promised, I have posted the pdf of my New Testament Studies essay on my personal webpage:

http://www.anthonyledonne.com/Essays.html

I first started thinking about this text (or at least seriously so) about four years ago. I was living in the Sacramento area at the time when I got a call from Dr. Chris Keith. Chris and I had met once before but I didn't like him very much. You really can't trust an American who doesn't follow baseball. After all, besides baseball, there is really no good reason to be an American.

Chris asked me if I could take his place at the annual Pepperdine Bible Lectures. His paper "Sinners in the Hands of a Deadly God" had been accepted for that conference, but he couldn't attend.  Chris had recently been invited to Heidelberg to accept the Templeton Award for Theological Promise for his monograph: The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John, and the Literacy of Jesus. When 10K of award money is on the line with another 10K in travel and honoraria cash, one tends to be motivated to change one's schedule (or so I am told).  Now that knew that Chris didn't follow baseball and that he was rich, I really didn't like him at all.

But I am generous beyond measure - really, a pushover. So I agreed to take on his paper topic, complete with his proposed title. It might have helped if he had started writing the thing so I didn't have to start from scratch. Fortuitously, I found my own reading of the text.

-anthony

My NTS Essay on Ananias and Sapphira - Le Donne

I am pleased to announce that my essay "The Improper Temple Offering of Ananias and Sapphira" is now in print with New Testament Studies.  At the risk of too much self-disclosure, I feel as proud of this essay as any other project I've completed.

In this business, nothing is quite as satisfying as taking an age-old puzzle and solving it to one's own satisfaction.  I'll try to remember to post a pdf of the essay on my personal webpage ( www.anthonyledonne.com ) later this week. For now, here is the abstract:

In Acts 1–7, the Holy Spirit functions as the restored temple presence of the Lord that will restore the kingdom to Israel via the Ekklesia. The Holy Spirit acts through the Ekklesia as one would expect the Lord's temple presence to act. When Barnabas, Ananias, and Sapphira bring their offerings to the temple, they place them at the feet of the leadership of the new religio-fiscal center of restored Israel. As proof that the Lord's presence has indwelled this eschatological temple community, an improper act can, and does in this case, result in immediate death.

-anthony

Congrats to Manfred Lautenschläger Award Winners—Chris Keith

Congratulations to New Testament colleagues who won a 2013 Manfred Lautenschläger Award:  David Lincicum; David Moffitt; Michael Peppard; and Ruth Sheridan!  See an announcement of the award here.  The Manfred Lautenschläger Award is given to ten scholars across the theological and religious studies disciplines and involves a cash prize of $10,000 to each of the winners.  It’s given by the Forschungszentrum Internationale und Interdisziplinäre Theologie at the University of Heidelberg and replaces the previous John Templeton Award for Theological Promise.  Congrats to the winners!

The Two Authenticities - Le Donne

Below is an excerpt from my introductory chapter in Jesus, Criteria, and the Demise of Authenticity. This particular section was written during a time a social conflict in my life. In researching for this, I was hoping to understand better evangelical aversion to and general misunderstanding of historical Jesus research.  While many evangelicals whom I've known have voiced an interest in the topic and voice their support of historiographical rigor, there is an equally disturbing hostility to the discipline. Sometimes these two faces of evangelicalism can manifest simultaneously. These are dangerous waters to navigate I have found. What the below excerpt demonstrates is that sometimes scholars and churchmen use the same words and do not realize that they define these words much differently.  Shenanigans ensue.

Here it is:

Selectivity in Jesus Research and Memory (JSHJ) - Le Donne

Further to my previous post, here is my abstract:

Zeba  Crook  argues  that  there  is  an  emerging  consensus  that  the  Gospels  are reliable historical narratives by those to have applied ‘memory’ theories to historical Jesus research. Crook argues that this emerging consensus betrays a selective reading of research done on ‘memory distortion’ in interdisciplinary study. This essay demonstrates that Crook misunderstands and misrepresents social memory theory both in and outside Jesus studies. A better understanding would have properly represented the spectrum from theoretical ‘presentism’ to ‘continuitism’ in memory applications/adaptations.

My JSHJ Response Essay - Le Donne

The latest Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus issue is now available.

This issue features a critique of "conversative" scholars applying (or misappropriating) memory studies by Zeba Crook. I offer a response essay and he offers a short rejoinder.

-anthony

More on this exchange here.

Nice Post by Jack Daniels

I am appreciating the blog of Jack Daniels over at Studying Jesus and the Gospels of late. That he quotes me appreciably only appreciates my appreciation. Nice turn of phrase from Dr. Whiskey:

There are no primordial events in history, only events experienced and re-membered by various socio-cultural processes – gossip and rumor, story-telling, performance, liturgy, inscripturation, gossip & rumor, story-telling, performance, liturgy, and so on, and all of this, of course, involving interpretation.

Check him out.

-anthony

My New Book - Le Donne

The cover art of my new book is in:



Due out in November.

-anthony

Jesus and Divorce (Part II) - Le Donne

Last week I asked a general question about Jesus' seemingly over-the-top stance on divorce. In short, Jesus seems to take a more rigid stance on divorce than any of his Jewish contemporaries (cf. Matthew 5:31-32; 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12; Luke 16:18; 1 Cor 7:10-11).  The discussion that followed was interesting, if at times off topic.  Here is, perhaps, a novel take on the topic.  I trust my readers to let me know if I'm unwittingly echoing someone else.

If we accept (a) that many of Jesus’ disciples had left their wives behind to follow him and (b) that women were included in Jesus’ following (some known in their own right; not attached to a particular male), could this provide the context for Jesus’ strange teaching about divorce?

Given Jesus’ praise of eunuchs and those who have left their wives and houses behind, it comes as no surprise to hear him discourage remarriage. After all, Jesus seems to have an aberrant view on marriage and family.

Could it be that he was discouraging his male disciples (who had left wives behind) from marrying the female followers with whom they traveled?  In other words, perhaps Jesus is saying, “So you’ve left your wives behind to follow me; great!  But don’t use that as justification for divorcing your wives to marry one of your new traveling companions!”  Please keep in mind that "leaving" one's wife behind and legally divorcing one's wife were two very different things - the latter being devastating for many women.

This possible reading would also help to explain this saying, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman [or just "wife"] with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt 5:27-28).  Dale Allison has suggested that this saying suggests a moderate form of asceticism on Jesus' part.  But maybe Jesus is just trying to keep his disciples from exploiting their newly formed "family".

Thoughts?

Lightfoot's notes on Acts - Le Donne

I've been following Ben Witherington's chronicle of his time in Durham (with no little nostalgia).  This piece might be his most interesting entry yet.  He's (re)discovered J. B. Lightfoot's unpublished commentary notes on the Acts of the Apostles. They seem to have been misfiled in the Monk's Dormitory - a library adjacent to the cathedral cloisters (where I worked on my dissertation quite often).

-anthony

Quarterly Quote of the Month about Jesus for this Week

From my youth onwards I have found
in Jesus my great brother.

~Martin Buber