Book of Kells Online

James McGrath has noted that Trinity College Dublin has digitized and placed the Book of Kells online.  You can see it here.

Making the Chronicle's Honor Roll

The Chronicle of Higher Education has released its "Great Colleges to Work For 2013" guide, and my new institution this fall, University of Mississippi, made their "Honor Roll," that is, the top ten in its category (as a large 4-year university).  They received the honor roll for good ratings in the following categories: Collaborative Governance; Confidence in Senior Leadership; Facilities, Workspace, and Security; Job Satisfaction; Professional/Career Development Programs; Respect and Appreciation; Supervisor or Department Chair Relationship; Tenure Clarity and Process; Work/Life Balance.

Areas where they did not score as highly include:  Compensation and Benefits; Diversity; Teaching Environment.

Congratulations to Ole Miss for doing so well.  

The Exorcism Business is Booming

Evidently, anyway.  According to a Huffington Post article focusing on how Polish exorcists have been worried about Madonna, it mentions that requests for exorcists and, evidently, for Catholic clergy to receive exorcism training is on the rise not only in Eastern Europe, but also in the U.S.  I wonder why there is such an upsurge in interest?

Two Powers in Heaven (Now Affordably Priced)

Larry Hurtado notes here that my late advisor's first book, Two Powers in Heaven, is now being re-printed by Baylor University Press at an affordable cost.

Here is the blurb on BUP's site:

In his now classic Two Powers in Heaven, Alan Segal examines rabbinic evidence about early manifestations of the "two powers" heresy within Judaism. Segal sheds light upon the development of and relationships among early Christianity, Gnosticism, and Merkabah mysticism and demonstrates that belief in the "two powers in heaven" was widespread by the first century, and may have been a catalyst for the Jewish rejection of early Christianity. An important addition to New Testament and Gnostic scholarship by this much revered scholar, Segal's Two Powers in Heaven is made available once again for a new generation.

Updated Biblioblog List

There is a new, updated list of biblioblogs.  You can find Antiquitopia listed as New Testament / Early Christianity with an emphasis on Greco-Roman Culture (in its categorization "3d").  The site also lists which blogs are "Top 20" and which are "Top 50."  Antiquitopia, finally, has made the cut for Top 50!

SBL Program Book Online

The SBL Annual Meeting program book is now available online.

Here is the section in which I am giving a paper, scheduled for Sunday evening of the conference.  Looks like Jim Davila will be responding.

Esotericism and Mysticism in Antiquity 11/24/2013 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM Room: Holiday 2 - HiltonTheme: Religious Practices that (Trans)form Rebecca Lesses, Ithaca College, Presiding Jonathan A. Draper, University of KwaZulu-Natal Spiritual Temple and Prophetic-Priestly Revelation of Divine Mysteries in the Didache Community (25 min) Tyson Putthoff, University of Durham “To Die Saturated in His Glory”: Initiatory Death and Ontological Reconstruction in Hekhalot Zutarti (25 min) Joseph E. Sanzo, University of California-Los Angeles Making “Christian Magic”: Themes of Christian Identity Formation on Textual Amulets from Late Antiquity (25 min) Jared C. Calaway, Illinois Wesleyan University God and the Senses: Smelling, Tasting, and Touching God in Early Christianity (25 min) William Hamblin, Brigham Young University The Pseudepigrapha and Visionary Books (25 min) James Davila, University of St. Andrews, Respondent (15 min) Discussion (10 min)