Antiquitopia

I am pleased to announce that Illinois College has approved the proposal submitted by Emily Adams (in French) and myself to take students to hike the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (the Way of St. James) in France in Spain next summer. The travel course - or in Illinois College's parlance, "Breakaway" - is called "Journey to the End of the Earth: Hiking the Way of St. James in France and Spain" I am very excited to have this opportunity to lead this trip.  Here is a description: Hiking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela – the Way of St. James – has recently become the most recognizable and most traveled pilgrimage in modern Christianity.   While recently touted as a symbol for European unity, the Camino has a long history and provides extensive opportunities to see medieval churches, castles, palaces, ancient ruins, as well as stunning views of the countryside.   Hiking the Camino offers a multifaceted experience.   This trip would be ideal for stud...

I just saw this positive review of Seth Schwartz's latest book, The Ancient Jews from Alexander to Muhammad , a condensation of his book, Imperialism and Jewish Society .  Imperialism and Jewish Society should be required reading of any scholar of ancient Judaism, ancient Christianity, and Roman history.

Though not directly discussing the Bible or ancient texts more generally, there was a review article in the Chronicler of Higher education discussing " When Literature was Dangerous ."  The example used there is James Joyce's Ulysses, which used to be banned in the U.S. and England until the 1930s.  In the U.S. today, however, when very little is actually censured, there appears to be very little dangers in reading and writing.  At the same time, when anything goes, does anything matter?  Individual institutions may issue a ban, but there is no force behind it like there used to be.  Whereas writers in other, more totalitarian states, often risk imprisonment and execution for their work.  Where nothing goes, does everything matter? This, ultimately, raises a different issue than usually addressed in our dusty discussions of what something meant in antiquity or even how it has been received later.  It is not even limited to questions of cui bono ? Tha...

In the Marginalia, Adele Reinhartz has a short  article critiquing the recent growing tendency to translate Ioudaioi as "Judeans" rather than "Jews," the end of which she cites the most authoritative of sources to indicate when "Judean" (or "Judaean" for you Brits) should be retained: Let us restore Judean to its primary geographical meaning, as pertaining to the region of Judea and its residents. Political designations such as the Judean People’s Front, the People’s Front of Judea, the Judean Popular People’s Front, or the Popular Front of Judea would also be appropriate, as per one authoritative source (see Monty Python’s Life of Brian). Let us not make the mistake of defining Jews only in religious terms. Let us rather understand the term Jew as a complex identity marker that encompasses ethnic, political, cultural, genealogical, religious and other elements in proportions that vary among eras, regions of the world, and individuals. Let us...

Mark Goodacre has posted about his attendance of the conference on Monty Python's Life of Brian currently being held at King's College, London.  "J esus and Brian: Or, What Have the Pythons Ever Done for Us? " is investigating the intersection of the film and scholarship on the historical Jesus, New Testament, Christian origins, and the history of Judaism.  The first day finished with a Q&A with Terry Jones (who directed the film) and John Cleese.  I'm jealous of everyone there. Here is an update from day 2 of the conference.

In the wake of "what language did Jesus speak?" (Aramaic, Hebrew, with a dash of Greek?) debate, Seth Sanders offers a more complex picture of the linguistic landscape of first-century Palestine (and how searches of monolinguistic purity is a red herring and largely ideologically charged religiously and politically).  Check out his Religion Dispatches here .

I just saw that Larry Hurtado has a good-length initial review of Bart Ehrman's new book, How Jesus Became God , on his blog here .  He says he will have a fuller review in Christian Century.  I haven't read Ehrman's newest, but the review seemed fairly balanced.