I want to share with you an honor recently received, two really, beyond my wildest dreams. In a previous blog I discussed the forthcoming session in which colleagues specializing in Second Temple Judaism and the New Testament planned to honor my research during a panel at the 2025 Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in Boston, Nov 22 (papers are attached to each panelist’s name in the list below), which has now taken place. I am overwhelmed by the generosity expressed; though hardly sufficient to express the depth of my gratitude: Thank you!
To my complete surprise, at the session Magnus Zetterholm announced that a Festschrift was in preparation with 16 contributions from colleagues, including the panelists (Table of Contents below). Again, words cannot describe what this means to me, or the level of gratitude I want to express: Thank you!
I am deeply grateful to Karin and Magnus Zetterholm for taking the lead, along with the Society of Biblical Literature session panelists Genevive Dibley (Rockford University); Kathy Ehrensperger (University of Basel); Isaac Oliver (University of Quebec); Sara Parks (Saint Francis Xavier University, read by Matthew Novenson, Princeton Theological Seminary, who organized the session); John Van Maaren (University of Vienna), the Paul within Judaism committee members, those contributing to the Festschrift, and everyone who came to celebrate: Thank you!
Panelist Papers (attached):
Genivive Dibley (Rockford University)
Kathy Ehrensperger (University of Basel)
Isaac W. Oliver (University of Quebec)
Sara Parks (Saint Francis Xavier University)
John Van Maaren (University of Vienna)
Within Judaism: Continuities, Contexts, and Conversations:
Essays in Honor of Mark D. Nanos
Eds. Karin Hedner Zetterholm and Magnus Zetterholm
(T&T Clark, forthcoming)
Table of Contents:
William S. Campbell:
Slander and Glorification of Paul’s Ministry: Romans 11:13–14 as a Key to the Purpose of Romans
Wally V. Cirafesi:
John and Gentiles through a Pauline Lens
Genevive Dibley:
What to Wear to the Apocalypse: A Style Guide for Gentiles Hoping to Avoid Annihilation at the Final Judgement
Kathy Ehrensperger:
Engraved on the Heart but No Cut in the Flesh. The Nomos and Paul’s Addressees in Light of the Christ Event
Pamela Eisenbaum:
Competitive Torah Practice Among Paul’s Friends and Enemies
Neil Elliott:
“Paul the Loser”: Countering Protectionist Doxa in “within Judaism” Scholarship
Paula Fredriksen:
The Scandinavian Backstory
Karin Hedner Zetterholm:
Jewishly-behaving Gentiles and the Nations of the World in Tannaitic Midrashim
Ralph Korner:
A Nano(s)-second Look at Some Social Implications of Paul Writing Romans Only to Christos-following Hoi Hagioi and Not to the “Church” (ekklēsia)
Matthew V. Novenson:
On Getting Saved
Isaac W. Oliver:
The Jewishness of Acts and the Quest for the Historical Paul
Anders Runesson:
Jesus is Not what He Once Was, and Neither is Paul: On Resurrecting Historical People Invested with Religious Significance
Runar M. Thorsteinsson:
Bad News, Good News: Paul’s Message to Judaizing Gentiles in the Jewish Assemblies of Rome
J. Brian Tucker:
Negotiating Social Identity in Mission: Integrating Mark Nanos’ Argumentative Adaption Reading of 1 Cor 9:19–23 with the Social Identification Approach
John Van Maaren:
Rom 13:1–7 and the collegium illicitum in Rome
Magnus Zetterholm:
Drawing Boundaries Within Judaism: Identity Formation in the First Letter of John