Under the presidency of Prof. John M.G. Barclay (UK, 2022-2023), the seventy-sixth General Meeting of Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas took place 25-28 July 2022 in Leuven, Belgium. After having previously hosted a virtual meeting of the Society in 2021, in an extraordinary act of collegiality and hospitality Katholieke Universiteit Leuven once again hosted the Society, which due to a protracted global pandemic was able to meet in person for the first time since meeting in Marburg in 2019.
Prof. Joseph Verheyden served as chair of the Local Organising Committee and was assisted by his Leuven colleagues Profs. Reimund Bieringer and Christina M. Kreinecker. There were 255 registered participants at the meeting, 180 of whom were members. Outgoing President Margaret M. Mitchell (USA, 2021-2022) opened the meeting on Monday, July 25. Having welcomed all who were present at the first business meeting, with the striking of the presidential gavel she declared the seventy-sixth General Meeting to be officially opened.
The Academic Programme
President Barclay delivered his Presidential Address entitled ‘Rich Poverty: 2 Corinthians 8.1-15 and the Social Meaning of Poverty and Wealth’ at the first plenary session of the meeting. Main Papers were presented by Christina Hoegen-Rohls (Germany), ‘Rezeptionskritik und Rezeptionsgeschichte des Neuen Testaments: Eine methodologische Skizze’; Anders Runesson (Norway), ‘What does “Within Judaism” Mean for the Study of the New Testament?’; Régis Burnet (Belgium), ‘Pourquoi l'histoire de la réception n'est pas une méthode exégétique parmi les autres: le cas de la finale de Marc’; Heike Omerzu (Denmark), ‘Mapping Identity – Reading Acts from a Migrant Theoretical Perspective’; and Lukas Bormann (Germany), ‘Die Zukunft Jerusalems nach Lukasevangelium und Apostelgeschichte’.
In addition, short papers were presented by Bart Koet (Netherlands), ‘Presbyteros in the Writings of Flavius Josephus in Luke-Acts: Acts 20:17-35 Revisited’; Gerbern Oegema (Canada), ‘Women, Birth, and Resurrection’; Robert Moses (USA), ‘Disciplining of Erring Believers: Matthew and Paul in Conversation’; J. Christopher Edwards (USA), ‘“The Jews Killed Jesus”: The Accusation from the New Testament to the Christian Empire’; Gary M. Burge (USA), ‘The Passion as Climactic Sign in the Fourth Gospel’; Claire Clivaz (Switzerland), ‘Luke 22:43-44 and Judeo-Christian Memories’; Karl-Heinrich Ostmeyer (Germany), ‘Der Judasbrief und der Beginn der Josefnovelle in Gen 37’; Klaus Haacker (Germany), ‘Jesu Warnung vor Verbrechen an Kindern (Mt 18,6)’; Dennis R. MacDonald (USA), ‘The Dire Need for a New Look at Q—and a New Q’; Jan Willem van Henten (Netherlands), ‘Coping with Revelation 2:20-23’; Brittany E. Wilson (USA), ‘The Scriptural Shape of God: Divine Anthropomorphism in Synoptic Perspective’; Jeremy Barrier (USA), ‘An Examination of ta stoicheia tou kosmou: Considering Gal 4:3 as a Reference to the Foreskin’; Michael Daise (USA), ‘The Jerusalem Church and Luke's Travel Narrative’; and Santiago Guijarro Oporto (Spain), ‘Reading Communities in the Beginning of Christianity’.
Furthermore, seventeen seminars met three times each during the General Meeting, the specifics of which are as follows:
1. Constructions of the Histories of Early Christianity (conveners: Cilliers Breytenbach and Clare K. Rothschild): (a) Stephen Mitchell (UK, guest), ‘Brotherhoods, Burials and Early Christian Society in Asia Minor’; respondent: Judith Lieu (UK); (b) Sarah Rollens (USA), ‘Representations of Mission in the New Testament’; respondent: Alicia Batten (Canada); (c) Clare K. Rothschild (USA) and Jeremy C. Thompson (Germany, guest), ‘Vat. lat. 36 (“The Manfred Bible”) and the Muratorian Fragment’.
2. Mapping ‘New Testament Studies’: History, Status and Prospects (conveners: Eve-Marie Becker, Michael Cover and Francis Watson): (a) Eve-Marie Becker (Germany), ‘Die “Sache” der Texte: Mit Schleiermacher und Bultmann im “Gespräch”’; (b) James Carleton Paget (UK), ‘Albert Schweitzer as a New Testament Scholar’; (c) Francis Watson (UK), ‘Critical Reflections on the Role of the Canon in New Testament Scholarship’.
3. Inhalte und Probleme einer neutestamentlichen Theologie (conveners: Christof Landmesser and Mark Seifrid): (a) J. Ross Wagner (USA), ‘“The God Who Says…”: Scriptural Speech and Divine Identity in Paul’; (b) Susanne Luther (Germany, guest), ‘Tradition und Transformation: Schriftrezeption und die Vorstellung von Gott in den synoptischen Evangelien’; (c) Ruben Zimmermann (Germany), ‘Learning to See God in John: The Art of Mixing Scriptural Metaphors’.
4. The Johannine Writings (conveners: Jörg Frey, Christina Hoegen-Rohls and Catrin Williams): (a) Athanasios Despotis (Germany), ‘ἵνα ὦσιν τɛτɛλɛιωμένοι ɛἰς ἕν (Jn. 17:23): The Johannine Concept of Completion in Unity in Light of Early Imperial Philosophical Discourses’; respondent: Clare K. Rothschild (USA); (b) Paul N. Anderson (USA), ‘The Programmatic Prayer of Jesus in John 17: A Manifesto of Church Unity within the Dialectical Johannine Situation’; respondent: Laura J. Hunt (USA, guest); (c) Michael R. Jost (Switzerland, guest), ‘Le Daimonion de Socrate et le Pneuma de Jésus – Étude du contexte historique de la pneumatologie johannique’; respondent: Andreas Dettwiler (Switzerland).
5. God in the New Testament (conveners: Steve Walton and Christiane Zimmermann): (a) Christiane Zimmermann (Germany), ‘Auf der Suche nach Gott: Der Galaterbrief als Testfall’ and Steve Walton (UK), ‘G. B. Caird's Conference Table Approach to NT Theology’; respondent: Craig Blomberg (USA); (b) Gudrun Guttenberger (Germany), ‘Gott im Markusevangelium’; respondent: Cilliers Breytenbach (Germany); (c) Dan Gurtner (USA), ‘God in Matthew’; respondents: Anders Runesson (Norway) and Gudrun Guttenberger (Germany).
6. The Mission and Expansion of Earliest Christianity (conveners: Eugene Eung-Chun Park, Paul Trebilco and Gosnell Yorke): (a) Eugene Eung-Chun Park (USA), ‘τὸ ɛὐαγγέλιον τῆς ἀκροβυστίας and τὸ ɛὐαγγέλιον τῆς πɛριτομῆς in Galatians 2:7: One Gospel for Two Mission Fields or Two Gospels?’; (b) Vicky Balabanski (Australia), ‘The Prominence of Stoic Ideas in Early Christian Mission in First Century Asia Minor’; Respondent: Paul Trebilco (New Zealand); (c) Christoph Stenschke (South Africa, guest), ‘Contested Domains and Enabling Conditions in the Conflicts between the Early Christian mission and non-Jews according to the Book of Acts’.
7. Hebrews (conveners: Christian Eberhart and Wolfgang Kraus): (a) Florian Wilk (Germany), ‘Die Autorität der Schrift im Hebräerbrief’; respondent: William Loader (Australia); (b) Susan E. Docherty (UK, guest), ‘The Use of Scriptural Allusions in Hebrews’; respondent: Edwin Broadhead (USA); (c) Wolfgang Kraus (Germany), ‘Zur Schriftverwendung in Hebräer 13’; respondent: Gabriella Gelardini (Norway).
8. Social History and the New Testament (conveners: Hermut Löhr, Markus Öhler and Anders Runesson): – met jointly with Seminar 11: Papyrology, Epigraphy and the New Testament.
9. The Phenomenon of Pseudepigraphy (conveners: Christine Gerber and Adela Yarbro Collins): (a) Sandra Huebenthal (Germany), ‘Generations: 1 and 2 Thessalonians through the Lens of Social Memory Theory’; respondent: Paul Holloway (USA); (b) Kelsie Rodenbiker (UK, guest), ‘The Second Peter: Pseudepigraphy and the Canonical Petrine Epistles’; respondent: Theo Heckel (Germany); (c) Ilaria L.E. Ramelli (UK), ‘The Seneca-Paul Pseudepigraphical Correspondence: New Research’; respondent: Teresa Morgan (UK).
10. Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: Reassessment and Roads Forward (conveners: Simon Butticaz, Jens Schröter and Janet Spittler): (a) Lily Vuong (USA), ‘“Lady Beast Fighter” and/or “Slave of the Living God”: Thecla ad bestias in Visual and Archaeological Remains’; (b) Valentina Calzolari Bouvier (Switzerland, guest), ‘Les Actes apocryphes d'apôtres en arménien: un aperçu’; (c) Jan Bremmer (Netherlands, guest), ‘Slaves of God/Christ: Narrated Total Devotion in the Apocryphal Acts of Peter’.
11. Papyrology, Epigraphy and the New Testament (conveners: Peter Arzt-Grabner and James R. Harrison): (a) Richard A. Ascough (Canada), ‘Associating with the Ephesian Associations’; (b) James R. Harrison (Australia), ‘The Life of Christians in Late Antique Ephesus: An Epigraphic Portrait’; respondent: Stephen Mitchell (UK, guest); (c) Peter Lampe (Germany), ‘Female Christians at Oxyrhynchus Mirrored in the Papyri’.
12. Reading Paul's Letters in Context: Theological and Social-Scientific Approaches (conveners: William S. Campbell and Judith Gundry): (a) Hans Förster (Austria, guest), ‘Translational Choices in Gal 1:13–16: An Appraisal’; (b) Kar Yong Lim (Singapore), ‘The Influence of Context on Reading Paul's Letters: Some Considerations from Southeast Asia’; (c) Judith Gundry (USA), ‘Abraham's Justification by Faith and Romans 4 as Midrash on Genesis 15.1–6’.
13. New Testament Textual Criticism (conveners: Claire Clivaz, Hugh Houghton and Tommy Wasserman): (a) Gregory S. Paulson (Germany, guest) and Annette Hüffmeier (Germany, guest): ‘The Text of the New Testament in the 20th and 21st Centuries: A Comparison of Critical Editions’; respondent: Tommy Wasserman (Sweden); (b) Holger Strutwolf (Germany): ‘The Editio Critica Maior of Mark’; respondent: Claire Clivaz (Switzerland); (c) Elijah Hixson (USA, guest): ‘The Textual Commentary and Second Edition of the Tyndale House Greek New Testament’; respondent: Hugh Houghton (UK).
14. Memory, Narrative and Christology in the Synoptic Gospels (conveners: Samuel Byrskog, David du Toit and Stephen Hultgren): (a) Elizabeth Shively (UK), ‘Mark's Christology as a Function of Narrativised Scripture’; (b) David Moessner (USA), ‘Narrative Christology in Luke's Gospel and the Suffering of Paul and the Church’; (c) David du Toit (Germany), ‘Social Forgetting and the Synoptic Tradition: Some Thoughts’.
15. Philo and Early Christianity (conveners: Per Jarle Bekken and Gregory E. Sterling): (a) Gottfried Schimanowski (Germany): ‘Philo als Bibelausleger: Spurensuche seiner Hermeneutik in De vita Mosis’; respondent: Angela Standhartinger; (b) Jean-Claude Loba Mkole (Kenya): ‘Philo and Mark: Intercultural Peace Mediators’; respondent: Gregory E. Sterling; (c) Per Jarle Bekken (Norway): ‘The Jewish Debate on Gen 15:6 and Abraham's Adequate Reward: Fresh Light on Romans 4: 2-5 in the Jewish Context’; respondent: Gerbern S. Oegema.
16. Acta Politica: The Book of Acts and the Political Culture of the Roman Empire (conveners: Knut Backhaus, Carl Holladay and Daniel Marguerat): (a) Nathalie Siffer (France), ‘Dimension apologétique des conflits avec les autorités juives et romaines dans les Actes’; respondent: Simon Butticaz (Switzerland); (b) Michael Wolter (Germany), ‘Imperial Characters and Imperial Language in Luke-Acts’; respondent: Michal Beth Dinkler (USA); (c) Maria B. Lang (Germany, guest), ‘Erhöht, um zu bleiben. Die präsenzkonstituierende Funktion der Himmelfahrt im religionsgeschichtlichen Vergleich’; respondent: David Balch (USA).
17. Reading Galatians in New Perspectives: Methods and Approaches (conveners: Martin Meiser, Dieter Sänger and Korinna Zamfir): (a) Francesco Bianchini (Italy), ‘The Argumentative Structure, Development and Rhetorical Arrangement of Galatians’; (b) Gert J. Steyn (Germany), ‘Septuagint Quotations in Galatians: Their Hermeneutical Function and Theological Implications’; (c) Udo Schnelle (Germany), ‘Der Galaterbrief als Dokument einer beginnenden Trennung’.
The Business Meetings
At the two business meetings of the Society, members formally elected Prof. Joseph Verheyden (Belgium) to the post of President for the 77th General Meeting in Vienna, Austria in 2023 (until which time he assumes the office of President-Elect). Additionally, the Committee nominated Prof. Angela Standhartinger (Germany) to serve as President at the 78th General Meeting in Melbourne, Australia in 2024. She is Presidential Nominee until the 2023 General Meeting in Vienna, when her nomination will be put to the vote by the Society.
Profs. Sandra Huebenthal (Germany) and Heike Omerzu (Denmark), who retired from the Committee at the conclusion of the General Meeting, were thanked for their service to the Society. Profs. Judith Hartenstein (Germany) and Janet Spittler (USA) were elected as their replacements and will serve on the Committee for a period of three years.
The Treasurer, Prof. Paul Foster (UK), spoke to his circulated report and the statement of accounts for the year ending on 31 May 2022, noting the financial stability of the Society on the one hand and the ongoing need to nominate and elect new members into the Society on the other hand. Prof. Foster's first term as Treasurer expires at the end of 2023. He has indicated a willingness to serve a second term, and it is the Committee's intention to place Prof. Foster before the membership to be re-elected for a second term as Treasurer at the 2023 General Meeting.
The Assistant Secretary for International Initiatives, Prof. William Loader (Australia), spoke to his circulated report. In doing so, he thanked Prof. Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr for his work as chair of the Eastern European Liaison Committee (who is being followed in that role by Prof. Tobias Nicklas) and reported on the preconference of the African Liaison Committee in Leuven prior to the General Meeting. Prof. Loader's second and final term as Assistant Secretary for International Initiatives will conclude at the end of 2023, and recommendations are now being received for his replacement, who will be presented to the Society for a vote at its General Meeting in Vienna in 2023.
The Editor of New Testament Studies, Prof. Simon Gathercole (UK), offered a summary of a circulated report regarding the activity of the journal over the course of the past year and highlighted various aspects therein. In particular, he underscored the broad variety both of submitted and accepted articles. He also commented on the equal number of male and female scholars on the editorial board and thanked them for their hard work throughout the year. For current members of the editorial board, see https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/new-testament-studies/information/about-this-journal/editorial-board. Prof. Gathercole, whose first term as Editor of New Testament Studies concludes at the end of 2023, has indicated that he does not intend to serve a second term. Thus, a recommendation for his replacement will be brought to the members for a vote at the 2023 General Meeting.
The Editor of the Monograph Series, Prof. Edward Adams (UK), circulated a report regarding the activity of the series over the past year. Prof. Adams, whose editorial term concluded at the close of 2022, is being replaced by Prof. Catrin Williams (UK), who was appointed by the Society in Leuven. Her term as Editor of the Monograph Series commenced at the beginning of 2023.
The Society received with regret news of the deaths of the following members: Albert Vanhoye (Past President, Italy and France, July 2021); Horst Balz (Germany, July 2021); Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya (Africa, July 2021); Christian Dietzfelbinger (Germany, August 2021); J. Paul Sampley (USA, September 2021); Ulrich Wilckens (Germany, October 2021); Ekkehard Stegemann (Germany and Switzerland, November 2021); Eckhard Plümacher (Germany, December 2021); Karl P. Donfried (USA, February 2022); H.J. de Jonge (Past President, Netherlands, April 2022); Johan Konigs (Belgium and Brazil, May 2022); Peter von der Osten-Sacken (Germany, June 2022); and Ioannis Galanis (Greece, June 2022). Members observed a minute's silence in memory of these scholars.
Thirty-eight New Testament scholars were elected as members to the Society at the 2022 General Meeting: Felix Albrecht (Germany); Cecilia Antonelli (Switzerland); James W. Barker (USA); Matthias Becker (Germany); Dorothea Bertschmann (UK); Ruben A. Bühner (Switzerland); Veronika Burz-Tropper (Austria); Cavan Concannon (USA); Robert (J.R.C.) Cousland (Canada); Kylie Crabbe (Australia); James (Jamie) Peter Davies (UK); Matthijs den Dulk (Netherlands); Christina Eschner (Germany); Joseph D. Fantin (USA); Anthony (Joseph) Giambrone (Israel); Juan Manuel Granados Rojas (Italy); Detlef Häußer (Germany); Christoph Heilig (Switzerland); Llewellyn Howes (South Africa); Kelly R. Iverson (USA); Christine Jacobi (Germany); Felix John (Germany); Cynthia Briggs Kittredge (USA); Markus Lau (Germany); Ksenija Magda (Croatia); Peter Malik (Germany); Luis Menéndez-Antuña (USA); Nélida Naveros Córdova (USA); Maren Niehoff (Israel); and Isaac de Oliveira (USA).
Additionally, for the first time in the Society's history, eight Associate Members were also elected into SNTS membership: Amiel Drimbe (Romania); Sarah Harris (New Zealand); Andreas-Christian Heidel (Switzerland); Michael Hölscher (Germany); Daniel Maier (Switzerland); Andrew Smith (USA); Justin David Strong (Germany); and Eric M. Vanden Eykel (USA). (N.B. The Society approved the category of Associate Membership at the 2021 General Meeting and voted at the 2022 General Meeting to amend its Constitution to incorporate this new membership category.)
Subsequent to the election of these new members, the Assistant Secretary, Prof. Christina M. Kreinecker (Belgium) reminded members that each member can nominate up to two members in each membership category per year and can invite two personal guests per year, as long as no one individual participates in a General Meeting more than three times in a five-year period. In both nominations and guest requests, members were encouraged to keep in mind SNTS's commitment to diversity.
At the First Business Meeting, the Society considered a document previously circulated among the membership entitled ‘Principles and Procedures for Making Public Statements.’ This document was occasioned by a decision made by Society leadership in March 2022 to issue an Open Letter Regarding the Invasion of Ukraine. When that letter went to the membership (on 10 March 2022), President Mitchell indicated that, since such a statement was an unprecedented act by the Society, she would appoint an ad hoc committee to develop principles and procedures for when SNTS should (and should not) make public statements. The ad hoc committee the President appointed was comprised of the following members: Joseph Verheyden (Belgium; chair); Michal Beth Dinkler (USA); Paul Foster (UK); David Horrell (UK); Jean-Claude Loba-Mkole (Kenya); Heike Omerzu (Denmark); Angela Standhartinger (Germany); Manabu Tsuji (Japan); and Korinna Zamfir (Romania), with President Mitchell, President-Elect Barclay and Secretary Still serving as ex officio members. The document, collectively crafted according to UK charity law and unanimously approved by the ad hoc committee, was placed before the members at the First Business Meeting and, if it pleased the membership, for a vote at the Second Business Meeting. At the Second Business Meeting, after the aforementioned document was extensively and energetically discussed, it was decided that the statement would not be brought to a vote but could be reworked for potential reconsideration at a future General Meeting.
Additionally, at the First Business Meeting President Mitchell introduced a ‘Statement for Professional Conduct’, which originated as a response to repeated requests from members over the years and from the Female Delegates’ Meeting in 2021 in particular. On behalf of the Committee and in concert with President-Elect Barclay and in consultation with others, including SNTS Officers, the President agreed to take the lead in drafting such a statement. The rationale expressed for the ‘Statement of Professional Conduct’ was that it would put SNTS in line with other scholarly organisations and would provide an opportunity to express values to which the Society is committed. The Committee discussed and unanimously approved that the draft statement be placed before the membership for consideration during the First Business Meeting and for possible action at the Second Business Meeting. At the First Business Meeting, the document was projected on screen and read Secretary, Prof. Todd D. Still (USA). At the Second Business Meeting, the document was discussed at considerable length before a decision was taken to vote on a shortened form of the document, which may be found here https://snts.online/additional-documents in the three languages of the Society (English, German and French). In an anonymous, paper ballot vote, 89% of the membership present affirmed the statement, which is now deemed to be in effect as the Society and its members conduct their work and meetings.
Near the close of the Second Business Meeting, Prof. Markus Öhler (Austria), on behalf of the Local Organising Committee, made a presentation and extended an invitation to the Society to hold its 2023 General Meeting in Vienna. The Society responded to this kind offer most favourably. As President Barclay concluded the Second Business Meeting, he thanked all of those who had presented Main Papers, Short Papers and Seminar Papers, as well as the conveners of the Seminars. He also expressed appreciation on behalf of the Society to the Committee, the Officers and the Editors of the Society. Gratitude was also expressed to the local conference organisers, stewards and volunteers for a very successful seventy-sixth General Meeting, even as gifts were given to them as a token of the Society's appreciation.
Social Events
On Tuesday evening July 26, a concert featuring Zefiro Torna with soprano Annelies Van Gramberen was held in the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies. The Formal Conference Dinner took place on Wednesday, July 27 in the Jubilee Room of the University Hall. Members and guests took post-meeting excursions to Bruges and Antwerp on Friday, July 29.
Additional Meetings
A welcome session was held on Monday, July 25 for new members and for those attending a meeting in person for the first time, including members elected in 2019, 2020 and 2021. After a short welcome by the President, the President-Elect, the Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Treasurer and Committee Members also offered a word of welcome to those in attendance. These words of welcome were followed by individual introductions of new members and collegial exchange.
Additionally, as in recent years, female delegates convened in a special session in the course of the General Meeting. This year's gathering, which was held during lunch on Wednesday, July 27, was organised and led by Profs. Judith Lieu (UK) and Christina M. Kreinecker (Belgium).
Future General Meetings
The Society is planning to hold its next three General Meetings in Vienna, Austria on 25-28 July 2023, in Melbourne, Australia on 23-26 July 2024, and in Regensburg, Germany on 29 July-1 August 2026 respectively.
SNTS Website
For matters and news pertaining to the Society, see https://snts.online.
