J. Christopher Edwards: The Epistle of Barnabas and the Origins of the Accusation that the Jews Killed Jesus

Following a trend which becomes disturbingly common in later NT and Early Christian literature, the Epistle of Barnabas affixes blame for killing Jesus on his opponents, variously labelled “Israel,” “a synagogue of evil people,” or most frequently “them.” The accusation that Israel, or Jews, are directly responsible for inflicting Jesus’ wounds ostensibly began alongside the desire to remove culpability from Pilate, since the detail that Jesus was crucified by a Roman official for political crimes would cause difficulties for Christian evangelism in the Roman world. The desire to shield Roman officials is easily observed in the canonical gospels. However, the author of Barnabas offers another rationale. He asserts that Israel killed Jesus because God himself predictively accused Israel of abusing and crucifying Jesus: “God says that the wounds of his flesh came from them” (Barn 5.12b). This scripturally based accusation does not appear in the canonical literature. It most likely originates in the late first or early second century, and Barnabas is its earliest extant witness. Early Christians, who desired to adjust their collective memories and shield Roman officials, ultimately found it necessary to establish a scriptural foundation for the accusation that the Israel killed Jesus, to demonstrate that “God says that the wounds of his flesh came from them.”

Elena Narinskaya: Exodus stories and their reception in Abrahamic Religious Traditions: A case study of stories of Moses in Jewish, Christian and Muslim sources

Moses is an inspirational prophetic figure in Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious traditions. This study journeys through the Abrahamic faiths of Oriental persuasion and illustrates their respective depictions of the Moses’ stories. Each step of the research examines the stories of the Prophet Moses in the biblical narrative of Exodus, in the exegesis of the Palestinian Jewish Midrash, the Christian writer Ephrem the Syrian and in the passages of the Qur’an. The research shows the relationship between the four primary sources and consequently between the religious traditions, which they represent. Hence, the proposed research explores into the question of continuity of the Abrahamic religious traditions and their common heritage in Syria, Palestine, Arabian Peninsula region in Antiquity/Middle Ages (from the third to the seventh century CE). In exploring the differences and similarities between the Hebrew Bible, Jewish rabbinical commentaries, Syriac Christian exegesis and the Qur’an, this study seeks for a deeper understanding of the Prophet Moses in the religious history of humanity. In doing so the study offers a collaborative portrayal of the figure of Moses from the point of view common to all three of the Abrahamic religions. The overall attempt of this research is to consider the exegetical writings of the Midrash, Ephrem the Syrian, and the Qur’an under the umbrella term of the common tradition of biblical exegesis of Abrahamic oriental heritage. This study explores the varying perspectives of each of the religious traditions, and also unites them in their common endeavour to interpret the figure of Moses in relation to the biblical narrative of Exodus, as well as in relation to the respective religious traditions of each other. This research describes a two-way process of exegetical endeavour between the studied sources. On the one hand, the exegetical writings of the Midrash, Ephrem, and the Qur’an are presented in this book as being inspired by the original biblical narrative of Exodus. On the other hand, their exegetical accomplishments feed back into the biblical narrative about Moses, enriching it with new insights, colours and depths. Consequently the study in this research steps into the area of overlap and influence between the original sources and describes different levels of collaboration between them.

Postdoctoral positions available on Greek New Testament commentaries

ITSEE (the Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing at the University of Birmingham) is currently advertising three postdoctoral fellowships.

All involve work on Greek New Testament commentary manuscripts, to start this autumn. One is on the AHRC-funded Codex Zacynthius project, using multispectral imaging to recover the text of the earliest catena on Luke. Two are on the ERC-funded CATENA project, producing a catalogue of commentary manuscripts, identifying different stages in their history and development and making electronic transcriptions and editions of their text.

The posts would be suitable for patristics scholars with experience of working with Greek manuscripts.

Further details and links to the application portal may be found at:

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BIK263/

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BIK271/

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BIK261/

or

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/itsee/news/2018/job-adverts.aspx

Candidates may apply for one or more of these positions. The deadline is 11th April 2018.

In addition, the CATENA project is advertising a funded doctoral studentship on the Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Romans, suitable for candidates with expertise in Greek and an interest in manuscripts. Further information and application link at:

https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=95826

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BIB891/

Closing date 9th April 2018.

Informal queries may be addressed to Dr Hugh Houghton by email (links on the webpages above)

Call for Papers for 19th International Patristics Conference now open

The call for papers for the 19th International Patristics Conference at Oxford from 19–24 August 2019 is now open.

Abstracts for short papers and workshop contributions may be submitted at: https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/213/submission

Registration for the conference takes place at:
https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/events/201/delegate-registration

Further details may be found on the website at:
https://www.oxfordpatristics.com/

Call for Papers, Seventh British Patristics Conference, Cardiff University, 5-7 September 2018

The Seventh British Patristic Conference is going to be held at Cardiff University this autumn (5-7 September 2018).

All further information you will find at www.britishpatristics.org

Research position available on Latin Christianity in Late Antiquity

Research Fellow or Senior Research Fellow (Latin Christianity in Late Antiquity)

Australian Catholic University

• Full-time, Research appointment, five-year fixed-term or ongoing

• Based at ACU’s Melbourne Campus

ACU’s Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry seeks candidates for a position in Latin literature, culture, and ideas in Late Antiquity. Candidates must have a track record of outstanding potential and demonstrated achievement and show how they could contribute to the project entitled ‘Modes of Knowing and the Ordering of Knowledge in Early Christianity’ (led by Professor Lewis Ayres), and also develop further research projects. For further information, please see the ‘Position Purpose’ in the Position Description.

Research Fellows and Senior Research Fellows have a primary focus on research but some teaching, especially of graduate students, may be required. They will be expected to develop their own research leading to high-quality publications, to participate in collaborative research within the ‘Modes of Knowing’ project and the Centre for Biblical and Early Christian Studies, and to contribute to the collegial life of the Institute.

http://careers.acu.edu.au/caw/en/job/972834/research-fellow-or-senior-research-fellow-latin-christianity-in-late-antiquity

Eusebius of Caesarea, Against Marcellus and On Ecclesiastical Theology

I am glad to announce that the translation of Eusebius of Caesarea's works Against Marcellus and On Ecclesiastical Theology which is about to appear in the series 'The Fathers of the Church' as been made available for pre-order:

Eusebius of Caesarea, Against Marcellus and On Ecclesiastical Theology

It is the product of an almost 25 years collaborative enterprise between Kelley McCarthy Spoerl (St Anselm) and myself, and we are both happy that after so many years we were able to complete this task. Eusebius is not easy to translate, although these are the two works which are of particular historical relevance, though with the exception of an Italian translation of On Ecclesiastical Theology the works have never been translated into a modern European language. Here, we are given rare insights into the immediate time before and after Nicaea 325 CE, and how the debate developed in the decade after Nicaea.