The purpose of the wordcloud is to give a visual impression of the range of texts used (either direct quotations or allusions) by Paul and their frequency of use. Letter sizing relates to the frequency of which each book has been used. Continue reading
It is difficult to overstate the impact of Geza Vermes’ Jesus the Jew (1973) and E.P. Sanders’ Jesus and Judaism (1985) on New Testament and Historical Jesus studies. Although an awareness of Jesus’ Jewish background had long been a part of our consciousness, it was their work that drove it to our attention. Jesus could no longer be seen as being distinct from his Jewish background. In order to be fully understood, his life, work and teaching needed to be studied within the context of late Second Temple period Judaism.
In a typically entertaining and accessible paper, Moyise took three elements of Jesus’ teaching that are traditionally seen as being distinctively Christian in character and a discontinuity from the Judaism of his time: Continue reading
Looking back, it has been a great semester. It was a real joy to have Steve Moyise with us in February and we are looking forward to hearing from him again at our conference in a few week’s time (see below).
Unfortunately, it was not logistically possible to hold the evening seminars. However, looking ahead, we are hoping to be able to host more events in the summer and autumn. Continue reading
Newman University
June 6th 2015
Room: CH116
Registration 9.00 to 9.30
The Hebrew and Christian scriptures hold an important place within their respective faith communities as authoritative texts rooted within their ancient pasts. However, there is a tension between the continuity of traditional scriptural readings and a renegotiation of those texts when applied to new contexts. This conference will explore that relationship examining different ways that texts have been given life throughout centuries and how this might impact upon the text’s status as authority. Continue reading
the Birth of Jesus According to Scripture?, explored the use of the Hebrew scriptures in the Matthew and Luke’s nativity accounts and questioned how helpful historical criticism (generally the primary approach used by critical scholars) is for understanding the rationale behind their use.Unfortunately we encountered difficulties with recording this session. However, we are grateful to Steve for providing us with a handout that includes much of the material from his talk (drawn from a chapter from his latest book – of the same title) and his PowerPoint slides (links below). Continue reading
It was a great pleasure to have one of our Visiting Professors, Steve Moyise, with us the other week to present a couple of papers to students, staff and members of the public.His first paper assessed NT Wright’s understanding of Paul’s use of scripture in his recent book, Paul and the Faithfulness of God, (PFG), published by SPCK in 2013.
Steve has generously allowed us to upload his handout (link below) as well as an audio recording of this session.
Steve makes particular note of Wright’s methodological framework for arguing that Paul’s theology was thoroughly ‘biblical.’ Steve noted Wright’s appeal to a “controlling narrative or worldview” (for example, the ‘end of exile’ theme) as key to understanding Paul’s use of the Hebrew scriptures. Furthermore, Steve argues that, from Wright’s perspective:
Professor Steve Moyise will be giving two talks at Newman on February 12th.
The first will be on Paul’s use of the scriptures in his writings. Steve will be making special reference to this in light of the recent work by NT Wright.
Steve will then be leading a research seminar on ‘Was the Birth of Jesus According to Scripture.‘ This session will examine the claim that the events recorded in the Nativity accounts were prophesied in Israel’s scriptures and asks, can this claim still be accepted today? His paper will explore the findings of historical criticism and asks whether it operates with too narrow an understanding of truth. Continue reading
Professor Steve Moyise has recently become a Visiting Professor of Biblical
Studies at Newman and will be giving two lectures/seminars on campus on Thursday 12th February 2015, to which all are most welcome. Professor Moyise is a world-leading expert in the area of the use of scripture in the New Testament, especially in the Book of Revelation and Paul’s letters. His most recent books include: Evoking Scripture. Seeing the Old Testament in the New; Paul and Scripture; and Jesus and Scripture. A number of students will be familiar with Professor Moyise’s work through his Introduction to Biblical Studies. Further details of his work can be found by clicking here.
We are really pleased to announce that Professor Moyise will be giving a short lecture and lead a Q and A session (from 15.00-16.00) on the subject of
the use of scripture in Paul’s letters, with particular reference to the current work of another leading New Testament scholar, Tom Wright.
This will be followed from 16.30-17.30 by a research seminar entitled “Was the Birth of Jesus According to Scripture?” which is the focus of Professor Moyise’s most recent book. This session will be particularly interesting for those who came to our Advent Seminars in December.
It has been an exciting year for the NRCBR at Newman. We started by launching a programme of PUBLIC seminars in the spring.
The title of the series was ‘Encountering the Gospel through First-century Eyes‘. Over five seminars we explored the prologue of Mark in its first-century Jewish and Graeco-Roman setting and we began to discover an extremely provocative and very challenging voice. Continue reading
Graduation
Newman University’s graduation ceremony meant saying farewell to a number of our theology and biblical studies students as they embark on the next stage of their careers. It is always a poignant time seeing students go and we wish them well in the paths they will take. I would particularly like extend our good wishes to Mandie Huckerby who is now pursuing a PhD at Gloucester and Jess Williams who is starting her MA at Exeter. I, for one, will certainly miss their enthusiasm and thoughtful contributions to the biblical studies modules; good luck to you both.
Professor Steve Moyise
Over the summer we have been delighted to welcome Professor Steve Moyise to the NRCBR as Visiting Professor in Biblical Studies.
Steve has made important contributions to biblical intertextuality and the relationships between the Old and New Testament and with a special interest in the book of Revelation. A short 2008 interview with him discussing his very well received Evoking Scripture, T&T Clark (2008) can be found on the Crux Sola blog.
Many undergraduates will know (and be grateful for) Steve’s impressively clear and concise introductory works: Introduction to Biblical Studies, Cassell Academic (1998) and Jesus and the Gospels (with Clive Marsh), Cassell (1999) – highly recommended to all starting out in these areas.
Steve’s most recent book is Was the Birth of Jesus According to Scripture?, SPCK (2013). In it, he looks at the debate between those who argue that the nativity story is primarily constructed around selected Old Testament texts and those who argue that the nativity accounts have re-appropriated those texts giving them a new layer of meaning. Steve will be delivering a session on this subject at Newman University on February 12th 2015. More details will follow.
Newman Research Centre for the Bible and its Reception 