Saturday, October 03, 2009

Bible Fest New Orleans

More details are now available on the 12th Annual Bible and Archaeology Fest in New Orleans, 20-22 November here:

12th Annual Bible and Archaeology Fest

It looks like a good line up, with several papers of interest, e.g. Bart Ehrman on "Early Christian Counter Forgeries", April DeConick on "The Magical Judas: Iscariot’s Gospel and Gem" and Craig Evans on "Jesus and the Exorcists: What We Learn From Archaeology". Full list at the link above.

This year, my paper title is "Was the Gospel of Thomas Familiar with the Synoptic Gospels?" I am using this as an opportunity to share some of my research on Thomas with those present. Here's my abstract:
The Gospel of Thomas is perhaps the most controversial early Christian text. Some think that it emerged as an early, autonomous sayings gospel that provides important evidence for research on the Historical Jesus and Christian origins. Others think that it is a later text, useful primarily for shedding light on the development of Christianity in the second century. The key that unlocks the problem is substantial evidence that Thomas knew and used the Synoptic Gospels. I will attempt to explain how, when and why this happened.

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