SAN DIEGO PART 2

As I mentioned in the last episode, part of my reason for going to San Diego was to attend the annual meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature and American Academy of Religion. These are two of the largest professional associations for scholars in religious studies. There was a certain poignancy about this gathering because it is the last time the two groups will meet at the same time until possibly 2011. A few years back the AAR decided it wanted to meet separately from the SBL so there would be more opportunities for the AAR to schedule sections. This presents a problem to many who belong to both organizations because it is unlikely that people will attend both. My guess is that AAR will be the loser in this move because it wasn't a decision that all (or perhaps even most) AAR members wanted. I suspect the true reasons for the decision lie elsewhere. There are a number of people who teach religious studies in areas outside Biblical studies who resent the amount of resources devoted to Biblical studies in university religion departments. Some don't think Biblical studies even are a legitimate part of religious studies. They see it as being a part of the actual practice of religion rather than the study of religion, more fitting for seminaries of church-related colleges, but not public universities. Needless top say, they don't read the journals in the field of Biblical studies, so they really don't understand the discipline. For that matter, a lot of people outside the department of religious studies can't understand why a university should have such a department at all. No other department has to justify it's legitimacy as much as religious studies.

To give an idea of the scope of this gathering, the San Diego newspaper reported there were over 9,000 people in attendance. Over 1,000 sessions were held. Around 185 publishers exhibited their books. This must be the largest gathering of scholars in religious studies in the world. As a matter of fact, people come from all over the word to attend. Professors from Germany, Sweden, Russia, The Netherlands and South Africa presented papers at the handful of sessions I attended.

I tend to go to the sessions on subjects related to Christian origins, that is, the beginning of Christianity. In particular I went to a session on Matthew with five papers presented, most of which I can't recall unless I look at the abstract. Two session of Early Jewish Christian relationships (ten papers total). And then a session on the Didache, an early Christian writing. I also attend things outside my specialization: one session on art and religions of antiquity and one on Icons and Images in Eastern Orthodox Theology. Oh yes, there was also a session on the portrayal of Jesus in films.

There are other things going on as well in the evening. I saw a Chinese movie (with English subtitles), a movie about Daoist ritual in China, and several groups of Chinese dancers. (Can you tell that China was the area of interest for the America Academy this year?) I also attended the one big disappointment, the session on Mormon Studies. We were led to believe that we were going to see a film on the Mormons. Instead we saw about 20 minutes of the film and heard an hour plus of blathering about the film. It was a very crowded session with a LOT of upset people at the end.

Most of the papers I hear are way over my head. Scholarship marches on in new directions, and I don't seem able to keep up with it. The people I studied long ago are passe now. They aren't even mentioned. That's why I go to these meetings every couple of years; I want to keep in touch with the scholarly world. Just because I won't write some learned article doesn't mean I can't pay attention to what's going on. One of the ways I keep up is by purchasing books at the meetings. Discounts range from 20% to 50%. I can buy a whole lot more than if I purchased them online. Besides, online I really can't get a sense of the book. And looking at books helps me to see many, many things I would otherwise miss.

My great find was a new edition of the Greek New Testament. My Greek is pretty poor. It's hard for me to plow through the original language. This new edition not only has a short dictionary at the back, but a list of the rarer words with means and grammatical analysis right on the page where the text is. And the print is much larger which is a relief to these aged eyes. So I can read these words (except in Greek letters) Tou de Iesou Xristou e genesis outos en and know with ease that it says: Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way. Which is just the right message for ending this blog.

And so as we prepare His way, may the Lord God bless you on your way and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne

P.S. The picture is a part of Psalm, 121 from one of the Dead Sea Scrolls.