Divinity United

The schedule has been set for the Seventh Enoch Seminar to be held in Camaldoli, Italy, July 21-26, 2013. Camadoli was the site of the Third Enoch Seminary in 2007. The theme of the Seventh Enoch Seminar is "Enoch and Synoptic Traditions." The line up looks great. More information can be found on the 4 Enoch site. Here is the planned schedule: SUNDAY 21 JULY 2013 Arrivals - Bus from the Arezzo Railway Station (around 3:30pm--4pm). Accomodation at Camaldoli Welcome 6pm-6:30pm Opening session 6pm-7:45 -- Introduction (Loren Stuckenbruck) MONDAY 22 JULY 2013 8pm Breakfast 8:45am-10:30am -- Papers One and Two 11:00am-12:45am -- Papers Three and Four 1pm -- Lunch 4:00pm - 5:30pm -- Discussion groups (one group for each of the morning papers) 6:00pm-7:30pm -- Reading Session 8pm -- Dinner TUESDAY 23 JULY 2013 8pm Breakfast 8:45am-10:30am -- Papers Five and Six 11:00am-12:45am -- Papers Seven and Eight 1pm -- Lunch 4:00pm - 5:30pm -- Discussion groups ...

At the close of last semester, I had the privilege of reviewing Anathea Portier-Young's recent book, Apocalypse Against Empire: Theologies of Resistance in Early Judaism (Eerdmans, 2011) . The review will hopefully be coming out in the Review of Biblical Literature  within the next six months (see review here ). The book is well done and I recommend it for those interested in early Judaism and Jewish apocalypses, as well as those who work in the area of New Testament. The background that she provides on the Seleucid and Hasmonean periods is stellar. Portier-Young presents a solid argument that Daniel, the Book of Dreams, and the Apocalypse of Weeks were written as apocalypses against empire. She provides an in depth look at the Seleucid regime under Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the terror of his imperial rule. Portier-Young also gives a helpful reminder that the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid empire is not the same as Jewish rejection of Hellenism. Her book is a valuable l...

The finalized schedule for the Enoch Seminar in Milan has recently been posted. Links to most of the papers have been made available, although access is restricted to attendees. One of the Enoch Seminar traditions is that no papers are read at the conference. The attendees are to read all of the papers (yes, all of the papers) ahead of time. The sessions at the conference sessions are given to a brief summary of the papers and to significant discussion. Seems like a much more enjoyable and interesting way to run a conference, especially one located in Italy.

The biennial Enoch Seminar will be meeting in Milan, Italy the last week of June. The topic of this year's seminar is "Second Baruch and Fourth Ezra: Jewish Apocalypticism in Late First Century Israel." The schedule of papers and participants can be found here . Some of top scholars in the area of Second Temple Judaism will be presenting on various aspect of these two late first century apocalypses. The format of the seminar is designed for discussion with responses to almost every paper. It looks to be a good conference.