BARD COLLEGE HOSTS LECTURE AND BOOK SIGNING FOR BROTHER OF JESUS, EDITED BY BARD PROFESSORS Karl Donfried, Elizabeth A. Woodson Professor of Religion and Biblical Literature at Smith College, will speak on "James and Paul in Jerusalem" on February 13
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.?The Institute of Advanced Theology and the Religion Program at Bard College will present a lecture and book signing marking the recent release of, The Brother of Jesus: James the Just and His Mission, a groundbreaking scholarly examination of Jesus's brother, edited by Bard professors Bruce Chilton and Jacob Neusner. The lecture, "James and Paul in Jerusalem," will be given by Karl P. Donfried, the Elizabeth A. Woodson Professor of Religion and Literature at Smith College. The program will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Room 115 of the Olin Language Center and is free and open to the public. The book signing with Chilton and Neusner will follow the lecture, and copies of the book will be available for purchase through the Bard College Bookstore.
The essays in the Brother of Jesus reflect the recent research of the "Consultation on James," a project of the Institute of Advanced Theology (IAT) at Bard. "This is historical criticism as historical reconstruction," according to Professor Lewis R. Donelson of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. "These authors raise up in a creative and forceful way the voices of so-called 'Jewish Christianity,' especially as it was centered in the figure of James. This makes this volume a major contribution to any discussion of Christian origins." In the time between Jesus's resurrection and James's death, James the Just was the most prominent and widely respected leader in Christendom. In The Brother of Jesus, eight renowned scholars address such issues as the Jewish context of the early Church, the person of James, his literary message and mission, James and Jesus, and James in relation to Peter and Paul.
Karl P. Donfried has taught at Smith College since 1968 and his primary teaching area is the New Testament and early Christian thought. He received a B.A. from Columbia University, a B.D. from Harvard Divinity School, an S.T.M. from Union Theological Seminary, and a doctor of theology from the University of Heidelberg. Donfried has also taught at the University of Geneva, Hebrew University in Israel, Yale University Divinity School, University of Hamburg, Brown University, and Amherst College. His most recent publications include The Thessalonians Debate: Methodological Discord or Methodological Synthesis?; Judaism and Christianity in Rome in the First Century; The Romans Debate: Expanded and Revised Edition; The Dynamic Word: New Testament Insights for Contemporary Christians; Mary in the New Testament; The Setting of Second Clement in Early Christianity; and Peter in the New Testament.
Donfried was a member of the board of directors of the American Academy of Religion, the former president of the Society of Biblical Literature of the New England Region and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Biblical Literature. He also served on the executive committee, and was co-chair of the seminars on the Thessalonian Letters, New Testament Texts in their Cultural Environment, and Pauline Theology, for the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas. Donfried was the official representative for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at the signing of the "Joint Declaration on Justification" between the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church in Augsburg, Germany in 1999. He also served as the guest chaplain for the U.S. House of Representatives. He is the recipient of Fulbright Lecture/Research awards, and grants from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Picker Foundation Grants, and a Smith College Presidential Fellowship for Dead Sea Scroll Research.
The Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College was established to foster critical understanding, based on scholarship, which will make true religious pluralism possible. Since its inception in 1996, the Institute?s work has focused on how religions influence history, society, and other religions, and are in turn influenced by them. The Institute gratefully acknowledges support provided by the Crohn Family Trust and the Tisch Family Foundation and grants from The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the American Council of Learned Societies, and Bard College.
For further information about the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard, call 845-758-7279 or e-mail [email protected].
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