If you are going to be in Boston for the Society of Biblical Literature / American Academy of Religion meeting this weekend, check out the following sessions:
S18-329
Mysticism, Esotericism, and Gnosticism in Antiquity
11/18/2017
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Boylston (First Level) – Boston Marriott Copley Place (MCP)
Theme: Ritual Experts
Along with presentations on ritual experts in antiquity, this session includes reviews of Heidi Marx-Wolf, Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority: Platonists, Priests, and Gnostics in the Third Century C.E. (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016) and Heidi Wendt, At the Temple Gates: The Religion of Freelance Experts in the Roman Empire (Oxford, 2016).
Jeffrey Pettis, Fordham University, Presiding
April D. DeConick, Rice University
Deviant Christians: Accommodation and Resistance among Emerging Catholics and Gnostics (25 min)
James Davila, University of St. Andrews
Review, Heidi Marx-Wolf, Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority: Platonists, Priests, and Gnostics in the Third Century C.E. (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016) (20 min)
Heidi Marx-Wolf, University of Manitoba, Respondent (15 min)
Discussion (15 min)
Matthias Hoffmann, LMU Munich
From Exorcist to Esoteric Expert – Solomon in Magical Literature from Early Judaism to Magic Grimoires (25 min)
Kimberly Stratton, Carleton University
Review, Heidi Wendt, At the Temple Gates: The Religion of Freelance Experts in the Roman Empire (Oxford, 2016) (20 min)
Heidi Wendt, McGill University, Respondent (15 min)
Discussion (15 min)
S19-231
Mysticism, Esotericism, and Gnosticism in Antiquity; Second Corinthians: Pauline Theology in the Making; John’s Apocalypse and Cultural Contexts Ancient and Modern
Joint Session With: Mysticism, Esotericism, and Gnosticism in Antiquity, Second Corinthians: Pauline Theology in the Making, John’s Apocalypse and Cultural Contexts Ancient and Modern
11/19/2017
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Grand Ballroom D (Fourth Level) – Marriott Copley Place
Theme: Ascent, Visionary Experience and Theology in Early Judaism and Christianity
Steven J. Friesen, University of Texas at Austin, Presiding
Leslie Baynes, Missouri State University
Baby Snatchers: Child Abduction and Violence in Revelation 12:5 (20 min)
Rebecca Lesses, Ithaca College
Esterah and Lilith: Mythical Women and Ascent (20 min)
Natasha O’Hear, University of St. Andrews
Images of Ascent in the Book of Revelation (20 min)
Gudrun Nassauer, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
The Art of Ascension: Paul’s Apostolic Self-Definition in 2 Cor 12:2–4 (20 min)
Jonathan A. Draper, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Prophets and Traces of the Ritual Practice of Mystical Visions in the Didache, the Shepherd of Hermas and the Letters of Ignatius (20 min)
Edith Humphrey, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Respondent (15 min)
Discussion (35 min)
S20-331
Mysticism, Esotericism, and Gnosticism in Antiquity
11/20/2017
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: 209 (Second Level) – Hynes Convention Center (HCC)
Theme: Ritual Creativity: Old and New, Inside and Out
This session is co-sponsored by the Western Esotericism unit (AAR). It takes up the development of new ritual practices, as the development attends in particular to the processes by which practitioners construct new rituals, the discourses they draw upon from inside their own tradition and from outside them, as well as from other, non-sacred discourses and practices.
Claire Fanger, Rice University, Presiding
Paul M Pasquesi, Marquette University
“Having Started With the Spirit Are You Now Ending With the Flesh?”: Circumcision, Vision, and Initiation in Galatians (30 min)
Kelley Coblentz Bautch, St. Edward’s University
Historiolae and Pseudepigraphy: An Assessment with an Eye toward Ritual and Ascent (30 min)
Cindy Dawson, Rice University
Hiding Sophia: Preservation of the Female Body’s Value in Gnostic Mythology (30 min)
Matthew J. Dillon , Rice University
(Re-)Inventing the Bridal Chamber: Sacrament, Psychic Androgenization, and Sacred Sex (30 min)
Marla Segol, University at Buffalo
Mystical Embryologies: Knowledge, Practice, and Devotion (30 min)
Jaeda Rising & Reborn: Ancient Jewish & Christian Crossings & Transitions 