Upcoming events

Between Athens and Jerusalem: Classical Studies and Christian Origins in Dialogue

Date: Thursday 24 April 2025, 9am

Location: Martin Hall, New College, University of Edinburgh

This collaborative conference brings together perspectives from Biblical Studies and Classics. It will take place on Thursday 24 April 2025 in Martin Hall, New College. We warmly welcome anyone interested in exploring the rich intersections between these fields and look forward to fostering an engaging and fruitful dialogue. The day conference will consist of:

• free tea, coffee, and lunch
• student paper presentations
• career development Q&A
• Keynote Lecture from Dr. James Corke-Webster

Call for papers

We invite HCA and School of Divinity postgraduate students to submit paper abstracts for the upcoming interdisciplinary conference, “Between Athens and Jerusalem: Classical Studies and Christian Origins in Dialogue.” We invite any papers relevant to the study of early Christianity and the world that it was born into – relevant topics include the cultural, literary, and social frameworks of the ancient Mediterranean world; relevant Greco-Roman history and politics up to the 4^th century CE; and innovative methodologies to better bridge the two fields.

As collaboration between Classics and Biblical Studies is one of the event’s highest aims, we hope that presenters will not only share their research, but also communicate why it is relevant to both fields to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration between the University’s Schools of HCA and Divinity.

Those who would like to present a paper at the conference should submit the following by Sunday 30 March 2025 via email:

• name of researcher
• programme of study
• paper abstract (max of 200 words).

Both Master’s and PhD students are encouraged to apply but preference will be given to doctoral candidates. All who submit will be notified by Wednesday 9 April 2025 about their abstract.

Please email us at cscostudentdayconference@uoe.onmicrosoft.com with any questions.

Registration

To attend this free event, please register on our Eventbrite.

Book launch: Paul and Judaism at the End of History with Professor Matthew Novenson

Date: Thursday 15 May 2025; 4pm to 6pm

Location: 50 George Square, Room G.06

Professor Matthew Novenson will discuss his recently published monograph, Paul and Judaism at the End of History, with Dr J. Thomas Hewitt and Dr Philippa Townsend. There will be a wine reception after the discussion.

Professor Matthew Novenson is the Helen H. P. Manson Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is also an honorary fellow in the Faculty of the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, where previously he held the Chair of Biblical Criticism and Biblical Antiquities. His monographs include Christ among the Messiahs (Oxford University Press, 2012), The Grammar of Messianism (Oxford University Press, 2017), Paul, Then and Now (Eerdmans, 2022), and Paul and Judaism at the End of History (Cambridge University Press, 2024). 

To register for this event, select the following button.

Getting the maximum out of epigraphic evidence: A workshop on Jewish-related inscriptions from the early Christian period with Dr Margaret Williams

Date: Thursday 29 May 2025; 10:30am to 12:30pm

Location: New College, Senate Room

For those concerned with understanding Jewish society at the start of the first millennium CE, inscriptions provide an invaluable source of evidence. They can (and do) provide information of a type hardly ever found in literary texts from the period. Thanks to the proliferation of Jewish epigraphic corpora in recent decades and the emergence of epigraphically oriented web sites, we are now in a better position than ever before to access this type of evidence. Exploiting it responsibly, with skill and to the full, however, are different matters altogether. The purpose of this workshop is to provide help in these areas. Our main focus will be on Jewish inscriptions from the Early Christian period – both those from Judaea and those from key Diaspora communities.

The workshop will be followed by a sandwich lunch in the Senate Room. Dr Williams is also offering to take any interested students to the National Museum of Scotland in the afternoon to look at inscriptions.

Dr Margaret Williams is known primarily for her extensive writings about the Jews of the Roman world, most notably the Diaspora communities of Rome, Venusia, Corycus, Aphrodisias and Edfu (Apollinopolis Magna) in Egypt. The basis of much of this work has been epigraphic evidence, inscriptions providing a unique insight into Jewish values, naming practices and organisational structures. Her most recent book is Early Classical Authors on Jesus (T&T Clark, 2023).

Register for this event using the following button.

'Why I do what I do': Lunch discussion with Professor David Frankfurter

Date: Tuesday 24 June 2025; 12pm to 1pm

Location: New College, Senate Room

Join renowned scholar of ancient Mediterranean religions, Professor David Frankfurter, for a discussion of his academic interests and career. This event is particularly aimed at postgraduate students, though others are welcome to attend. Please feel free to bring your lunch. Tea and coffee will be provided.

Professor David Frankfurter is Aurelio Chair of the Appreciation of Scripture, Boston University. He is a scholar of ancient Mediterranean religions with specialties in Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature, magical texts, popular religion, and Egypt in the Roman and late antique periods. Frankfurter’s particular interests revolve around theoretical issues like the place of magic in religion, the relationship of religion and violence, the nature of Christianization, and the representation of evil in culture. His publications, many of which have won prestigious awards, include Elijah in Upper Egypt (Fortress Press, 1993); Religion in Roman Egypt: Assimilation and Resistance (Princeton University Press,1998); Evil Incarnate: Rumors of Demonic Conspiracy and Satanic Abuse in History (Princeton University Press, 2006); and Christianizing Egypt: Syncretism and Local Worlds in Late Antiquity (Princeton University Press 2017).

To register for this event, select the following button.