The forum is interested not just in challenging former conceptions about the Bible, but in highlighting some of the interesting variations and configurations of scripture that existed in the Second Temple period. When did the Bible become the Bible? Recent scholarship has problematized anachronistically projecting our notions about the Bible onto the Second Temple period. Scholars are now asking a series of related questions: What was the function of scripture for specific communities? Which textual traditions were dominant? Which texts were considered ‘scripture’? This forum highlights some of the issues regarding the form and function of the "Bible" in the Second Temple period. In particular we’re interested in two specific dimensions of this problem: Authority: how do we judge the authoritativeness of a text? Does authoritativeness mean that the text should be categorized as ‘scripture’? Can a text be scriptural or authoritative despite being fluid and appearing in different versions? Canon: how are canons formed? How are these individual texts incorporated into a canon? Are there different kinds of canon? Is there a major difference between the earliest canons and the canon as it is known today? The forum is interested not just in challenging former conceptions about the Bible, but in highlighting some of the interesting variations and configurations of scripture that existed in the Second Temple period. Professor Lim takes part in this online forum starting from 2nd December 2015. You can find out more from their website: http://www.ancientjewreview.com/articles/canon-an-ajr-forum or their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ancientjewreview This article was published on 2024-03-19
