CGAR Conference Presentations

The papers presented at the 2021 Centre for Gospels and Acts Research Biennial Conference, Jesus: Beginning, Middle, and End of Time? Eschatology in Gospels and Acts Research is available for rent.

The presentations include plenary sessions by Prof Craig Evans, Assoc Prof Michele Connolly, and Dr Debra Snoddy, and papers from the Gospels and Luke are available for viewing at a nominal cost per video. SUBMIT A RENT REQUEST FORM or contact SCD at scd@scd.edu.au if you want to rent any of the videos either for personal viewing or as a group.

Plenary Sessions

Kingdoms in Conflict: The Jesus Movement and the Roman Empire (Session 1)

Prof Craig Evans

Jesus’ vision of the kingdom sharply clashed with the beliefs and values of the Roman Empire of his day. We find in Jesus’s teachings and activities implied criticisms of Roman imperial ideology.

Kingdoms in Conflict: The Jesus Movement and the Roman Empire (Session 2)

Prof Craig Evans

The early Christian community showed that the life, death, & resurrection of Jesus fulfilled Israel’s ancient prophecies, it articulated its theology in the context of the Roman Empire.

Mark 13: Eschatological Timeframe for Telling the Suffering, Death and Resurrection of Jesus

Assoc Prof Michele Connolly

The new timeframe provides the chronological sequence in which Mark tells the suffering, death, & resurrection of Jesus ending his narration at the dawning of a new day.

Realised Eschatology in the Gospel of John: John’s Focus and Purpose and Why it Still Matters to All Christians

Dr Debra Snoddy

The paper will seek to trace three episodes from the Johannine Corpus to show how and to what purpose the eschatological dissonance is resolved into a unique Johannine harmony.

Acts

‘By a Man Whom He Had Appointed’: Jesus as Judge in Light of Greek Concepts of Death and Judgement

Dr David Evans

The paper seeks to contribute to this analysis of Jesus as judge in Acts by considering this theme in light of non-Jewish Hellenistic literature.

“Contrary to Popular Tradition, Paul Was Not Converted to Christianity on the Road to Damascus”

Dr Charles B Riding

The paper will challenge whether Paul was converted on the road near Damascus.

“In the last days…” (Acts 2:17): Eschatology, Cultural Diversity, and the Challenge of Inclusivity in Acts

Dr Francis Otobo

The paper seeks to examine some texts in Acts (6:1–7; 11:1–18; 15:1–35; 21:17–26).

Herod Agrippa II – the Embodiment or Extinction of Israel’s Hope?

Dr Andrew Stewart

The paper argues that Luke’s presentation of Herod Agrippa II stands in contrast to his presentation of other Herodian Kings in Luke-Acts.

In The Last Days: Eschatology, the Spirit and the Church

Dr John Griffiths

The paper will establish that six changes from the LXX version of Joel 2:28–32 indicate that the Lukan Peter sees God establishing the new eschatological temple at Pentecost, through two arguments.

John

Is it possible to be “born again” into the τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ? Nicodemus’ quandary

Prof Mary Coloe

The paper will place NT approaches to eschatology within the theological ideas of late 2nd Temple Judaism, coinciding with the developing Jesus movement.

Signs of the Times/Signs for the Times: Reading the Johannine Signs

Dr Bill Salier

This paper will contribute to broader themes in the Gospel rather than focusing specifically on analysis from source or form critical perspectives.

Why Thomas is not blessed with an apocalyptic kind of vision

Dr Blake Wassell

The paper argues that John reverses and undermines the synoptics on a key temporal matter.

Luke

From Petitionary Rhetoric to Apocalyptic Vindication: Luke 18:1–8 & P. Sakaon 36

Prof James Harrison

The extended insight into the petitionary habits of widows in the Sakaon papyri may throw light upon Jesus’ own rhetoric in Luke 18:1–8.

Sin as Debt: A Critique of Recent Studies of Debt in Luke

Andrew Court

The paper analyses Giambrone’s argument paying close attention to his use of Second Temple literature and his exegesis of some of the Lukan parables.

The View from the Ditch: Reading the Good Samaritan Parable as Wisdom not Virtue

Dr Denise Powell

The paper argues that the parable of the Good Samaritan can be read as a parable of pragmatic wisdom rather than one that primarily encourages virtue.

Their Hearts Were Burning: Emmaus as ‘Realised Eschatology’ in the Philokalic Tradition

Assoc Prof Doru Costache

The paper shows that for the Orthodox philokalic tradition the ‘burning hearts’ indeed are a charismatic experience of the divine presence best understood as ‘realised eschatology’.

Unexpected Silence: Proclamation of the Gospel in the Last Days according to Luke-Acts

Dr Greg Forbes

Apostolic ministry and proclamation of the word of God are not coterminous, and the narrative creates space in which others can participate in the advancement of the gospel.

Mark

ʻIf your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off’: Self-Mutilation for the Kingdom in Mark 9:42-48

Dr Louise Gosbell

The paper will explore contemporary Jewish and Greco-Roman attitudes toward maimed bodies and what, if any, unique views were contributed by the earliest writers of the Jesus movement.

Jesus and the Promise of Time

Dr Ma'afu Palu

On the basis of Jesus’ statement in Mark 1:15, the paper proposes that Jesus was proclaiming the fulfilment of the promise of time.

The Eschatological Coherence of Jesus’ “Random Sayings on Faith, Prayer, and Forgiveness” in Mark 11:22–25(26)

Prof Peter Bolt

The paper reads the sayings in the context of the narrative-movement towards Jesus’ end, & against the apocalyptic expectation of the movement of the world towards God’s kingdom.

The Markan Alphabet Theory: Eschatological Origins of the Gospel of Mark

Michael Modini

The theory is a hypothesis which posits that the Hebrew alphabet was utilized as a means of referencing, sequencing and exploring key themes and moments in the Gospel.

When the Son of Man comes: The “coming of the Son of Man” as the final “coming of God” (Mark 8:38)

Murray Smith

The paper addresses the question of Jesus’ eschatology in the Gospel of Mark via a close study of Mark 8:38.

Matthew

“Like the angels”?: Embodiment and Eschatology in Matthew’s Gospel

Tim Bradford

How might the depiction of angels contribute to an understanding of embodiment in the age to come?

Eschatological Kingmakers, Magicians, or Zoroastrian Priests: The Magi & Ambiguity as a Narrative Technique in Matt 2

Dr Jonathan Thambyrajah

Despite the common intention to read the Magi story in its historical context, the approaches produced conflicting views of who the Magi are & what they mean in the context of Matthew.

The Function of John’s Baptism in Matthew’s Gospel: A Dramatized Declaration of the Coming Judgment

Dr Daniel McManigal

This paper offers an interpretation of John’s enigmatic baptism against the backdrop of the sign-acts performed by the prophets of the Old Testament.

The implications of the Archangel Raphael binding an evil being “hand and foot” in 1 Enoch 10 and Tobit 8 for reading Matthew 22:13

Dr Ruth Mathieson

The paper proposes that the apocalyptic topos of binding the hands and feet of an evil being is evoked in the king’s command to bind the inadequately dressed guest in Matthew 22:1–14.

Use of Verbal Aspect for Interpreting the Present Tense of ‘Ἔρχομαι in Jesus’ Olivet Eschatological Discourse in Matt 24:42-44

Steven Groom

This presentation evaluates the full range of aspectual categories as well as the figurative use of the present tense of ἔρχομαι, (a verb of motion), in the Gospels and Acts.