Regional SBL Conference

On March 17th and 18th, I will be attending the Central States Regional Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in St. Louis, and I'm already so excited! According to the lineup, it looks like there will be a good variety of papers presented this year—ranging from Luke's use of imaginative geography in Acts to (apparently) how translators edit out Ezekiel's cuss words. I am thrilled about getting the chance to hear Paul scholar Mark Nanos speak, and looking forward to perusing the books in the publishers' book display room. I have already sorted through the sessions I will be attending, and these are a few that I found most appealing:

—Sunday—

1:30 p.m.—Jared Chatfield, “What Are the Philistines Doing at Beth-Shean? Archaeological Implications for 1 Sam. 31”

4 p.m.—Mark Nanos, “‘Judaizers’? ‘Pagan’ Cults? Cynics?: Reconceptualizing the Concerns of Paul’s Audience from the Polemics in Philippians 3:2, 18-19” 

—Monday—

9 a.m.—Matthew Wade Umbarger, “‘He Was With the Wild Beasts’: Echoes of 1 Maccabees 2:30 and 2 Maccabees 5:27 in Mark 1:13” 

10 a.m.—Richard Freund, “The Church of the Annunciation and Mary’s Well” 

-OR-

10 a.m.—Sidney A. Martin II, “Christ the Conquered King: Further Reflections on the Triumph in Mark” 

1:30 p.m.—John E. Christianson, “The Centurion in History and Literature: A Context for Reading in the Gospels” 

3 p.m.—John T. Strong, “Censoring the Prophetic Word: Translating Ezekiel’s Profane Speech for General Audiences” 

4:30 p.m.—Tom Schmidt, “The Rhetorical Use of Irony in the Book of Revelation”