For 2015 we are accepting proposals for two sessions (in addition to a planned review discussion):
1. New Perspectives on the Cappadocian Fathers. Recent years have seen an outpouring of new studies on Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa, which have raised important questions about their biblical interpretation, their relationship to non-Christian rhetorical and philosophical traditions, their role in the articulation of Christian doctrine, and their theological achievements. For this session, we welcome papers on the theologies of the three Cappadocians which take into account the new perspectives that have recently emerged in scholarship, especially papers which address the use of scripture within the Cappadocians’ theological argumentation.
2. Scholarly Tools and Aids for Exegesis in Early and Late-Antique Christianity. By the time Christianity began spreading throughout the Mediterranean basin and beyond, the Greco-Roman world had developed a highly sophisticated culture of literary scholarship: definitive editions of classic texts were produced, marginal apparatuses were invented, bibliographies were compiled, and commentaries and treatises were composed. Moving forward into late antiquity, such works proliferated, including scholia, commentaries, lexica, and grammatical treatises. For this session we welcome papers that examine the early and late-antique Christian appropriation and development of this tradition: the creation of scholarly tools and aids specifically for exegesis, their use, their influence, and so forth. Some works of this kind are relatively well known, such as Origen’s Hexapla, Eusebius’ Canon Tables, and Augustine’s De doctrina Christiana. Papers on these and similar works are suitable, provided that they focus not on interpretations of particular passages, but on the scholarly tools and aids for exegesis themselves.