Religious Competition in Late Antiquity

Call For Papers: The Religious Competition in Late Antiquity Program Unit will host four sessions: (1) Post-70 CE forms of leadership: In conjunction with the History and Literature of Early Rabbinic Judaism program unit, we invite proposals for papers on forms of leadership in Jewish and Christian communities that emerged in the centuries following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. We are especially interested in papers that discuss competition surrounding forms and conceptions of leadership and how the dynamics of competition are reflected in and refracted by the sources from the era, including early rabbinic literature, writings of early Christian authors, and material culture. (2) Astrology, Philosophy, and Religion: The second session is organized jointly with the Seminar on Philosophy and Religion in Late Antiquity. In antiquity, astrology elicited strong and diverse opinions. To some it was a philosophical praxis allowing the soul to imitate the divine order; to others, it was the work of demons, designed to keep human beings from God. We invite proposals that address astrology as a locus of philosophical or religious competition in late antiquity. (3) Competition, Conflict, Violence: What distinguishes competition from conflict? Under what conditions does competition shade into conflict, and what role does violence or the threat of violence play in negotiating distinctions between competition and conflict? For this session, we invite proposals examining instances of religious conflict from the ancient near east through late antiquity that engage these questions, particularly those that focus on the ownership of bodies, texts, and space. (4) Open call: For our fourth session, we invite paper proposals on all aspects of religious competition in late antiquity. We invite proposals on competitive interactions between different social and religious groups in the ancient Mediterranean basin, and/or how this competition reshaped cultural and religious landscapes.

Program Unit Chairs

Propose a Paper for this Program Unit

Questions About Membership?

• Call 866-727-9955 Toll Free in the US
• Call 404-727-9498 Outside the US
• Fax us at 404-727-2419
• Email us at sblservices@sbl-site.org