The BRANE Collective is thrilled to launch a new series, the Primary Text Laboratory, with an inaugural event on Apocryphon of James! This series brings together a panel of scholars to examine closely a single text from different perspectives, in an open conversation on any aspect of its interpretation. Our aim is to share infrequently studied texts with a wider audience and to provide a space for interested researchers to chat about the texts they love!
Have a primary text you’d like to discuss? Propose a Primary Text Lab! Proposals from scholars at all stages, including graduate students, are warmly welcome. The BRANE Collective can help facilitate, including connecting with scholars you’d like to invite. See the Event Toolkit to get started!
For this first event in the series, we have a panel of scholars with diverse approaches on Apocryphon of James. This fascinating text is not so well known as some of its Nag Hammadi peers, but it offers a distinct opportunity to discuss topics such as reception of Jesus tradition, genre designations of texts about Jesus, and early portrayals of the apostles. Come join us for an exciting discussion and learn more about this text’s contribution to our understanding of early Christian literature.
Wednesday, March 31
2:00 – 3:30pm Eastern time (US)/7:00-8:30pm UK time
A link to the text will be sent with your registration confirmation.
Discussants:
Karen L King, Kimberly Bauser McBrien, Sarah Parkhouse,
Elizabeth Schrader, Kristine Toft Rosland
Karen L. King is trained in comparative religions and historical studies and is the author of books and articles on the diversity of ancient Christianity, women and gender studies, and religion and violence. Her particular passion is studying recently discovered literature from Egypt, including the Gospel of Mary, the Apocalypse of James, the Gospel of Philip, and the Secret Revelation of John.
Kim Bauser McBrien is interested in the New Testament and early Christianity, with a focus on the role of memory in the preservation and production of tradition in the canonical gospels and extra-canonical literature of the first three centuries. Her work specialises in Apocryphon of James, including themes of social memory and pseudepigraphy. She also has published on biblical studies pedagogy in the undergraduate classroom.
Sarah Parkhouse researches early Christianity, and has particular interests in the second century, diversity within religious thought and practices, and how locality shapes and is shaped by religion. She has written a book and articles on ‘dialogue gospels’ and has just started a project on Coptic literature and artefacts within the Egyptian landscape.
Kristine Toft Rosland works on the Nag Hammadi Codices and Egyptian monastic material from the fourth and fifth centuries. She specialises in the Apocryphon of John, its textual variants, and its Christology. Her methodological interests also include fan fiction, and she has published on its application to the relationship between Apocryphon of John and Genesis.
Elizabeth Schrader’s research interests include textual criticism, the New Testament Gospels, the Nag Hammadi corpus, Mary Magdalene, and feminist theology. Her article “Was Martha of Bethany Added to the Fourth Gospel in the Second Century?” was published in the Harvard Theological Review. Her work has been featured by both the Daily Beast and Religion News Service.
