[OR_Archaeology] Epic, Biography & the Gospels Symposium April 29 & 30th sponsored by AIA

[Susan White]

Epic, Biography and the Gospels Symposium

Wednesday, April 29 & Thursday, April 30, 2009

Controversial theorist featured at symposium on epic, biography and the Gospels

Willamette University will host a two-day symposium April 29--30 on the influence of the ancient epic and biographical genres on the composition of the early Christian Gospels.

This symposium will focus on Dr. Dennis MacDonald's innovative theories about the influence of the Homeric epics on the composition of the Gospels and launches a planned series of symposia on controversial issues in ancient studies sponsored by the Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology. The Department of Religious Studies is also using this 
occasion to celebrate the recent retirement of Dr. Lane McGaughy, the first holder of the Atkinson Chair of Religious and Ethical Studies at Willamette University.

The symposium opens Wednesday, April 29, at 7:30 p.m. with a lecture by MacDonald entitled "What Kind of Book is a Gospel? What Kind of Question is That?" in the Paulus Lecture Hall, Truman Wesley Collins Legal Center, at Willamette University. A panel of scholars from the Northwest will respond to MacDonald's lecture and offer their views on the genre of the Gospels on Thursday, April 30, from 9:00 to 11:15 a.m. in the Montag Den. The symposium will conclude Thursday, April 30, at 11:30 a.m. in the Montag Den with a presentation by McGaughy on the topic, "Framing Jesus:  The Mythic Structure of Ancient Lives and its Influence on the Gospels."

MacDonald is the John Wesley Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins and acting dean at Claremont School of Theology in southern California. He has published numerous books and articles pointing out the parallels between the Gospels and the Homeric epics. His publications include /Christianizing Homer: The Odyssey, Plato, and the 
Acts of Andrew/; /The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark/; /Mimesis and Intertextuality in Antiquity and Christianity/; /Does the New Testament Imitate Homer?/ and /The Acts of Andrew: Early Christian Apocrypha./

The event is sponsored by the Willamette University Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology and the Department of Religious Studies. All symposium events are free and open to the public.  

For more information, please see 
www.willamette.edu/centers/casa/events/#2009Symposium 

or contact Andrea Foust at (503) 370-6654.


*Symposium Schedule*

*

"What Kind of Book is a Gospel?  What Kind of Question is That?"*

Dr. Dennis R. MacDonald
John Wesley Professor of New Testament & Christian Origins
Dean at Claremont School of Theology

Wednesday, April 29 | Paulus Lecture Hall, Room 201, Collins Legal 
Center | 7:30 p.m.
_____________________________________________________________________
*
Panel Discussion*

* * A panel of scholars from the Northwest will respond to Dr. 
MacDonald's lecture
and offer their views on the genre of the Gospels. 

Thursday, April 30 | 9:00-11:15 a.m. | Montag Den

_____________________________________________________________________

*

"Framing Jesus:  The Mythic Structure of Ancient Lives and its Influence 
on the Gospels."
*
Dr. Lane McGaughy
Willamette University
Director of the Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology

Thursday, April 30 | 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Montag Den

/All the events of the symposium are free and open to the public.  /


Andrea Foust
Coordinator
Centers for Ancient Studies and Archaeology
Willamette University
900 State Street
Salem, Oregon 97301 USA

Phone: (503) 370-6654