INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED THEOLOGY AT BARD COLLEGE PRESENTS A LUNCHEON LECTURE ON "JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN PUBLIC ETHICS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE"
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—On Wednesday, June 14, the Institute for Advanced Theology (IAT) at Bard College is sponsoring a luncheon lecture, "Jewish and Christian Public Ethics in the Roman Empire," by Markus Bockmuehl, lecturer in the New Testament and ancient Judaism at the University of Cambridge, England. Lunch begins at 12 noon in the Faculty Dining Room at Kline Commons, followed by the lecture and discussion. Reservations are necessary.
Bockmuehl's premise in "Jewish and Christian Public Ethics in the Roman Empire" is that people of the Jewish and Christian faiths during the pre-Constantinian period of the Roman Empire shared a commonality of experience. The theological morality on which both the Jewish and Christian faiths are based contrasted with and often incurred hostility from Roman rulers. Bockmuehl will show, contrary to frequent misconceptions in modern scholarship, that both Jews and Christians found interpretations of the Torah's address to the Gentiles a surprisingly similar resource publicly accounting for their distinctive moral convictions. During this period the Roman Empire was a place for both public tolerance and martyrdom—a period that Bockmuehl will elucidate in terms applicable to the contemporary world.
Markus Bockmuehl
is the author of several books including Revelation and Mystery in Ancient Judaism and Pauline Christianity; The Epistle to the Philippians, and the soon-to-be-published Jewish Law in Gentile Churches. He is a member of the Academic Council of the Institute for Advance Theology and its consultative group, which since 1997 has been researching and investigating historical records about James, the brother of Jesus. Bockmuehl lectures throughout Europe, North America, and Israel, and has held visiting research fellowships at many universities, including Princeton, where he is currently in residence through 2001. He recently received a British Academy Research Readership for his project on Simon Peter.The Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College gratefully acknowledges support provided by the Crohn Family Trust, the Tisch Family Foundation, and grants from The Jerome Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the American Council of Learned Societies, and BardCollege.
For further information about and to make reservations for luncheon lecture, call the IAT at 914-758-7279. There is a $6.00 donation requested to defray costs of the luncheon.
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(5.23.00)