The SBL Seminar on Religion and Philosophy in Antiquity invites colleagues and interested participants to attend its four sessions at the SBL–AAR Annual Meeting in Boston (November 22–25, 2025). Below you will find the complete list of presentations.

Saturday, November 22 — 4:00 PM–6:30 PM

Room 306 (Third Level), Hynes Convention Center
Fresh Perspectives on Epicureanism and Early Christianity: Exploring intersections in communities, ethics, and epistles
Presider: Rainer Hirsch-Luipold (Université de Berne)

Presentations:

• Justin Allison, Ouachita Baptist University: Epicurean Piety as a Model for the Corinthian “Wise” (1 Corinthians 8–10)
• Maria Pazarski, Supreme Ecclesiastical Academy of Athens: Aphobia for the Divine according to Epicurus and Friendship with God according to Philo of Alexandria as Paths of Piety and Bliss
• Eric Brewer, Baylor University: Friendship and Frankness of Speech in Philodemus and Lukan Discipleship
• Jeffery Aubin, Cegep St. Lawrence: Carpe Deum: A New Kind of Piety
• Nathan Scott, Wycliffe College: Augustine’s Mouth Has Two Sides: Augustine’s Nuanced Engagement with Epicureanism in His Epistle 118
• Travis Niles, University of Bern: “What You Unknowingly Revere” – On the Use of εὐσεβεῖν in Acts 17:23

Important note:
Since this session follows the SBL seminar format, all papers will be circulated in advance.
If you would like to take part in the discussion, please reply to this email in order to receive the papers.

Saturday, November 22 — 9:00 AM–11:30 AM

Public Garden (Fifth Floor), Sheraton
Critical Approaches to the Oxford Handbook of Deification (2024)
Presider: Clelia Attanasio (University of Bonn)

Presentations:

• Pavel Gavrilyuk, St Thomas University: Deification: Definitional and Methodological Issues
• Steven Stapella, Duke University: The Condemnation of the Flesh: Platonic Anthropology and Theosis
• Mark Elliott, Highland Theological College: “Friendship with God”: A Critical Appreciation of Deification and Its Handbook
• Athanasios Antonopoulos, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens: Critical Approach to the Notions of Asceticism and Ascetic Deification in the Oxford Handbook of Deification
• Myk Habets, Laidlaw College: Theosis in Recent Christian Thought: Ecumenical Potentials and Pitfalls

Sunday, November 23 — 9:00 AM–11:30 AM

Public Garden (Fifth Floor), Sheraton
Revelation and Reason: Two Sources of Knowledge?

Presentations:

• Magnus Rabel, University of Zurich: Hidden in Blinding Light: The Unseeable God in 1 Timothy 6:16
• Daniel Zimmerman, University of California, Santa Barbara: A Tale of Two Cities: Reading Jerusalem as Plato’s Republic
• Abraham Wu, University of Cambridge: Within and Without: Revelation and Reason in Late Antique Accounts of Conscience
• Stevie Henry, Thomas Jefferson University: Authority and Reason in the Dialogues of Cicero and Augustine
• David Baldi, Yale University: Can the Heavens Be Rent? Natural Philosophy in Ibn Kātib Qayṣar’s Commentary on Revelation 4
• Clelia Attanasio, University of Bonn: From Reason to Unknowing: Gregory of Nyssa’s Mystical Theology in The Life of Moses

Monday, November 24 — 1:00 PM–3:30 PM

Back Bay A (Second Floor), Sheraton
Book Review Session: Timothy A. Brookins, Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Corinthians
Presider: Paul Sloan, Houston Christian University

Panelists:

• Michael J. Gorman, St. Mary’s Seminary & University
• Joshua Jipp, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
• David Moffitt, University of St Andrews
• Annalisa Phillips Wilson, Cambridge University

Respondent:

• Timothy Brookins, University of Saint Thomas (Houston, TX)

Further information on the corresponding SNTS seminar and our other projects can be found here:
https://www.etf.uni-bonn.de/de/fakultaet/neues-testament/team/apl-prof-dr-athanasios-despotis/projekt

We warmly welcome your participation and look forward to enriching discussions in Boston.

With collegial regards,
Athanasios Despotis (Bonn)
Isidoros Katsos (Athens)
Co-Chairs