Matt O'Reilly, PhD

Hamlet’s take on Psalm 8:5 (Act 2 Sc. 2) highlights the contradiction between the enormous potential of human beings and their mortality, ‘this quintessence of dust’. A biblical theology of humanity also moves between these poles. Human destiny is written in the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus. But what does this leave to be said about human potential in a fallen world, and related concepts such as creativity, excellence, professionalism, and power? The lecture explores what

Late last year the Society of Biblical Literature imposed new restrictions on student paper presentations and participation at the SBL annual meeting.  These changes did not come without controversy.  Indeed, a number of students registered their displeasure with the SBL Council’s decision.  You can find my own disagreement with the Council’s decision here.  In light of my earlier concern, I was pleased to get an email today from John Kutsko, Executive Director of the SBL, no

The Student Advisory Board of the SBL is conducting a survey of student members on their perceptions of the policy changes regarding student presentations at the annual meeting.  I found the survey through Michael Halcomb’s website: Pisteuomen.  Here’s what he says: As many of you may know, there has been considerable conversation about new policies regarding students and student paper presentations at the SBL Annual Meetings. The Student Advisory Board (SAB) has been collect

Along with other student members of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), I recently received an email letter from John F. Kutsko, Executive Director of SBL, informing me of changes that have been made by the Council of SBL to the way in which student members may participate in the SBL Annual Meeting.  Here are those changes: 1. All students without a doctoral degree are required to submit to the Program Unit Chair the full text of the paper they will read. The paper will

I’m a bit behind most in the blogosphere who have already posted reflections on the recent annual gatherings of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Biblical Literature in Atlanta.  Nonetheless, here are a few thoughts: 1. This was the first year I attended ETS.  I was struck by the charity and reverence throughout.  You might be surprised to hear that I was struck in this way, ETS being a confessional professional society composed of people who are supposed

The preliminary program book for the 2010 meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature has been put online.  Here’s a summary of the unit in which I will be presenting: Letters of James, Peter, and Jude 11/21/2010 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM Room: Room TBD – Hotel TBDTheme: Open Papers Peter Davids, St. Stephen’s University, Presiding David A. deSilva, Ashland Theological Seminary James and the Testament of Job: The Evidence for Intertextuality (30 min) Patrick Egan, University of S

I’ve been working through some material on rhetorical critical approaches to New Testament studies, as of late, in preparation for my presentation at SBL later this year.  While it seems to be gaining acceptance and adherents, rhetorical criticism remains somewhat criticisized as a lens for interpreting biblical texts.  Critics often argue that because our knowledge of the education of the biblical authors is limited, we don’t know whether they were trained in the canons of c

I recently got word that my paper proposal for the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature was accepted.  The title of the paper is: “Waiting for His Promised Coming: Eschatology and Ethics in Chain-link in 2 Peter 3.”  I’ll be reading it in the Letters of James, Peter, and Jude Program Unit.  Here’s the abstract: The chain-link interlock is an ancient rhetorical transition device which, though long neglected in scholarship, has recently been identified by B