Then and Now
I am just emerging from a colloquium that earlier this week I co-organized with Ishay Rosen-Zvi on "Jews and Judaism in Late Antiquity." As such things go, it was a bit unusual: we focused on five "meta" issues (state of the academic field; … [Continue reading] about Jews and Judaism in Late Antiquity: Taking Stock
My semester is winding down. It is funny the way that it does this; it has mostly ended but there are stray bits and pieces that seem to drag on interminably. Despite this, as at the end of every semester, I've started my own process of … [Continue reading] about Lessons from the Semester….
Yesterday in class we ran two historical simulations of the canonization of Christian Scripture. The assignment and process is described here. The results of both simulations were similar, in part (I presume) due to some tweaks in the rules that I … [Continue reading] about Canonization: The Simulation (Conclusion)
Every couple of years I teach a class called "How the Bible Became Holy" (and no, I do not assign my book). The past few times I have taught it I have concluded with a simulation exercise - a game, really - in which different Christian groups (and … [Continue reading] about Canonizing the Christian Bible: A Simulation
The Supreme Court recently heard a case that turns on the meaning of “money”: What counts as “money compensation” for the purpose of a particular kind of taxation? The case seems abstruse and the write-up at Scotus Blog is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but … [Continue reading] about What is “Money”?