Last month, I had the opportunity to take part in the AAR/SBL Annual Meeting in San Diego. All in all it was a pretty amazing experience. I went to this year's annual meeting focusing on attending sessions that had a direct connection with my pending Master's thesis paper, which is exploring texts from the Second Temple period that are apocalyptic in nature. That being said, I pretty much hung out in all the sessions on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Qumran, and even caught a few sessions on apocalypticism and a session on apocrypha and canon.
Most of the sessions were engaging, especially the ones on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Qumran. I especially enjoyed hearing from Jodi Magness on the latest archaeological findings from Qumran. For anyone who has ever heard her present, you know she is way passionate and quite an amazing presenter. Her entire presentation was a refutation of the recent theory that Qumran was a pottery factory, and not in fact tied to the Dead Sea Scrolls at all. By the end of her presentation, she pretty much dismantled the theory as shoddy scholarship.
Perhaps the highlight for me though was getting a chance to grab dinner with Tom and Maggie Wright after his lecture on God in Public. I met Tom and Maggie as a part of Soularize back in October and immediately connected. I went to Tom's session, which was packed. Afterward Jamie and I headed out with Tom and Maggie to McCormick and Schmick's for some steak and seafood. It was great to get some time together, chatting and getting caught up. The conversation at dinner was such an encouragement to Jamie and I - something we've really needed. I am so thankful for their friendship. It was good to laugh, eat, drink, and enjoy each other's company...
As for the rest of SBL, if you're interested in hearing audio from some of the various sessions, you can find some of them here, including Wright's lecture on God in Public. [Props to Adam for the link to the audio.] Enjoy.
Posts like this make me jealous of you and all of your accomplishments
Posted by: Friar_Tuck | December 07, 2007 at 03:19 PM