Yale Divinity School's Harold W. Attridge Will Come to Baylor's Campus

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WACO, Texas (Feb. 12, 2014) - The department of religion in the Baylor College of Arts & Sciences is teaming up with the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Baylor University Press to host Harold W. Attridge, Ph.D., former dean and current Sterling Professor of Divinity of Yale Divinity School, on Thursday, Feb. 13.
Attridge, who has made scholarly contributions to the explanation of the New Testament and to the study of Hellenistic Judaism and the history of the early Church, will give his lecture, "Josephus, Luke, and the Uses of History."
He is an author and editor of several publications and translations and has served on the editorial boards of journals including the Catholic Biblical Quarterly, the Journal of Biblical Literature, the Harvard Theological Review and Novum Testamentum.
"My research has dealt with a range of issues connected with the environment of early Christianity, the New Testament, and the history of the early Church," he said in an interview with Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, where he was a Visiting Research Scholar to the MCD University of Divinity.
The department of religion asks an expert to speak on campus for the annual New Testament Graduate Colloquium.
"Each year the Colloquium selects primary texts to read that represent aspects of the milieu in which early Christianity emerged," said Lidija Novaovic, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of religion. "The topic of this year's Colloquium is Josephus' presentation of Jewish history from 323 BCE to 66 CE, which is covered in his works, Jewish War and Jewish Antiquities.
"I am confident that our students and university would benefit greatly from his expertise and his presence here," she said. "His lecture will give our students an opportunity to learn about the works of Flavius Josephus and their significance for illumination of the New Testament, especially the Gospel of Luke."
The Baylor Office of the Vice Provost for Research aims to promote academic research and collaboration within and outside of the university. Similarly, Baylor University Press exists to "publish, promote, and cultivate wisdom that will help better humanity today and usher in a more promising tomorrow," according to its website.
Attridge's lecture will take place from 4 to 5 p.m. in Miller Chapel inside Tidwell Bible Building, 600 Speight Ave. For more information on the event contact Novakovic at 254-710-1646.
by Rachel Miller, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
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