Performing Philemon: Possibilities and Limitations

Nov 20, 2023  at SBL in San Antonio, TX

This session of Performance Criticism of the Bible and Other Ancient Texts (PC-BOAT) experienced three different embodiments of Paul's letter to Philemon and asking respondents to reflect on how performance illuminates the possibilities and limitations of meaning making for an audience. Click on the links below to watch video of each performance and response.

Clifford Barbarick, Abilene Christian University, Presiding

Performances of Philemon by:

Michael Halcomb, Glossa House Publishing

Jeanette Mathews, Charles Sturt University

Marlon Winedt, United Bible Societies

Response and Discussion of Performances of Philemon:

Amy Erickson, Charles Sturt University

Shola Adegbite, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York

Pieter Botha, University of South Africa

Nathan Esala, Capital University

Discussion

Philippians

Performance and Analysis

by Clifford Barbarick, Abilene Christian University

Presented in the Performance Criticism of the Bible and Other Ancient Texts (PC-BOAT)

At the SBL Annual Meeting in San Antonio on 20 Nov 2021

To watch the video, click this link or watch in the window below:

https://vimeo.com/650290566

Scribal Memory and Scribal Performance

A new approach to text-critical "variants"

by Ray Person, Ohio Northern University

Presented in the Performance Criticism of the Bible and Other Ancient Texts (PC-BOAT)

At the SBL Annual Meeting in San Antonio on 20 Nov 2021

See the 2023 book Scribal Memory and Word Selection: Text Criticism of the Hebrew Bibleat the SBL website.

To watch the video, click this link or watch in the window below:

https://vimeo.com/650111458

New Testament as Oral Performance

Lecture and Performances by David Rhoads

Presented at Moravian Seminary in 2016

Before they were set down in writing, the gospels and epistles of the New Testament were transmitted orally to transform and empower early Christian communities. In many parts of the world, the Bible is still heard and spoken much more than it is read. As scholars are increasingly aware, the orality of biblical traditions deeply conditioned the ways in which they were originally composed, presented, and understood; and a full and accurate understanding of the Bible requires an awareness of its “performative” character. These lectures will highlight the oral dimension of the gospel message, illustrating it with performances of portions of Mark and of Paul’s letter to Philemon.

Lecture 1: The Gospels as Oral Performances In the predominantly oral cultures of antiquity, the Gospels were first experienced as storytelling events designing to transform and empower communities. The lecture will illustrate this with a performance of the first part of the Gospel of Mark.

Lecture 2: Letters as Oral Performances The original recipients of New Testament epistles experienced them as oral presentations. What difference does it make to experience a letter as a performance? The lecture will include a demonstration of Paul’s letter to Philemon.

Clck to watch the video:

The New Testament as Oral Performance from Moravian Seminary on Vimeo.