On 14 November 2018, I travelled to Hull to speak to the local Theological Society (patron: the Archbishop of York). Having carried through quite a few speaking commitments lately, I decided in advance that for this one I would fit my topic to some other work I had in hand—namely, some pending revisions of an article about Miles Coverdale and his sources. Continue reading “Coverdale and some theology”
dataAche
Earlier this month, I made the 6-hour rail journey to Plymouth to participate in the Digital Research in the Humanities and Arts conference, dataAche. I was there to participate in a panel organised by Gabriel Egan, around the theme of “the author’s unseeing eye”. Continue reading “dataAche”
SHARP 2017: Technologies of the Book
The following abstract has been [Edit: March 2017:] accepted for SHARP 2017: Technologies of the Book (9-12 June, Victoria, BC). It will be part of a panel under the common title “Reading and writing to disk: Sheffield and Books in the Digital Humanities”. Continue reading “SHARP 2017: Technologies of the Book”
From Luther to Lambeth Palace
The reception of strangers
in European Bibles
Paper to be presented to the Sheffield Institute of Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies (SIIBS) research seminar, 24 April 2017. Continue reading “From Luther to Lambeth Palace”
Reading English in a European Context
Uncovering the Ideologies of Early Modern Bible Translation
Paper presented at the School of English research seminar, University of Sheffield, 23 November 2016. Continue reading “Reading English in a European Context”
Ruth as deserving stranger
A case study of translation serving ideology in Reformation Europe
Paper to be presented at the Sixteenth Century Society Conference in Bruges, 18-20 August, 2016; session 244, “The Vagaries of Translation in the Early Modern World”
(chaired by Paul Arblaster).
ABSTRACT
Did sixteenth-century bible translation and commentary contribute to debate about social issues? What differences occur between vernacular and Latin translations of the Bible, and what is their significance?
Reading the biblical book of Ruth, sixteenth-century commentators address the protagonist’s question, Continue reading “Ruth as deserving stranger”
In debt to sundry sources
European borrowings in 16th & 17th century English translations of ‘the Book of Books’
Paper to be delivered at the Meeting of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publication (SHARP) in Paris, 18-22 July 2016.
The conference theme is “Languages of the Book / Les Langues du Livre”.
A French translation of this abstract is appended.
ABSTRACT
Five years have elapsed since the quatercentenary of King James’ Bible, 481 since the editio princeps of the English bible, a translation assembled “out of five sundry interpreters” by Miles Coverdale. In the years between Continue reading “In debt to sundry sources”
Early modern pin-up girls
Lessons learned from the Bible’s “virtuous women”
Presented to the Society for Reformation Studies, Westminster College, Cambridge, 5-7 April 2016. (Abstract slightly amended.) The conference theme was “The Bible in the Reformation”.
Seek a virtuous woman in Coverdale’s 1535 Bible and you will find only Ruth. By 1611, the only “virtuous” people in the English Bible are women. Continue reading “Early modern pin-up girls”
The Quest for Biblical Literacy
Curricula, Culture and Case Studies
ABSTRACT
A companion piece to the 2011 Postscripts article, this invited chapter contextualises recent discourse about biblical literacy, its decline and its desirability, by examining past statements about and measures of biblical literacy and looking at who the stakeholders are. One can usefully distinguish between those advocating knowledge of the Bible for religious purposes (the pursuit of “scriptural literacy”) and those who present it as culturally important, in terms of heritage or the ability to make Continue reading “The Quest for Biblical Literacy”
Practi[s]ing Biblical Literacy
Case Studies from the Sheffield Conference
With Nicky Hallett (University of Sheffield, UK), Carl Tighe (Derby University, UK), and José Luis Lopez Calle (Universidad Valladolid / Carlos III University, Madrid, Spain).
ABSTRACT:
When and how does the Bible enter the classroom? In May 2011, the department of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield hosted a conference on the role of the Bible in secondary and higher education. This paper addresses the notion of biblical literacy, providing an account of the emergent practices discussed, with in-depth treatment of three case studies. The examples are drawn from the fields of English Literature, Economics, and Creative Writing. The different role of the Bible in education in North American and British contexts is also considered, and the article concludes with considerations for future collaboration.
Keywords: Biblical Literacy; Creative Writing; Economics; English Literature; Higher Education; King James Version; Religious Education; Secondary Education; Curriculum.
Published in:
Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts and Contemporary Worlds, 7.2 (2011) pp. 173-196. DOI: 10.1558/post.v7i2.173