My First SBL Annual Meeting

First thoughts and impressions:

Let me just say that this past weekend was one of the most exciting in my entire academic career. I have never attended such a large academic conference in my life where the world's top, seasoned, and up-and-coming biblical scholars all coalesce in one location to share ideas nonstop for four days straight. It was seriously an overwhelming experience. 

Thankfully, there are not so many textual critics in the world that I'd feel entirely lost at such a conference. In fact, by the end of Monday, I could recognize the faces of many of the leading NT textual critics since almost all of them attend the same sessions throughout the entire weekend. I was incredibly excited to not only see the people I've been reading this past year, but to hear them give papers, watch them interact with each other, and get to meet a few of them. It was inspiring like no other. At one session, I arrived early and sat in an empty row. By the time the session started, I was surrounded by Hugh Houghton, Larry Hurtado, and  Bart Ehrman. I just thought, "Boy, I feel really out of place among these giant minds." 

Some of the more interesting papers I heard this weekend were from Brice C. Jones, who presented a portion of his dissertation work on NT citations in amulets from Oxyrhynchus, all the ones given in the digital media session which presented new/updated tools for TC and the role of editors in an age of increasing digital public access, Jenny Read-Heimerdinger's paper on using discourse analysis in analyzing variants, Dirk Jongkind's critique of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method, Zachary Cole's brilliant idea of looking at number abbreviations to inform the methodology of the scribe of Codex W, and Ryan Wettlaufer's hypothesis of a new type of scribal error--priming. It basically felt like a feast of ideas, where one could sit at table and taste test little tidbits of all the latest research.

Sunday was the most exciting day. I met up with Dirk Jongkind (research fellow at Tyndale House in Cambridge) for an hour, who turns out to be a very helpful, witty, and enthusiastic man. For someone so intelligent and of such a prestigious position, he is incredibly down-to-earth and helpful to complete amateurs like me. We had a great discussion on possible dissertation projects, the results of which will keep me busy in the coming year. Sunday evening was also the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog dinner where I got to meet several guys from the CNTTS (Center for New Testament Textual Study) in New Orleans. Great group of scholars. Halfway through the meal, Peter Head from Tyndale House stood up and gave a most hilarious speech. He began his speech by looking at the special group menu we got and saying, "As you may have noticed, there are a few textual errors present on this slip," after which he proceeded to point out spelling errors, and others I can't recall. After that he says, "We have several people in this room who have written a Bible (Michael Holmes, the NA28 editors, UBS4 editors, etc.) or who have discovered them (Dirk )." I loved his sense of humor. The Green Initiative folks were present at the dinner as well and surprised everyone by very generously sponsoring the entire meal.

I have to say, in the last few weeks I have fallen in love with Tyndale House and am certain beyond the shadow of a doubt that I want to do research there someday. It doesn't sound at all like a stuffy, serious place where people compete to produce the most sensational or original work. I get a sense that it is really about being in a supportive community where you can not only do efficient work but have colleagues around you with similar interests and with whom you can frequently exchange ideas. Dirk described it this way, "There is no talking allowed in the library and no one is allowed to check out books, so that you always have access to anything you need. At 11 o'clock, they ring a bell, and everyone emerges outside for coffee and tea time. There are always scholars visiting Tyndale House during their sabbaticals with whom you get to chat during these breaks and, perhaps, play a game of croquet. Peter Head is especially big on croquet." 

Something else I learned this weekend is that the world of academia does not have to be as competitive and unfriendly as it sometimes seems in large, public universities. I've observed this past weekend how scholars can be buddies working alongside each other and yet be able to critique each other's work in a respectful way. Sometimes after a session, I would just hang around and watch how all the TC folks would mill around in groups and joke with each other, or discuss a meeting location, or comment on each other's work, or just catch up on life. They come from all over the world and yet many of them are good buddies. I'm sure the fact that there are not that many textual critics in the world (as opposed to, say, Pauline scholars, or Homeric scholars) makes it easier to promote this kind of camaraderie, but that's partly what attracts me to it. 

Perhaps a more mature scholar may read this and just think that I am still young and green, still viewing academia through rose-colored glasses. Even if that's true, I am happy to be in this stage. It's exciting, inspiring, and energizing. 

Getting to see these people face-to-face and observe their character and personalities makes me even more eager to read their work. I want to know what each person is doing these days, what kind of research they are working on, and how I can participate in the current conversations. I am thoroughly inspired. The fact that I even dreamt about the conference for the last two nights must indicate that this is what I was meant to do. I thank God for this weekend of clarity and inspiration, and I cannot wait until SBL 2014 in San Diego!