Karl-Gustav Sandelin 1940-2022

A couple of days ago I was informed of the sad news that the Finnish Prof.em. Karl-Gustav Sandelin died on July 18. There will be a funeral on August 13.

Karl-Gustav Sandelin was born on April 1, 1940, and studied at the University of Helsinki from 1959-62. He then moved to Åbo Akademi University and received his Master of Theology there in 1964. He was an ASLA-Fulbright student at Harvard University in 1967-68, then worked as a Pastor for a few years before returning to Åbo as a teacher of Greek and New Testament exegesis. He gained a licentiate degree in theology there in 1973, and his doctoral degree in 1977. In 1981 he became a lecturer in biblical languages and exegesis, and in 1995 he was appointed professor of New Testament Exegesis, still at Åbo. His doctoral dissertation dealt with a topic from 1 Corinthians, later he also published on Philo of Alexandria, and he will thus be well-known to Philo scholars. Karl-Gustav was a mild and friendly person; pleasant to work with and cooperative. He retired in 2006.

In 2000, he was given a Festschrift at his 60th Birthday, containing 10 articles, written by internationally renown scholars: A Bouquet of Wisdom. Essays in Honour of Karl-Gustav Sandelin, edited by Karl-Johan Illman, Tore Ahlbäck, Sven-Olav Back, and Risto Nurmela. Åbo: Åbo Akademi, 2000.

He had a personal webpage set up in 2018, which contains a lot of info about his life and work, including some article-length essays: https://karl-gustavsandeli.wixsite.com/minsida

I had the pleasure of working with him when I edited Reading Philo. A Handbook to Philo of Alexandria (published 2014), a project that, in fact, was initiated by him in a somewhat larger scale, but when that turned out not to be realizable, he -as he had by then retired – accepted that I proceeded on his idea and he even participated with a very interesting piece on ‘Philo as a Jew.’ I believe that this was one of his last scholarly articles published internationally.

As for his major publications (books), see the following works:

Die Auseinandersetzung mit der Weisheit in 1 Korinther 15. Åbo: Åbo Academi (Meddelanden från Stiftelsens før Åbo Akademi forskningsinstitut, 12 (Diss.).

Wisdom as Nourisher: A Study of an Old Testament Theme, Its Development Within Early Judaism and Its Impact on Early Christianity. Acta Academiae Aboensis Ser A. Humaniora, vol. 64. Åbo Akademi, 1986. UBT.

Sophia och hennes värld. Exegetiska uppsatser från fyra årtionden. Studier i exegetik och judaistik utgivna av Teologiska fakulteten vid Åbo Akademi Nr. 6. Åbo: Teologiska Fakulteten, Åbo Akademi, 2008. (Collection of articles)

Attraction and Danger of Alien Religion. Studies in Early Judaism and Christianity. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament 290. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012. (A collection of articles).

Greg E. Sterling 65!

I presume that every person who wants to get a little more acquainted with Philo of Alexandria and his works, and who starts by looking up some recent books, articles, bibliographies (not to mention The Studia Philonica), will soon discover that there are some names that pop up more often than others. And among these, the name of Greg E. Sterling will be prominent, not only because of the amount of references and articles discovered as authored by Greg Sterling, but also by the range of various topics and the quality of the articles found.

In the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature there use to be a Philo Seminar with two or three sessions dedicated to the study of Philo of Alexandria. Those visiting the seminar for the first time, will – probably very soon – discover a robust guy (who looks like a former wrestler) with glasses, grey hair and a short-cut grey beard, who steps forward either as a lecturer, providing a response, or asking questions from the audience: Yes, it will most probably be Greg E. Sterling. In November 2019, a few days before the Annual Meeting of that year started, Greg Sterling could celebrate his 65th birthday (on Nov 21st).

There were, however, no Festschrift presented that year. And when the time for the next SBL Annual Meeting arrived, and the Festschrift was about to be presented, that Meeting was to be arranged online, due to the Corona Virus! Now, in 2021, we are almost getting used to these awkward (and for some terrible circumstances of the) pandemic), and we can only hope for an Annual Meeting in person upcoming November. Time will tell.

But the Festschrift was there, and is here. In a special on-line arrangement via Zoom, the volume was presented to Greg Sterling; the 2020 volume of The Studia Philonica Annual. Studies in Hellenistic Judaism, edited by David T. Runia and Michael B. Cover, and published by SBL Press.

Happily, for all those who were not able to attend that session on Zoom, there was made a video of the session, a video that now is made available for all to see; by clicking on this link:

https://youtu.be/gj2LhNMTQdU

Better late than never; Happy Birthday Greg.

Vale Tom Tobin

About a week ago I received the sad news that Tom Tobin had passed away at 9:25 a.m. on Sunday, August 30^th, due to heart complications. He was a respected Philo,- and Pauline scholar, and a Facebook friend. We also always met at the SBL Annual Meeting’s Philo seminars. Here is some words in memory of Tom, written by Greg Sterling:

“Tom was a first-rate scholar. I still remember reading his The Creation of Man when I was a doctoral student. What most impressed me was the care that he took with the text and the way that he attempted to work through the exegetical traditions systematically and chronologically. One does not need to agree with all of his conclusions to appreciate the quality of the mind that produced the work. When I invited a small group of scholars to Notre Dame to plan the commentary series, Tom was on the must list of invitees.

His work on Philo in this and in his other publications impressed me so much that when I stepped down as chair of the Philo Seminar/Group, I nominated Tom to succeed me. When David Hay died suddenly, David Runia and I discussed whom we should ask to succeed David Hay as the editor of the monograph series and both reached the same judgment, Tom Tobin. For many years he has also been the chair of the board of the Studia Philonica Annual.

Tom was a priest who gave his life in service as a Jesuit. He did not wear his priesthood on his sleeves, but he took his vows with utter seriousness and served many. Tom was a “Chicago” boy through and through. He loved the city and knew it exceptionally well. He could tell you stories about where gangsters used to eat etc.  He has lived in his city, in a university run by the order of priests to which he belonged, and is now home. But we will miss him!

Requiescat in pace carus et dignus amicus.“

There are also many greetings and nice words about him on his Facebook page; see https://www.facebook.com/thomas.tobin.982

SNTS Meeting in Athens Aug. 7-10.

The yearly SNTS meeting was this year arranged in Athens, Greece. What a wonderful place to have a meeting focusing on New Testament studies. While some might suggest Jerusalem as the place most filled with  symbolism for biblical studies, Athens might come as a good # 2.

In addion to that, the conference found place at the Titania hotel, that with its great restaurant at the top floor provided a magnificent view to the Acropolis and Athens. Three Philo scholars from Norway were attending the meeting, and among them, the doyen of Norwegian Philo studies, prof Peder Borgen. Here you see him seated in the restaurant withtwo of his former doctoral students, prof Per Jarle Bekken to the right (Borgen’s left side), and me on the other side. It was great to have Borgen with us, and to see him – in his age of 90 1/2 years- enjoying and participating in the sessions.

On Saturday 11th, there was an very interesting excursion to Corinth and Epidaurus, a trip also enjoyed by prof Borgen, his wife and two daughters.

The great theatre at Epidaurus

Prof. Peder Borgen 90 today!

Professor emeritus, dr.theol, Ph.D., Peder J. Borgen, is celebrating his 90th birthday this weekend. The day is today; January the 26th., but it will surely be celebrated the whole weekend!

Congratulations to Peder Borgen from ‘Philonica et Neotestamentica’!

Wikipedia correctly states that “He is considered a pioneer “within the theological scientific community in Norway and was the first Methodist and the first member of a Norwegian Free Church who took the theological doctorate at a Norwegian university. He was also the first non-Lutheran who became a professor at a Norwegian University when he in 1973 became a professor of New Testament at the University of Trondheim. He retired in 1997, but is still active, informed engaged. His most recent article is about to be published this spring.

Celebrating

Today, March 9., it is 25 years since I had my public defense of my Norwegian PhD dissertation. Umbelievable how the years fly away..

The ‘disputatio’ was held at the University of Trondheim, now called Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). My mentor was prof. Peder Borgen, and the two other members of the evaluation committee were prof Niels Hyldahl, University of Copenhagen, and Prof. Ernst Baasland, Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo.

The dissertation was slightly reworked, and then published by Brill in 1995.The volume is still available. Looking back I am particularly pleased that it was well received by both Jews and Christians, as it dealt with a somewhat sensitive issue in the relations between Jews and Christians in the first century CA.

Below is a picture of me, and my mentor. We both were young at that time……….:)

At that time I was an associate professor at Volda Regional College, an institution I served until I moved to Stavanger and the School of Mission and Theology in 2005.I retired in 2014.

 

José Pablo Martín -2016

José Pablo Martín passed away in Buenos Aires on Sunday, January 10 after a lengthy battle with cancer.
José Martín had been associated with the Philo bibliography project for over 20 years. He was a very considerable scholar and will be greatly missed.

José Pablo Martin was a professor of Philosophy, CONICET researcher, Doctor of Theology and professor consultus at the Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, San Miguel, Argentina (UNGS). He specialized in the fields of epistemology and philosophical anthropology, and published on Philo and the genesis of Western culture (1986) and Theophilus of Antioch (2004). He was also Head of the international project Hispanicus Philo.

Anders Runesson new professor in Oslo, Norway

After 12 years in Canada, Anders Runesson has returned to Scandinavia. This summer, he started in his new position as professor in the New Testament at the Faculty of Theology.

Anders Runesson started his academic career at Lund University. Here he took a BA in Jewish Studies, M.Div. and M.A. in Religious Studies, and his Ph.D in 2001. After finishing his Ph.D. at Lund, he worked there at a research project on the Formation of Christian Identity.
Then, in 2003, he was offered the position as Assistant Professor in Early Christianity and Early Judaism at McMaster University in Canada.
“After twelve good years at McMaster I now look forward to working with colleagues and students at the Faculty of Theology in Oslo”, Runesson tells us.

Read more about this here.

2015

Happy  New  Year to all readers.

The end of 2014 and beginning of 2015 has been somewhat tough to cope with as I cought a severe cold, and have been barking like a dog for a couple of weeks now. I am slowly recovering, but I am glad that I am not to lecture in the coming days as my throat  still needs some more rest.

See you in my next posting!

 

 

Enter Fall 2014

Why study Philo of Alexandria? The question might be taken as rhetorical.But it might be good to reflect on it from time to time and make up one’s mind concerning why Philo is important. In fact, the upcoming book to be mentioned below might be read from beginning to end as an endeavor to demonstrate to the reader that Philo is indeed important. Others have been even more emphatic than me in their arguments for the relevance of Philo: Gregory E. Sterling published an article in Perspectives in Religious Studies (2003) with the provocative title “Philo Has Not Been Used Half Enough.” In this article he states frankly, concerning the importance of Philo in studying early Christianity: “I think that the Philonic corpus is the single most important body of material from Second Temple Judaism for our understanding of the development of Christianity in the first and second centuries. . . . I am convinced, that the Philonic corpus helps us to understand the dynamics of early Christianity more adequately than any other corpus” (p.252).
Philo of Alexandria is indeed a fascinating person, but at the same time also somewhat of an enigma, even to scholars who have long tried to understand him, his works, and his position in the social world of Alexandria at the beginning of our era.

My personal life this summer has been marked by retirement, selling and buying houses, packing – moving – unpacking and getting settled in a new place and region of Norway. The scholarly part of me….., especially in the last two or three weeks, has been occupied with proofreading and doing the indexes for The Philo book (!) to be published in upcoming November.
What a boring, tedious and wearisome work! Why can’t anyone come up with a computer program that can do such indexing work? Yes, I know there are some programs that promise to do exactly that, but how to do it with a pdf file? As far as I know, no program offers that ability!

The book as been given the very pertinent title: Reading Philo. A Handbook to Philo of Alexandria, and will be published by Eerdmans. A total of 9 authors from Australia, Canada, Finland, USA and Norway have been engaged in writing the volume, and as the editor I am very grateful for the willingness of these scholars to participate, and for the contributions they have submitted. I intend to give a brief presentation of the various chapters in some postings to come. Just to wet your appetite, you know! The book should be out in time for you to get it at the SBL Annual Meeting this November.

Hence, stay tuned!