Copying the Bible at Qumran and Christianity in 1st Century China
VIEW EVENT DETAILSEvening Lecture by AARON WEST, Lecturer, Hebrew and Old Testament and GLEN L. THOMPSON, Professor of New Testament and Historical Theology, Asia Lutheran Seminary (Hong Kong)
Registration at 6.15pm
Lecture 1 & Q&A at 6.30pm
Lecture 2 & Q&A at 7.15pm
Close at 8pm
Copying the Bible at Qumran: Light from the Great Isaiah Scroll by Aaron West
In the last 60 years, scholars have come to a variety of conclusions about the nature of the Great Isaiah Scroll, a facsimile of which is currently on display at the Asia Society Hong Kong Center. Some have claimed this scroll was poorly copied and designated for use by common people, while others have seen this scroll as carefully copied for some official use. This lecture will contextualize the question of the scroll’s use by describing the variety of ways a scroll could be produced and used in antiquity. It will then ask what the scroll’s unique characteristics suggest about its use and manner of production.
From Jerusalem to Luoyang: Did Christianity (or Judaism) Arrive in 1st Century China? by Glen L. Thompson
In the past decade or so there have been numerous reports both from China and in the West claiming that Christian and Jewish communities existed in first-century China. Usually, these refer to artifacts along the so-called Eastern Silk Route that connected the Han Dynasty capital of Luoyang with the East China Sea. This lecture will examine the evidence in particular from Kaifeng, Xuzhou, and Lianyungang which others have cited for the spread of the two religions into China during that time. These theories will then be evaluated in light of what is known about travel and trade between the Roman Empire and China during the period highlighted in the current exhibition at Asia Society Hong Kong Center.
Aaron West is lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament at Asia Lutheran Seminary (HK). He has a M.Div. from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, and a M.A. from the Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies at the University of Wisconsin (Madison), where he is currently writing his Ph.D. dissertation on the ancient text of the Old Testament book of Job.
Glen L. Thompson currently serves as Academic Dean and Professor of New Testament and Historical Theology at Asia Lutheran Seminary (Hong Kong). He earned a M.Div. from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, and M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University in Graeco-Roman History. He has published and lectured extensively on early Christianity and its spread, as well as Christianity in Tang China. His latest book, The Correspondence of Julius I, has just been published by Catholic University of America Press.