Harland wins F.W. Beare Award

Another one from my catch-up file, going back a couple of weeks. Congratulations to Philip Harland, author of the fine web site on Associations, Synagogues and Congregations, who receives this award for the book of the same name. This press-release is from Fortress Press:

Harland wins F.W. Beare Award from Canadian Society of Biblical Studies

MINNEAPOLIS (July 7, 2004) Fortress Press is happy to announce that Philip A. Harland’s book, Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society, was awarded the 2004 Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (CSBS) F.W. Beare Award during the Annual CSBS Dinner, held on May 30th as part of the Society’s Annual Meeting in Winnipeg.

The F.W. Beare Award is offered annually by the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies in recognition of an outstanding book in the areas of Christian Origins, Post-Biblical Judaism and/or Graeco-Roman Religions written by a member of the CSBS and published during the previous two years. The Award is determined by a panel of judges drawn from members of the Society with a publishing record in at least one of the areas covered by the Award.

“A groundbreaking study. Harland’s focus on associations in Roman antiquity as a way better to understand civic social life and the social sensibilities of those involved in such associations sets the stage for a reconsideration of the place of ancient Christianities and Judaisms in the Roman order. What emerges is a realistic picture of the ancient Christian associations of Asia Minor that produced such texts as 1 Peter, the Apocalypse of John, and the Pastoral Epistles. This new picture emphasized the concrete, day-to-day ways in which ancient Christians did claim a place for themselves within the empire, and soundly dismisses conceptualizations of Christianity as an isolated sect. This is an indispensable step toward re-imagining ancient civic life, ancient religion, and the origins of Christianity as well.”

-—William Arnal, University of Regina, Saskatchewan

This award has been established in honor of Francis (Frank) Wright Beare, one of Canada’s most renowned New Testament scholars. He was born in Toronto in 1902, studied in Toronto, Paris and Cairo, and taught at the Presbyterian College in Montreal (1933-46) and Trinity College in Toronto (1946-68). He participated actively in the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies and was named President of the Society in 1942; he was also President of the Society of Biblical Literature in 1969.

The Canadian Society of Biblical Studies is the oldest humanities academic society in Canada. The Society provides a meeting place for those interested in all aspects of the academic study of the Bible — Hebrew Bible, Septuagint, New Testament — in its literary and historical context.

Philip A. Harland is Assistant Professor of Christian Origins in the Religion Department at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.

Format: 272 pp. 6 x 9" paper 4-color cover

ISBN: 0-8006-3589-2

Price: $22.00 Publication Date: May 2003

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To order Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations please call Fortress Press at 1-800-328-4648 or visit the web site at www.fortresspress.com. To request review copies or exam copies please visit the website at www.fortresspress.com, click on “Contact Us” and follow prompts for requesting review copies or exam copies or call 1-800-426-0115 ext. 234. For interviews, speaking engagements, and writing assignments please call 1-800-426-0115 ext. 234 or email toddb@augsburgfortress.org.

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