SOTS at 100: Centennial Essays of the Society for Old Testament Study
2018; Eisenbrauns; Volume: 28; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.5325/bullbiblrese.28.2.0308
ISSN2576-0998
Autores ResumoThis volume is a fascinating contribution to OT scholarship that offers a tribute to the work of the Society of Old Testament Studies (SOTS) over the past century. SOTS may be less familiar to those outside Great Britain, but OT scholars the world over will be acquainted with many of its members, past and present. Some former presidents include, for example, G. R. Driver (1937–38), J. Weingreen (1961), F. F. Bruce (1965), J. Barr (1973), and B. Lindars (1986). SOTS was founded in London in 1917 with a stated goal of “promoting Old Testament studies in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland,” primarily by means of regular meetings and commissioning publications (p. vii). It is the activity of this society over its first century of existence that this volume surveys, while casting an eye toward the next century. The volume’s contributors are all long-standing officers of the society with a combined time of more than 60 years’ service.The first essay, by Ronald Clements, discusses the conditions that led to the foundation of SOTS, tracing interest in a society for OT scholars as far back as the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt in 1798 (p. 1). Clements surveys the cultural background in Great Britain and the political context leading up to World War I. He also examines the influence of increasing Jewish immigration and greater access to the Middle East in relation to church education and OT scholarship, highlighting central figures and issues for SOTS. Eryl Davies then surveys the history of SOTS from its foundation until the present, providing historically oriented discussion of the society’s notable officers and meetings, the latter including details such as their regularity and other logistical matters. SOTS membership structure and election procedures are also treated, along with highlights from SOTS minutes, its international activities, efforts to found a journal and produce a bible translation, various publications, and financial history. Next, John Jarick provides a chronological register of SOTS meetings, officers, publications, and other activities. This chapter is laid out quite literally in timeline form spanning 25 pages, with bullet-point style annotations of relevant information.In the next chapter, David Clines evaluates trends reflected in the 1,448 papers read at 195 SOTS meetings, providing statistics based on the abstracts and related data (p. 97). He shows, for example, that 78% of papers were presented by natives of Great Britain (76% of which are English), although overseas readers are gradually increasing (primarily from the Netherlands and United States). Of all presenters, 88% have been male, although this too is changing. Perhaps most fascinating is his calculation of “the cost to create and deliver and listen to these 1448 SOTS papers” (p. 109). His conclusion: £9,461 per paper (p. 111). Adrian Curtis then surveys certain publications associated with SOTS, focusing on five volumes that overview aspects of OT scholarship, published sequentially through the 20th century. Each provides “a window on to its own time,” although Curtis also discusses several other books along the way (p. 116). This survey helps demonstrate the movement of OT scholarship in the past century and the achievements of SOTS in making scholarship more widely accessible.The sixth chapter, by Katharine Dell, considers aspects of OT scholarship in light of SOTS membership statistics and surveys. She first recounts the early membership in meeting-by-meeting form up through 1950. Dell then moves to a more statistical approach, using charts to survey membership in terms of geography and in light of a 2015 membership questionnaire covering age, gender, membership duration, publications, and so on, and contrasting answers with previous similar member surveys. This chapter shows how SOTS, while traditional in many ways, is simultaneously collegial and accessible. Finally, Paul Joyce considers the prospects of SOTS in the future, particularly in light of the society’s values to be free from “confessional restrictions” as well as aiming to be “outward-looking and inclusive” (p. 160). He evaluates the ways in which SOTS has or has not changed in terms of diversity and inclusion of gender and sexuality, Judaism, secularity, and international scholarship. On virtually all points, Joyce sees room for improvement and highlights the benefits of a more global and readerly orientation to the OT.Although some might discount this volume owing to its apparently narrow subject matter, it does offer valuable insights. First, the material discussing the history of SOTS will prove useful to the extent that it highlights the development of OT scholarship in general. Understanding the OT entails understanding OT scholarship, and Jarick et al. have provided an excellent resource for gaining hold of its development in Great Britain, no insignificant region within the world of OT studies. Second, this collection of essays contains many incisive observations about the state of the discipline today, not least of all the reflections on how the academy is changing (or needs to change) demographically and methodologically.It is difficult to critique a volume such as this, since it is concerned not with mounting scholarly arguments per se but rather with documenting history. One does feel certain ideological pressures in the essays, particularly where various changes in OT scholarship are praised as positive developments, while some might evaluate them differently. Such features are, however, difficult to avoid and in fact give a sense of the current intellectual milieu of OT scholarship in Great Britain. As is clear in these essays, SOTS has played a pivotal role in advancing scholarly study of the Bible, and that process will always be marked by controversies of various kinds. Notably, however, a glance at the SOTS webpage listing past presidents (https://sots1917.org/past-presidents/) reveals no fewer than 53 ordained ministers (see also pp. 163–64). Among other things that characterize SOTS, then, members of IBR will no doubt appreciate the long-standing precedent for the integration of rigorous OT scholarship with Christian faith.
Referência(s)