Pisteuomen - πιστευομεν - T. Michael W. Halcomb

I just wanted to remind folks of the call for papers for this year's "Mark's Gospel in Mediterranean Context" meeting, which will take place at the annual SCJC.  We still have a couple of open spots for papers, so, if you or anyone you know might be interested in submitting a title + abstract, please, forward this link or flyer on to them.  

In addition to a number of papers & presentations set for my 2010 speaking schedule, another recent paper was accepted for the 5th Annual Western Fellowship of Professors & Scholars at Manhattan Christian College. The title of my paper is "An Exploration into the Aramaisms of Mark's 'Strange' Gospel". I'm looking forward to the conference and my first trip to Kansas! You can see other speaking engagements by clicking the "Speaking Schedule" link above.

Here's the list (so far...I have two more opportunities lined up but which have not been solidified just yet) of papers, presentations, etc. I'm giving or participating in this year: 02.13.10 : Valparaiso University - Midwest Region SBL: “All Things to All People: Rethinking the Social Context of a Pauline Axiom” 03.22.10 : Asbury Theological Seminary – Biblical Studies Seminar: “1 Cor. 9.19-23: A Different Point-of-View” 04.08.10 : Richfield, OH – Eastern Great Lakes Bible Society: 1) “A Martyr’s Praise: A Socio-Rhetorical Reading of Ignatius’ Letter to the Philadelphians” 2) “Getting Your First Publication: From One Student to Another” (Also chairing the panel for this session) 04.09 - 10.10 : Cincinnati Christian University – Stone-Campbell Journal Conference: 1) “Rethinking Jesus' Death: Mark's Narrative in Mediterranean Context” (Also chairing the panel for this session) 2) “An Exploration into the Aramaisms of Mark's 'Strange' Gospel...

So, I've ended up taking a month long hiatus that was never intended but somehow, things just worked out that way. I hope to be back in the swing of things posting again now and I'm grateful to Brian Fulthorp for giving me the impetus to do that. He asked if I'd share some thoughts on writing an abstract / paper proposal, so, what follows is exactly that. Let me know your thoughts! ----- Believe it or not, writing an abstract for a paper proposal can be an intimidating thing. The trick is to basically encapsulate the thrust of your paper in just a few, catchy sentences; you want to write something that will pique the interests of readers…even if they’re not particularly interested in your area of study. By no means am I yet an expert at doing this. In fact, I’ve only presented about 6 or 7 papers at conferences at this point. However, I was asked to share a few thoughts on the matter, so, I’ll gladly do that here. I’ll use a few examples of abstracts / proposals that I’...

This weekend I'll be attending the Stone-Campbell Journal Conference where I'm giving a paper titled "Why Jesus Was Baptized: Immersed in Mark's Story & Culture". Here are the schedule and titles of other papers that others are giving, some of them look really interesting! (You may need to use your browser controls to zoom in for reading)