Society of Biblical Literature

The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis,[2] is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mission is to "foster biblical scholarship". Membership is open to the public[3] and consists of over 8,300 individuals from over 100 countries.[4] As a scholarly organization, SBL has been a constituent society of the American Council of Learned Societies since 1929.[5]

Society of Biblical Literature
AbbreviationSBL
Formation1880 (1880)
HeadquartersAtlanta, Georgia, US
Membership (2018)
8,324[1]
President
Musa Dube
Executive director
Tat-siong Benny Liew
Websitewww.sbl-site.org
Formerly called
Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis

History

Calvin Stowe, husband of novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe, served as Professor of Biblical Literature at the innovative Lane Seminary—at the time one of the nation's leading seminaries—in the 1830s.[6]

The eight founders of the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis first met to discuss their new society in Philip Schaff's study in New York City in January 1880.[7] In June of that year, the group had its first annual meeting with eighteen people in attendance.[7] The new society drew up a constitution and by-laws and discussed several papers. Membership dues were set at three dollars. By the end of the year, membership had grown to forty-five and publication of the meeting proceedings was in the planning stages.[8] The Journal of Biblical Literature (JBL) was launched the following year.[9] The SBL was not the first association dedicated to biblical studies in North America, but it was the first that was interdenominational.[10] The thirty-two founding members of SBL in 1880 even included a Unitarian, Ezra Abbott.[11] The society's development was contemporary with increasing interest in Ancient Near East studies.[12]

The society shortened its name to Society of Biblical Literature in 1962.[13]

Publications

The Society of Biblical Literature has published the flagship Journal of Biblical Literature since 1881. Additionally, it publishes the Review of Biblical Literature. It publishes literature under the imprint SBL Press.[14]

The SBL Handbook of Style is a style manual specifically for the fields of ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and early Christian studies. The SBL Handbook of Style includes recommended standard formats for the abbreviation of primary sources.[15] The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.) refers writers to The SBL Handbook "for authoritative guidance".[16] The "Student Supplement" is downloadable, and also contains recommendations for transliteration standards.[17]

In 2011, the society was awarded a $300,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to produce Bible Odyssey, "an interactive website that brings nonsectarian biblical scholarship to the general public".[18][19]

In 2016, the Society of Biblical Literature published a jobs report in conjunction with the American Academy of Religion that provided employment data from the 2014–15 academic year.[20]

Annual meeting

One of the most important functions of the Society of Biblical Literature is hosting its annual meeting. The annual meeting is hosted in the United States and attended by a majority of SBL members. The meeting includes presentations of research; voting on business matters of the society; workshops and seminars; a vendor floor; and more. The meeting consists of "more than 1,200 academic sessions, and workshops, along with one of the world's largest exhibits of books and digital resources for biblical studies, the Annual Meetings is one of the largest events of the year in the fields of biblical scholarship, religious studies and theology."[21]

Regional and international meetings

In addition to the annual meeting, multiple regional and an international meetings are held each year. Regional meetings consist of scholars in a geographic area within North America who promote biblical scholarship on a local level. Each region is coordinated by a scholar within the region, and regions promote "Regional Scholars" to recognize outstanding scholars in the area. Society of Biblical Literature regions include the Central States, Eastern Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, New England & Eastern Canada, Pacific Coast, Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountains & Great Plains, Southeastern, Southwestern, and Upper Midwest.[22]

The International Meeting is held annually in a location outside of North America specifically for scholars outside the US.

Presidents

Administrative officers

Secretary

  • 1880–1883 Frederic Gardiner[29]
  • 1883–1889 Hinckley G. Mitchell[29]

Recording Secretary

Executive Secretary

Executive Director

  • 1987–1995 David Lull[29]
  • 1995–2010 Kent Harold Richards[29]
  • 2010–2022 John F. Kutsko[29]
  • 2022–present Tat-siong Benny Liew[29]

References

Footnotes
  1. "2019 SBL Membership Data" (PDF). Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature. 2019. pp. 1–2. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  2. Cutter 2004, p. 102.
  3. "Membership". Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  4. "2019 SBL Membership Data" (PDF). Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature. 2019. pp. 2, 9. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  5. SBL @ American Council of Learned Societies official site.
  6. Stowe, C.E. (1835). Introduction to the criticism and interpretation of the Bible : designed for the use of theological students, bible classes, and high schools. Only vol. 1 published. Cincinnati: Corey, Fairbank & Webster.
  7. "Proceedings of the First Meeting of the Society, New York, June 4, 1880". Journal of Biblical Literature. 50 (1): xxiv–xxxviii. April 1, 1931. doi:10.2307/3259309. ISSN 0021-9231. JSTOR 3259309. S2CID 248213274.
  8. "Proceedings of the Second Meeting of the Society, New York, December 30, 1880". Journal of Biblical Literature. 50 (1): xxxix–xlix. April 1, 1931. doi:10.2307/3259310. ISSN 0021-9231. JSTOR 3259310. S2CID 248208118.
  9. Saunders 1982.
  10. Collins 2010, p. 68.
  11. Hughes 1988, p. 90.
  12. Smith 1912, p. 239.
  13. Knight 2015, p. 229.
  14. "SBL Publications". www.sbl-site.org.
  15. Society of Biblical Literature 2014.
  16. The Chicago Manual of Style 2010, sections 10.45, 14.252.
  17. Nogalski et al. 2015.
  18. "NEH gov April 2011 grants State by State" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 12, 2011.
  19. "Bible Odyssey". www.bibleodyssey.org.
  20. Society of Biblical Literature; American Academy of Religion (2016). "Job Advertisement Data, 2014–2015" (PDF). Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  21. "SBL Meetings and Events". www.sbl-site.org. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  22. "SBL Meetings and Events". www.sbl-site.org. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  23. Attridge & VanderKam 2006, p. 343.
  24. Attridge & VanderKam 2006, p. 345.
  25. Attridge & VanderKam 2006, p. 346.
  26. Attridge & VanderKam 2006, p. 347.
  27. Attridge & VanderKam 2006, p. 348.
  28. Attridge & VanderKam 2006, p. 349.
  29. "SBL Administrative Officers" (PDF). Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature. Retrieved April 17, 2020.

Bibliography
  • Attridge, Harold W.; VanderKam, James C., eds. (2006). Presidential Voices: The Society of Biblical Literature in the Twentieth Century. SBL Biblical Scholarship in North America. Vol. 22. Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 978-1-58983-259-6.
  • The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2010. ISBN 978-0-226-10420-1.
  • Collins, John J. (2010). "Faith, Scholarship, and the Society of Biblical Literature". In Ames, Frank Ritchel; Miller, Charles William (eds.). Foster Biblical Scholarship: Essays in Honor of Kent Harold Richards. SBL Biblical Scholarship in North America. Vol. 24. Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature. pp. 65–81. ISBN 978-1-58983-534-4.
  • Cutter, Charles (2004). Judaica Reference Sources. Littleton, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 978-1-59158-133-8.
  • Hughes, Richard T. (1988). The American Quest for the Primitive Church. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
  • Knight, Douglas A. (2015). "Studies in the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament in the Americas of the Twentieth Century". In Sæbø, Magne (ed.). Hebrew Bible / Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation. Volume III: From Modernism to Post-Modernism. Part II: The Twentieth Century. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. pp. 221–252. doi:10.13109/9783666540226.221. ISBN 978-3-666-54022-6.
  • Nogalski, Melanie Greer; Nogalski, James D.; Steibel, Sophia G.; West, Danny M. (2015). LeMon, Joel M.; Breed, Brennan W. (eds.). "Student Supplement for The SBL Handbook of Style" (PDF) (2nd ed.). Atlanta, Georgia: SBL Press. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  • Saunders, Ernest W. (1982). Searching the Scriptures: A History of the Society of Biblical Literature, 1880–1980. SBL Biblical Scholarship in North America. Vol. 8. Chico, California: Scholars Press. ISBN 978-0-89130-591-0.
  • Society of Biblical Literature (2014). The SBL Handbook of Style (2nd ed.). Atlanta, Georgia: SBL Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
  • Smith, Henry Preserved (1912). "Thirty Years of Biblical Study". The Biblical World. 39 (4): 235–242. doi:10.1086/474576. ISSN 0190-3578. JSTOR 3141862.
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