Memberships in Learned Societies

• Uppsala exegetiska sällskap/Svenska exegetiska sällskapet  1990-
• Society of Biblical Literature      2001-
• Canadian Society for Biblical Studies   2004-
• Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas     2006-

Co-chair of SNTS seminar Social History and the New Testament (approved from 2010-1013). Together with Professor Hermut Löhr, University of Münster, and Professor Markus Öhler, University of Vienna. etfnt.univie.ac.at/snts-seminar

Topics to be treated: Slavery (2010, presenters: Werner Eck, “Sklaven und Freigelassene von Römern in Iudaea und den angrenzenden Provinzen”; Albert Harrill, “The Psychology of Slaves in the Gospel Parables: A Case Study in Social History”; Hermut Löhr, “The Status of Slaves in Christian Communities at the End of the First and the Beginning of the Second Century C.E.”). Voluntary Associations (2011), Economy (2012), Ethnic Identity (2013).

Other Conference Organisation
Religionsteologi och Religionsdialog i Sverige idag [Theologies of Religion and Religious Dialogue in Sweden Today]. A one-day conference on religious dialogue (Christianity, Islam and Buddhism). An event sponsored by the Institute for Contextual Theology, Lund November 1999.

Mark and Matthew – Texts and Contexts. Two international conferences for the study of gospel literature in comparative perspective, taking place over two consecutive years in Aarhus, Denmark, 2008 and Hamilton, Canada, 2009. Co-organised with Prof. Eve-Marie Becker, Aarhus University. The first conference in July 2008 focussed on the gospels in their first century historical contexts. The second conference at McMaster concentrates on the same gospels in hermeneutical, reception-historical, and theological perspective. Contributors: Janice Capel Anderson, Barbara Aland, David E. Aune, Wayne Baxter, Eve-Marie Becker, Warren Carter, Adela Yarbro Collins, Sean Freyne, Morten Hørning Jensen, John Kloppenborg, Michael Knowles, Mogens Müller, Todd Penner, Karla Pollmann, Stanley E. Porter, Anders Runesson, Lorenzo Scornaienchi, Fernando Segovia, Caroline Vander Stichele, Joseph Verheyden, Tommy Wasserman, Stephen Westerholm, Peter Widdicombe, Oda Wischmeyer, Linden Youngquist. The conference proceedings will be published by Mohr Siebeck (WUNT).

Conference Presentations

a) Invited

• “Persian Imperial Politics, the Beginnings of Public Torah Readings, and the Origins of the Synagogue.” Paper presented at the international conference The Ancient Synagogue: From the Beginning to About 200 ce, Lund University. Lund, October 14-17 2001.

• “From Integration to Alienation: Archaeology as Text and the Analysis of Early Diaspora Judaism.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of Collegium Biblicum, Copenhagen University. Copenhagen, January 2002.

• Response to paper by Agnes Choi, “The Travelling peasant and Urban-Rural Relations in Roman Galilee.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies. London, ON, May 2005.

• “From Where to What? Common Judaism, Pharisees, and the Changing Socio-Religious Location of the Matthean Community.” Paper presented at the Calgary Conference in honour of E.P. Sanders: Common Judaism Explored. Second Temple Judaism in Context. Calgary, May 16-17, 2005.

• “Re-thinking the ‘Parting of the Ways Between Judaism and Christianity’: The Case of Matthew.” Paper presented at Lund University. Sweden, June 8, 2005.

• “Reading Torah or Offering Sacrifices? On Worshipping the God of Israel in the Diaspora.” Paper presented at a joint colloquium on Hellenistic Judaism by the Department of Religious Studies and the Classics Department, McMaster University. Hamilton, September 27, 2005.

• Presentation/discussion of Susan Haber’s study “Going up to Jerusalem: Purity, Pilgrimage, and the Historical Jesus.” Paper presented/discussed at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies. Toronto, May 2006.

• Runesson, Anders. “Disaster, Sin, and Salvation: The Politics of Text in Matthean Community Building.” Paper presented at Mark and Matthew. Texts and Contexts I: The First Gospels in the First Century Settings. An International Conference at Aarhus University, Denmark, July 25-26, 2008. Conveners: Eve-Marie Becker and Anders Runesson.

• Runesson, Anders. “Aspects of Ethnicity, Politics, and Gender in Early Christian Theology and Mission.” A Response to paper by Paul Trebilco, “’Global’ and ‘Local’ in the New Testament and in Earliest Christianity.” Response presented at the SNTS conference, Seminar 15 History and Theology of Mission in the New Testament: Global Challenges and Opportunities. Lund, July 29 - August 2, 2008.

• Runesson, Anders. “Was there a Christian Mission Before the Fourth Century? Problematizing Common Ideas About Early Christianity and the Origins of Modern Mission.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the SNTS, Seminar 12 History and Theology of Mission in the New Testament: Global Challenges and Opportunities. Vienna, August 4 - 8, 2009.

• Runesson, Anders. “Judging the Theological Tree by its Fruit: The Use of the Gospels of Mark and Matthew in Official Church Documents on Jewish – Christian Relations” Paper to be presented at Mark and Matthew. Texts and Contexts II: Hermeneutics, Reception History, Theology. An International Conference at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, November 17-18, 2009. Conveners: Eve-Marie Becker and Anders Runesson.

• Runesson, Anders. “Att veta eller inte veta? Kunskapens roll i Nytestamentlig frälsningsteologi.” [“To Know or Not to Know? New Testament Perspectives on the Role of Knowledge in Theologies of Salvation.”] One of the main papers to be presented at the Nordic Patristic Conference Sôteria och Gnôsis - frälsning och kunskap i den tidiga kyrkan [Soteria and Gnosis – Salvation and Knowledge in the Early Church. Lund University. Lund, Sweden, August 18-21, 2010.

• Runesson, Anders. “Giving Birth to Jesus in the Late First Century: Matthew as Midwife in the Context of Colonisation.” Paper to be presented at Infancy Gospels: Stories and Identities. An International Conference at the University of Lausanne. Lausanne, Switzerland, September 30 - October 2, 2010. Conveners: Claire Clivaz and Sabrina Onowlocki-Meister.

b) Contributed

• “The Origins of the Synagogue: A Socio-Historical Study” and “The Synagogue at Ostia: The Building and Its History From the First to the Fifth Century.” Posters presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. Denver, November, 2001.

• “The Origins of the Synagogue in Past and Present Research: Some Comments on Definitions, Theories, and Sources.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. Toronto, November 2002.

• “Divine Judgment in the First Gospel and the Religio-Ethnic Identity of the Matthean Community.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. San Antonio, TX, November 2004.

• “Architecture, Conflict, and Identity Formation: Jews and Christians in Capernaum From the 1st to the 6th Century.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. Philadelphia, November 2005.

• “Re-Thinking the ’Parting(s) of the Ways Between Judaism and Christianity’: Categories, Terminology, Procedure.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. Philadelphia, November 2005.

c) Guest Lectures

• “The Origins of the Synagogue,” Guest Lecture at Dharmaram College, Bangalore India, February 2003.

• “Praktisk sanning och svenskkyrklig religionsteologi” (“Praxis-oriented Definitions of Truth and the Theology of Religions of the Church of Sweden”), given at the Swedish Theological Institute, Jerusalem, May 2003.

• "The Sermon on the Mount in Theory and Practice”, guest lecture in Theory and Practice of Non-Violence, McMaster