"A state defending itself against invasion is not engaging in brinkmanship by surviving. There is a moral difference between initiating force and resisting it. If that distinction collapses, so does international law." Peter Bach, www.counterpunch.org/2026/02/25/i...

Call for papers for the 21–24 November 2026 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Denver, CO, USA.

Call for papers for the Greco- Roman Religions Section for the November Annual Meeting of the SBL:

Munich 1938 all over. Appeasement ... and we know how that story ended. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/w...

More on the recent US actions in Venezuela from the editors of Commonweal, the magazine for social commentary in the Catholic tradition: www.commonwealmagazine.org/editorial-ve...

Alongside Chris Hedges's essay, "America the Rogue State," read Peter Swanepoel's sober assessment of the application of "outcome-based morality" with respect to Venezuela as a harbinger of greater crises to come in our increasingly dysfunctional world: dailyfriend.co.za/2026/01/07/v...

The newest issue of Religion and Theology is out: vol 32, no. 3--4 (2025). Attached the contents page of the newest issue plus the index of the whole volume [issues 1--2 and 3--4]. Check it out at www.brill.com/rt

Sessions of the Greco-Roman Religions Section at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature 22--25 November 2025 in Boston:

Apocalyptic reading with a kind of almost sliver of a silver lining at the end.. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

The newest issue of Religion & Theology 32, no. 1&2 (2025), just out ...

A discussion on scholarly journal editorship I am involved with - Keyan Tomaselli on the implications of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa [ASSAf] Statement on the Recognition of Editors and Peer Reviewers, and the whole scholarly value chain in academic publishing. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Julie Schumacher Cohen, 28 May 2025: "We can grieve the Holocaust as an unfathomable act of human cruelty and mourn the way in which a people not responsible for it—the Palestinians—continue to bear an undue burden from its legacy." www.commonwealmagazine.org/gaza-israel-...

New Testament Society of Southern Africa Supplement Virtual Conference 15 May 2025 The virtual conference will be held via Zoom online. us02web.zoom.us/j/3247885838... Meeting ID: 324 788 5838 Passcode: 730170

A lot of pep-talking for the coming fightback is taking place, and this one adds another bit to the programme needed: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The madness creep spilling over the border, as reported in the Toronto Star: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Towards a new civic morality: jacobin.com/2025/04/mele...

"Although he had a conservative reputation in his earlier years, Pope Francis used his role as a world religious leader to campaign against poverty and social oppression, directly challenging the appropriation of Christianity by figures like J. D. Vance." jacobin.com/2025/04/pope...

On the late Pope Francis who made migrants and immigrants a focus of his papacy: www.democracynow.org/2025/4/21/po...

And another report on the passing of Pope Francis: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a... Though not a John XXIII, I have read some of his pastoral letters and encyclicals, and I have been impressed by his social vision. I could think with them with my students.

Whatever you think of the institution, I did find him an inspirational figure www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news...

Photo of conference attendees at the just past annual meeting of the New Testament Society of Southern Africa, 31 March to 4 April. The keynote speakers stand in the front row; I am behind Lily Nortjé Meyer, the current honorary president of the Society, in front.

Thom Hartmann in Alternet: "Democracy doesn’t 'die in darkness.' It dies when truth becomes a crime and silence becomes survival." www.alternet.org/alternet-exc...

On the other side of the world, from the margins, this is how African commentators look at events in the Global North ... www.trt.global/afrika-engli...

The dispute centred on raising taxes [e.g. slight raise in VAT] as well as different visions on how to stimulate a moribund economy. But both the ANC and DA act as if they are still in May 2024 country, not really adapted to the new political reality. Adults in the room needed urgently.

Amidst all the Trump-caused turmoil in the world, South Africa is also on knife's edge: After the elections of May 2024 the ANC was forced into a really grand 'coalition' they called a Government of National Unity. Now the two biggest parties are at loggerheads because of a budget dispute.

With the keynote speakers at the just past annual meeting of the New Testament Society of Southern Africa: from left to right - Markus Vinzent, Judith Lieu, Zana de Wet and Chris de Wet, Annette Potgieter, Paul Robertson, and myself.

The 60th annual meeting of the New Testament Society of Southern Africa has just concluded. At the business meeting, colleague Pieter Botha and I [we both retired December 2022] were voted as honorary presidents of the Society for 2026 and 2027 respectively. A great honour.

On many fronts academics are feeling their way through dark times: aarweb.org/news/religio...

Found this post on FB. What a mismatch: ostensibly a post with picture on WWII artifacts, but posted by ... Food recipes [??!!]

More background commentary on the US-SA diplomatic row, from an ex-US diplomat: www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025...

To think about when considering attending the Annual Meetings of the SBL/AAR: From Robert Reich www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...?

Some perspective: www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/...

The speech by Ebrahim Rasool, SA ambassador to the USA, at the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Analysis that caused him to be expelled from the USA. Judge for yourself if this was anywhere revolutionary: groundup.org.za/article/amba...

Announcing the final programme for the upcoming annual meeting of the New Testament Society of Southern Africa. Chris de Wet [UP] and I are co-chairs of the Early Christian Studies subgroup responsible for the main theme: The Long Second Century and the Renegotiation of a Scriptural Universe.