Academic Update: Notes from the Research Desk

 

 

By Clark Bates
January 18, 2021

As it's our goal to keep everyone who reads the blog updated on our life in England, I thought it would be a good idea to occasionally share how things are progressing with my research work at the University.

Clearly, it has been a strange and challenging few months to be attending University in the UK. Since arriving in October, we've experienced 2 lockdowns and various levels of restrictions. I have been fortunate however, in that being a Post Graduate Researcher, many of the restrictions placed on University students haven't applied to me. Although I am currently working from home until mid-February, I normally work in a very nice office on campus. It's currently staffed with myself and three other researchers (Andy from Texas, Emanuelle from Sicily, and Jacopo from mainland Italy), as well as our supervisor Dr. Hugh Houghton.

Professor Houghton is an amazing scholar and wonderful supervisor. He has a clear understanding of our research goals and a sincere desire to see all of us succeed. I have regular, monthly meetings with him to share my progress and hear his recommendations, and we all share lunch together in the office and have a regular tea break on Tuesdays. It really is a blessing to be part of this group.

So, what am I doing and how's it going? 

As I tried to explain early on in our planning for this journey, my research would focus on early manuscripts of Ephesians that contained "study notes" from various church fathers up to the 6th and 7th century. It might be funny to think, but in the same way that you might purchase a study Bible in a Christian bookstore today, there were study Bibles as early as 6th century. Most of those don't exist anymore, but we have some that are as old as the 10th century, and my current job is to take the 70 manuscripts of Ephesians that we have and compare them together for similarities in the notes. This is important to identify which manuscripts are likely copies of the others and will help me narrow down how many I will need at the end to make the English translation. Once I've done this, I will start to create my own edition of the study notes and then translate them into English.
 

It's an amazing experience to spend all day looking at the work of Christians form more than 1,000 years ago. The way they wrote and the notes they chose to include have always fascinated me. Sometimes, I'm lucky enough to find a manuscript with painted images in it, while others arrange the notes in creative ways,which also give me clues about how they put the book together. When I look at these texts it's like I'm touching the past and connecting my faith with the faith of the church long ago. While I am currently only analyzing and comparing the Greek writing, I look forward to translating them and considering the theology of each text. In some ways, it's like getting the opportunity to sit at the feet of great teachers that few people have ever heard of.

 

In other news, my American friend Andy and I are working on organizing a conference for next year from an idea that he and I put together over the Christmas break. We will be inviting scholars from all over the world to Birmingham to discuss particular manuscript features of Bibles in all languages. I have made my first presentation of research at a small conference here in Birmingham as well, sharing my research from the time I spent in Phoenix. It went really well and I received very positive feedback. I will also be giving papers at two other conferences this year, but they will not be until the summer. The next project I will be taking on this month involves helping catalogue several old Bible fragments that are housed in the Archives here at the University. I will be handling them personally and recording all the material for a book to be published in the coming years. It's all very exciting for me, and I'm grateful to share it with all of you.

Thank you again for your prayers and support!