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2026 Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting

Friday, March 13, 2026 at 6:15 PM (EDT) to Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 10:00 PM (EDT)
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Villanova University: Ithan Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085

  • Friday night's events will be held in Driscoll Hall (#29)
  • Saturday's events will be held in Bartley Hall (#28)
  • Parking is at M-2 lot 

Virtual Campus Map      Campus Map (PDF)

Registration Options

Credits Price
In-Person Registration
Fee includes full participation in the event, meals, and the Friday and Saturday receptions. Registration Ended 3/14/26 at 9:00 AM EDT
$40.00
Graduate Student In-Person Participant
Fee includes full participation in the event, meals, and the Friday and Saturday receptions. Registration Ended 3/14/26 at 9:00 AM EDT
$20.00
Virtual Registration
Fee includes full participation in the event via Zoom. Non-transferable. Registration Ended 3/11/26 at 11:59 PM EDT
$15.00

Agenda

March 13
6:15 PM - 6:25 PM Welcome * Archie T. Wright (CBA Executive Director)
* Kevin L. Hughes (Chair, Theology & Religious Studies at Villanova University)
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM Keynote: "A Charge to Keep: Covenant Theology, the Rule of Law, and Fidelity" Byron D. Wratee (Villanova University) 

Respondents: 
Andre Price (United Lutheran Seminary)
Leslie Virnelson (United Lutheran Seminary)

Abstract:
This paper explores the parallels between Jon Levenson’s covenant theology and Ronald Dworkin’s philosophy of law. Ultimately, the paper concludes that covenantal fidelity, rather than mere sovereignty or efficiency, is the hallmark of the rule of law.
8:00 PM - 9:30 PM Reception
March 14
7:45 AM - 8:30 AM Breakfast
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Major Paper Presentation Mark Smith (Helena Professor of Old Testament Literature and Exegesis, Princeton Theological Seminary), "Double Selves and Genres: The Case of Psalms 42-43"
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM Paper Session 1 * Helen Buckwalter (University of Virgina), "A Weeping God: the Theological Development of Divine Mourning in MT and LXX Jeremiah"

*MaryKristel Nwuba, D.D.L. (Pontifex University), "Unveiling the Mystery of the Divine Name: YHWH in the Heart of Israel's Covenant and Worship"
11:00 AM - 11:15 AM Coffee Break
11:15 AM - 12:45 PM Paper Session 2 * Jon Ahn (Howard University), "How Late is the Book of Numbers: Chapters 16-17 Are Telling"

* Christopher Moriconi (Catholic University of America), "Sir 15:11–20 and Sir 22:27(33)–23:6: A Comparative and Reception Exegetical Study
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM Lunch - Dougherty Hall
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM Major Paper Presentation Matthew Novenson (Helen H. P. Manson Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary), "Apokatastasis in the Letters of Paul?"
2:45 PM - 4:15 PM Paper Session 3 * Paul Danove (Villanova University), "Jesus’s Procedure for Deducing What Is/Is Not Permitted (ἔξεστιν) in the Gospel of Mark"

* Kim Gunter (Villanova University), “Demons, Dogs and a Daughter – How a Slave Woman Defied the Rules to Corner Jesus into Healing Her Child”
4:15 PM - 4:30 PM Coffee Break
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM Paper Session 4 * Lisa Deak (Villanova University), “God's Impartiality”

* James Garcia (Villanova University), “Two Swords: The Gospels in Just War Theory”
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM Dinner (on your own)
7:30 PM - 8:30 PM Keynote Lecture Peter Enns (Eastern University), "Scripture in a Loud World: Authority, Humility, and the Bible in Public Life"

Abstract: The deepest problem with how the Bible functions in contemporary culture is not that people misunderstand, or particular passages—but that we have lost our sense of what the Bible is, what kind of authority it exercises, and what sort of posture it invites from its readers. This is where critical scholarship is not the problem—but part of the solution.
8:30 PM - 10:00 PM Reception

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