Hope International University hosted a meeting of the Pacific Coast Region of the Society of Biblical Literature on March 30 and 31. For the second consecutive year, scholars from California, Arizona, Hawaii, and Nevada came to Hope to present and discuss papers regarding a variety of biblical and theological issues. Session categories included the Bible and the Ancient Near East, Judaism in the Greco-Roman world, the Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament.

HIU alumni Jon and Amy Carman presented papers titled “The Falling Star and the Rising Son: Second Temple ‘Satari’ Traditions and Luke 10:17-24” and “Ave Maria: Septuagintal Allusions to the Magnificat,” respectively. HIU Adjunct Professor Jen Buck presented “And Hope Does Not Disappoint Us: Pauline Hope and the Lamb’s War.” In the plenary session Sunday evening, a screening of the film Apocalypse Later: Harold Camping vs. the End of the World was followed by a discussion with filmmaker Zeke Piestrup.