PSCO |
Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins
an Interdisciplinary Humanities Seminar |
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Who We AreThe PSCO is a colloquium on the origins and development of early Christianity. The seminar has met about five times per year since its inception in 1963. Sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania, its active membership includes teachers and research scholars in the study of early Judaism and early Christianity from a variety of institutions of higher learning in Philadelphia and the surrounding area. The usual format of the seminar is a presentation of up to an hour in length by an invited speaker followed by extensive discussion with members of the seminar. The seminar has been a valuable forum. It has produced two published volumes: the English edition of W. Bauer, Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1971); and S. Benko and J. J. O'Rourke, eds., The Catacombs and the Colosseum (Valley Forge: Judson, 1971), also published as Early Church History (London: Oliphants, 1972). Also, Evolution of the Synagogue: Problems and Progress, edited by Howard Clark Kee and Lynn Cohick (Harrisburg, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 1999) contains edited versions of presentations originally made in the Seminar. Our electronic archives provide the minutes for several of the sessions. Bob Kraft, one of the co-founders, has written a brief history of the seminar. |