IAS Lecture. Secrecy in Second Temple Judaism
Guest Lecturer: Prof. Gabriella Gelardini, Norway
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF SECRECY IN TIMES OF CRISIS?
The Institute of Advanced Studies invites everyone interested to the lecture by Prof. Dr. theol. Gabriella Gelardini, VDM, Professor for Christianity, Religion, Worldview, and Ethics (KRLE), Nord University, Norway.
Professor Gabriella Gelardini is visiting Tel Aviv University as an IAS Distinguished Scholar.
Prof. Gabriella Gelardini will talk about Secrecy in Second Temple Judaism — Reading Mark’s Messianic Secret with Georg Simmel at the Faculty of Humanities.
This lecture investigates secrecy as a socio religious and historiographical force within the wider textual world of Second Temple Judaism. It adopts the now increasingly influential view that the New Testament—including the Gospel of Mark — belongs within the Jewish literary and intellectual landscape of the late Second Temple period. Drawing on Georg Simmel’s Sociology of Secrecy, the lecture explores secrecy as a mode of social organization and a strategy for managing volatile or dangerous knowledge. Against this same backdrop, Mark’s so called “messianic secret” is reconsidered.
When: May 27, 2026 | 12:00
Where: Webb School for Languages, Room 401
Light refreshments will be served before the lecture.
The lecture will be conducted in English and is open to the public.
About the Lecturer:
Professor Gabriella Gelardini is Professor of Christianity, Religion, Worldview, and Ethics at Nord University, Norway. An internationally recognized scholar of the New Testament, her research focuses on the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Gospel of Mark, and early Judaism in Greco-Roman contexts. She received her doctoral training at the University of Basel and has held research positions at leading international institutions, including Harvard University. She has published widely and is actively involved in the international academic community.
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