Spring 2003/Pasadena
OT504
Goldingay

OT504: WRITINGS (SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS ONLY). John Goldingay.


DESCRIPTION:

The course covers the books in the third section of the Hebrew scriptures: Psalms, Job, Proverbs, the Scrolls (Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations, and Esther), Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles. (This section of OT504 is open for enrollment only to first-year School of Psychology students.)

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY:
By the end of the course students should have:

COURSE FORMAT:
The course meets for two hours twice a week for ten weeks. Each class combines lecture and plenary discussion with work in groups of four or five; the course includes some dramatized reading, creative writing, and listening to recorded material. Classes require substantial preparation on the part of students, on average one hour of preparation for each class hour, including study of the biblical text and other reading which is specified. The course emphasizes collaborative learning and students need to be willing to be committed to working together with other students.

REQUIRED READING:
Students do not need to possess any books except an NRSV and a copy of the course reader.
Students should obtain the Course Reader before the course starts.

RECOMMENDED READING:
Brenner, A. (ed.). A Feminist Companion to the Wisdom Literature, A Feminist Companion to the Song of Songs, A Feminist Companion to Ruth, and A Feminist Companion to Esther, Judith, and Susanna. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995, 1993, 1993, and 1995.

Brueggemann, W. The Message of the Psalms. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1984.

______. The Psalms and the Life of Faith. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995.

Crenshaw, J. Old Testament Wisdom. Atlanta: Knox, 1981/London: SCM, 1982; rev. ed., 1999.

Gunn, D., and D. N. Fewell. Narrative in the Hebrew Bible. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Kidner, D. The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1985 (= Wisdom to Live By. Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 1985).

ASSIGNMENTS:
  1. Students submit preparation notes at each class (50%).

  2. One 20-page paper (or two short papers) (50%).

PREREQUISITES: Permission of advisor--first-year School of Psychology students.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets M. Div. core requirement in Old Testament "c" (OTC).

FINAL EXAMINATION:
There is an exam for students who miss more than one lecture. The mark is then combined with that for the files of preparation notes.