Spring 2017/Pasadena

BI501

An

BI501: THE BIBLE, HERMENEUTICS, AND CHRISTIAN MISSION (4 Units: 160 hours). Keon-Sang An.

DESCRIPTION: This course introduces students to the relationship between biblical interpretation and the theology and practice of Christian mission. Participants will grapple with the importance of mission for reading the Bible and the teaching of the Bible on mission. This will include the missiological orientation of biblical texts, diverse paradigms for missional practice in Scripture, and issues of contextualization as students seek to understand the significance of mission for reading the Bible and for embodying Scripture’s witness in their contexts.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students who successfully complete this course will have demonstrated the ability: (1) to describe the emergence of missiological hermeneutics, including its varieties and major proponents, as a development of biblical hermeneutics; (2) to evaluate recent proposals regarding missiological hermeneutics in light of the historical context of Christian use of the Bible in mission; (3) to explain how the mission of God, as a unifying theme of Scripture, relates to diverse Scriptural paradigms of mission; (4) to apply biblical paradigms of mission to particular mission contexts.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets once per week for three-hour sessions for a total of 30 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion plus 10 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours.

REQUIRED READING: 1,265 pages of required reading.

Barram, Michael. “The Bible, Mission, and Social Location: Toward a Missional Hermeneutic.” Interpretation 61 (2007): 42-58. [17 pp. assigned].

Bauckham, Richard. Bible and Mission: Christian Witness in a Postmodern World. Baker Academic, 2004. ISBN: 978-0801027710, Pub. Price $16.00. [128 pp. assigned].

Bosch, David. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. 2d. ed. Orbis Books, 2011. ISBN: 978-1570759482, Pub. Price $35.00. pp. 15-178. [124 pp. assigned].

Gorman, Michael. Becoming the Gospel: Paul, Participation, and Mission. Eerdmans, 2015. ISBN: 978-0802868848, Pub. Price $28.00. [336 pp. assigned].

Hoggarth, Pauline, Fergus Macdonald, Bill Mitchell, and Knud Jørgensen, eds. Bible in Mission. Wipf and Stock, 2014. ISBN: 978-1498209533, Pub. Price $41.00. Free download: http://www.ocms.ac.uk/regnum/downloads/Bible_in_Mission-Final-WM.pdf [selected essays, including chapters by Antonia Leonora van der Meer, Pamela Wan Yen Choo, and Elsa Támez] [293 pp. assigned].

Hunsberger, George. “Proposals for a Missional Hermeneutic: Mapping a Conversation.” Missiology 39 (2011): 309-321. [13 pp. assigned].

Nissen, Johannes. New Testament and Mission: Historical and Hermeneutical Perspectives. Peter Lang, 2006. ISBN: 978-3631560976, Pub. Price $55.95. [196 pages assigned].

Okoye, James Chukwuma. Israel and the Nations: A Mission Theology of the Old Testament. Orbis Books, 2005. ISBN: 978-1570756542, Pub. Price $28.00. [158 pp. assigned].

RECOMMENDED READING:

Givens, Tommy and James Thompson. “NT Scholars Discuss Missional Hermeneutics.” Missio Dei 5 (2014): 89-101.

Glasser, Arthur F. Announcing the Kingdom: The Story of God's Mission in the Bible. Baker Academic, 2003. ISBN: 978-0801026263, Pub. Price $30.00.

Goheen, Michael W. A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story. Baker Academic, 2011. ISBN: 978-0801031410, Pub. Price $22.99.

Kaiser, Walter C. Jr. Mission in the Old Testament. Baker, 2000. ISBN: 978-0801039973, Pub. Price $18.00.

Kostenberger, Andreas J. Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A Biblical Theology of Mission. Inter-Varsity Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0830826117, Pub. Price $28.00.

Love, Mark. “Missional Interpretation: The Encounter of a Holy God through a Living Text.” Missio Dei 5 (2014): 9-18.

McKinzie, Greg. “Currents in Missional Hermeneutics.” Missio Dei 5 (2014): 19-47.

Missio Dei: A Journal of Missional Theology and Praxis. Special Volume on “Missional Hermeneutics.” Vol 5, Issue 1 (2014). ISBN: 978-1499665826, Pub. Price $25.00. Online: http://missiodeijournal.com/downloads/MD5.1.pdf

Redford, Shawn. Missiological Hermeneutics: Biblical Interpretation for the Global Church. Pickwick, 2012. ISBN: 978-1608994021, Pub. Price $44.00.

Sanneh, Lamin. Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture. Rev. ed. Orbis Books, 2009. ISBN: 978-1570758041, Pub. Price $30.00.

Van Engen, Charles. Mission on the Way: Issues in Mission Theology. Baker, 1996. ISBN: 978-0801020902, Pub. Price $28.00.

Wright, Christopher J. H. The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative. IVP Academic, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830825714, Pub. Price $45.00.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. 1,200 pages of required reading [70 hours].

  2. A critical analysis of at least three recent proposals for missiological hermeneutics in conversation with work on the historical use of the Bible in Christian mission (ca. 2500 words; 20%). (This assignment is related to learning outcome #1 and #2) [15 hours].

  3. A Moodle journal in which students will post weekly reflections on the following biblical texts in dialogue with their course readings, focusing specifically on how the mission of God as a unifying theme and the diverse scriptural paradigms for mission related to the selected biblical texts (ca. 500 words per week for 10 weeks; 30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [15 hours].

  1. A final integrative project that requires students to analyze and reflect on (1) their own missional community; (2) the missional situation of that community; (3) specific biblical texts that might inform practices of mission for that community; and (4) practical ways of conceiving of and participating in mission for that community based on engagement with Scripture (ca. 6000-8000 words; 50%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3 and 4]. [30 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets a core requirement in the 80 MAICS Program (Fall 2015).

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.


NOTE: This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. Textbook prices are set by publishers and are subject to change.

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