Winter 2019/Pasadena

OT551

Crouch

OT551: OLD TESTAMENT ETHICS (4 Units: 160 hours). Carly L. Crouch.

DESCRIPTION: The course is an advanced seminar on the content of Old Testament ethics, on method in the study of Old Testament ethics, and on issues raised by setting the Old Testament in the context of Christian faith and vice versa. Topics for study may include migration, poverty, race and ethnicity, war, colonialism, gendered violence, family and reproduction, and the environment.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students who pass the course will have demonstrated that they have (1) gained an awareness of the ethical significance of different genres in the Old Testament; (2) attained a familiarity with scholarly approaches to the ethical interpretation of the Old Testament; (3) gained an ability to reason through ethical decisions in keeping with critical methods; (4) become familiar with the work of major scholars writing about ethics and the Old Testament; and (5) reflected on the relationships between the ethics of ancient Israel, Old Testament ethics, and New Testament ethics.

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 (including reading of Old Testament texts in Hebrew) plus 10 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours. Professor Crouch will give presentations at the opening and closing classes. Classes in between will include discussion of the ethical implication of specific books in the Old Testament and student presentations on ethical issues in the Old Testament and on key secondary texts.

REQUIRED READING: 975 total pages required.

NRSV, TNIV, or CEB Bible [200 pp. assigned]

Course reader [775 pp.; includes John Barton, M. Daniel Carroll R., Gregory Cuéllar, Herbert Marbury, Ahida Calderón Pilarski, Carol Reeder, Rodney Sadler, Suzanne Scholz, Richard Smith, Gordon Wenham, etc.]

RECOMMENDED READING:

See course syllabus.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. 975 pages of required reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5]. [65 hours].
  2. Ten short reflection papers [1 page / 250 words] (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1-5]. [10 hours].
  3. Two 2,000 word (20 minute) presentations to the class (40%). [This assignment relates to learning outcomes #1-5]. [20 hours].
  4. One 4,000-5,000 word /16-20 page research paper on an issue in the study of Old Testament ethics, written in light of the assigned reading and the classes (50%). [This assignment relates to learning outcomes #1-5] [35 hours].

PREREQUISITES: BI500 (or NE502) and OT500.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Counts as a biblical elective for the 120 MDiv, 80 MAT, and 80 MATM Programs (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.