DESCRIPTION:

This seminar will study selected texts of Scripture from an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing on the biblical, historical, and theological disciplines. The course will examine selected texts in the Old Testament and New Testament concerning the image of God, gender and gender roles, and the Christian and society, using methods appropriate to each of these disciplines in order to reflect on the church's use of Scripture throughout its history to the present day.

The course is intended to help students think about the ways in which Scripture has been interpreted throughout the history of the church and, more specifically, in their own traditions, so that they may be better equipped as responsible interpreters and teachers of Scripture within their own traditions and the wider Christian church.

The course will consist of lectures and discussions of the primary texts of Scripture, the various ways in which these texts have been interpreted, and theological reflection upon these texts in light of Christian tradition and contemporary theology. The course will meet twice a week for two hour periods.

Goldingay, John. Models for Interpretation of Scripture. Eerdmans, 1995.

Hauerwas, Stanley. Unleashing the Scripture. Abingdon, 1993.

Neuhaus, Richard John, ed. Biblical Interpretation in Crisis. Eerdmans, 1989.

Fowl, Stephen E. and L. Gregory Jones. Reading in Communion: Scripture and Ethics in Christian Life. Eerdmans, 1991.

Goldingay, John. Models for Scripture. Eerdmans, 1994.

1. Regular attendance and preparation for class discussion.

2. 3 short papers, one on each of the three topics for the course, summarizing and analyzing the issues involved in using the Bible for guidance, decision making, doing theology, and so on.

3. A sermon on a passage of Scripture, incorporating the three disciplines of the course: (1) exegesis; (2) study of the text in one particular tradition of the church; and (3) theological synthesis and reflection.

Permission of instructors required.

Elective.

No.