Spring 2015/Fuller Online
NE567
Erickson
NE567: REVELATION (English text) (4 Units: 160 hours). Richard J. Erickson.
DESCRIPTION: An Internet-based, detailed study of the Book of Revelation (English text) and of the way it employs epistolary, prophetic, and apocalyptic perspectives to convey its message. Attention is given to the text’s theology and its relevance as Scripture for the Church in various settings by first considering its presumed significance in its original setting.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students successfully completing NE567 “Revelation” will have demonstrated (1) knowledge and understanding of the Book of Revelation; (2) ability to interpret this particular book, apocalyptic literature, and the Bible generally, through reading and critical interaction in community, using historical, socio-cultural, literary and other methods; (3) and skill in reading the Bible theologically in view of diverse contexts.
COURSE FORMAT: This course will be conducted online on a ten-week schedule aligned with Fuller’s academic calendar for no fewer than 40 instructional hours, which are outlined below in the assignment and assessment section. Students are required to interact with the material, with each other, and with the instructor regularly through online discussions, reading, and other assignments that promote active learning.
REQUIRED READING: C. 1200 pages of required reading.
Two rapid readings of Revelation, at least one in the NRSV, CEB, or the TNIV [c. 40 pp.].
The books of Daniel and 2 Esdras [c. 63 pp.].
Boring, M. Eugene. Revelation. W/JKP, 2011. ISBN: 978-0664236281, Pub. Price $25.00 [250 pp.].
Gorman, Michael J. Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness: Following the Lamb into the New Creation. Cascade: 2011. ISBN: 978-1606085608, Pub. Price $25.00 [xviii + 211 pp.].
Koester, Craig R. Revelation and the End of All Things. Eerdmans, 2001. ISBN: 978-0802846600, Pub. Price $20.00 [223 pp.].
Rhoads, David, ed. From Every People and Nation: The Book of Revelation in Intercultural Perspective. Fortress, 2005. ISBN: 978-0800637217, Pub. Price $23.00 [288 pp.].
Posted lectures (PDF) and video-recorded, voice-over PowerPoint files.
RECOMMENDED READING: See syllabus.
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
C. 1200 pages of assigned reading (textbooks, lectures, short videos). Compliance measured in regular “honor reading reports.” (20%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, 3] [70 hours].
Initial essay, due Week 2 (5%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] [8 hours]: During Week 1, read entirely through the book of Daniel and the book of 2 Esdras, each rapidly, each in one sitting (ca. two hours each). During Week 2, read entirely through the book of Revelation, rapidly, at one sitting. Write a maximum 750-word reflective essay on your sense of (a) the message of Revelation and (b) its relation to Daniel and 2 Esdras. The essay is due the end of Week 2.
A 1000-word maximum, two-level, “working interpretive outline” of Revelation, due in Week 3 (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] [8 hours].
Bi-weekly group engagement—in a Google document—on an assigned section of Revelation (15%) [This Directed Learning Activity is related to learning outcome # 2] [15 hours].
Bi-weekly threaded online forums for discussion of texts and proposed analyses; each forum includes a 300-word interpretive analysis of a text, together with at least two 200-word replies to others’ analyses (15%) [This Directed Learning Activity is related to learning outcomes #2 and 3] [15 hours].
A 1000-word maximum essay comparing at least three articles from Rhoads, From Every People, due in Week 8 (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3] [12 hours].
A 2000-word maximum close-reading analysis of a selected text, incorporating consideration of scholarly discussion as well as of the effect of reading from location, due in Week 9 (20%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2, 3] [24 hours].
Closing essay: read rapidly through Revelation again, at one sitting after Week 9 and by the end of Week 10. Describe in a maximum 750-word essay how your impressions of Revelation in this second reading differ from and/or resemble those from your first rapid reading. Due at the end of Week 10 (5%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] [8 hours].
PREREQUISITES: None.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Counts as a biblical elective for the 120 MDiv Program and the MATM and MAICS Programs (Winter 2010), and the NTBK requirement for the MAT Program (Winter 2010).
FINAL EXAMINATION: None.