Fall 2019/Fuller Online

MT502

An

MT502: MISSIOLOGICAL HERMENEUTICS (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.

RELATIONSHIP TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: This course will provide students with practice in interpreting biblical texts from a missiological perspective for embodying Scripture’s witness in their contexts , which is consistent with the SIS PLOs “Students will have demonstrated an understanding of the mission of God and the ministries of the global Church from an evangelical missiological perspective.” And “Students will have demonstrated capacities to cultivate a theologically reflective practice of Christian discipleship.”

COURSE FORMAT: This course will be conducted online on a ten-week schedule aligned with Fuller’s academic calendar for a total of 40 instructional hours. 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: 878 pages of required reading.

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

Bosch, David. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. 2nd. ed. Orbis Books, 2011. ISBN: 978-1570759482, pp. 15-178. [164 pp. assigned]. Freely available as an eBook through the Hubbard Library https://fuller.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1032303149

Goheen, Michael W, ed. Reading the Bible Missionally. Eerdmans, 2016. ISBN: 978-0802872258. [343 pp. assigned].

Nissen, Johannes. New Testament and Mission: Historical and Hermeneutical Perspectives. Peter Lang, 2006. ISBN: 978-3631560976. [196 pp. assigned]. Freely available as an eBook through the Hubbard Library https://fuller.on.worldcat.org/oclc/862489102

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

RECOMMENDED READING:

Bauckham, Richard. Bible and Mission: Christian Witness in a Postmodern World. Baker Academic, 2004. ISBN: 978-0801027710, Pub. Price $16.00. Not available as an e-book.

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].

Glasser, Arthur F. Announcing the Kingdom: The Story of God's Mission in the Bible. Baker Academic, 2003. ISBN: 978-0801026263, Pub. Price $34.00. Available for purchase electronically through Google Play. Available for purchase electronically through Amazon Kindle.Goheen, Michael W. A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story. Baker Academic, 2011. ISBN: 978-0801031410, Pub. Price $24.00. Available as an e-book from Fuller Library.

Kaiser, Walter C. Jr. Mission in the Old Testament. 2nd ed. Baker, 2012. ISBN: 978-0801039973, Pub. Price $18.00. Available as an e-book from Fuller Library.

Kostenberger, Andreas J. Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A Biblical Theology of Mission. Inter-Varsity Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0830826117, Pub. Price $30.00. Available as an e-book from Fuller Library.

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/issues.html -> Issues-> MD5.1

Nissen, Johannes. New Testament and Mission: Historical and Hermeneutical Perspectives. Peter Lang, 2006. ISBN: 978-3631560976, Pub. Price $57.95. Available as an e-book from Fuller Library.

Redford, Shawn. Missiological Hermeneutics: Biblical Interpretation for the Global Church. Pickwick, 2012. ISBN: 978-1608994021, Pub. Price $44.00. Available for purchase electronically through Google Play.

Sanneh, Lamin. Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture. 2nd. ed. Orbis Books, 2009. ISBN: 978-1570758041, Pub. Price $32.00. Available as an e-book from Fuller Library.

Van Engen, Charles. Mission on the Way: Issues in Mission Theology. Baker, 1996. ISBN: 978-0801020902, Pub. Price $28.00. Available for purchase electronically through Amazon Kindle.

Wright, Christopher J. H. The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative. IVP Academic, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830852130, Pub. Price $45.00. Available as an e-book from Fuller Library.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. Class activities such as video lectures, PowerPoint presentations [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2, 3 and 4][20 hours].
  2. 878 pages of required reading and four reading reports of critical interactions with each given book (ca. 800 words per each; 30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2, 3 and 4] [70 hours].
  3. A Canvas 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 and 4]. [30 hours]. Gen. 2:3-25; Isa. 66:18-21; Acts 11:19-30; 1 Pet. 2:1-10; Rev. 21:1-27
  4. 250-word weekly forum responses (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3 and 4] [10 hours].
  5. 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. 3,500-4,000 words; 30%). [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 (2017). Serves as a course substitute for BI501 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. Copyright 2019 Fuller Theological Seminary.