Fall 2019/Online

NE517

Romano

NE517: NEW TESTAMENT BOOK STUDY: 1&2 TIMOTHY, TITUS (ENGLISH TEXT) (4 Units: 160 hours). James D. Romano.

DESCRIPTION: This course will offer a detailed study of 1&2 Timothy and Titus, with particular attention given to literary, socio-historical, and theological understandings of these diverse and complex communications to early church leaders, and by extension to the Christian community.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Having successfully completed this course, students will have demonstrated the ability (1) to interpret 1&2 Timothy and Titus within the socio-historical, literary, and canonical contexts; (2) to identify central issues in the critical study of these epistles; (3) to articulate primary theological and ethical concerns of these epistles; and (4) to use English based language tools for interpreting the text; and (5) to interpret these texts for faithful use of Scripture in their own lives and ministries.

RELATIONSHIP TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: Through focused study of a particular biblical book or topic, students acquire deeper mastery of the interpretation of the Bible, taking into account its ancient and contemporary contexts, which is consistent with the SOT PLO “Students will have demonstrated competence in the practice of biblical interpretation for faithful use of Scripture in their own lives and ministries”(MDiv, MAT, MATM).

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: 1251 pages required plus the entirety of 1&2 Timothy and Titus.

NRSV or CEB translation of the Bible.

Aageson, James W. Paul, the Pastoral Epistles, and the Early Church. Library of Pauline Studies. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2007. ISBN: 9781441241665; Pub. Price $28.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [210 pp. assigned].

Towner, Philip H. The Letters to Timothy and Titus. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009. ISBN: 9780802825131, Pub. Price $62.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [805 pp. assigned].

Young, Frances Margaret. The Theology of the “Pastoral Letters”. New Testament Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. ISBN: 9780511555190; Pub. Price $37.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [161 pp. assigned].

Course reader freely available on the Canvas course page, including articles by Couser, Hübner, Klinker-De Klerck, Mbamalu, and Scholer [approx. 75 pp. assigned].

Note: If students have already read one of the required texts in a previous course, an alternate text will be assigned to them by the professor.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Bassler, Jouette M. 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus. Abingdon New Testament Commentaries. Nashville: Abingdon, 1996. ISBN: 9781426750403; Pub. Price $24.99. Available as an ebook through the Fuller Library.

Marshall, I. Howard. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. The International Critical Commentary. Edited by J.A. Emerton, Cranfield, C.E.B., and Stanton, G.N. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1999. ISBN: 9780567084552; Pub. Price $67.95

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. Weekly course lectures and instructional materials. Video lectures are posted for each week in Canvas, along with other supporting materials. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes 1, 2 and 3] [10 hours].
  2. Directed Learning Activities: Canvas forum postings in response to specified prompts. 250-word weekly forum posts (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1–5] [10 hours].
  3. 250-word weekly replies to forum postings (10%). These are two 125-word replies to the initial posts of other students. Please note the forum discussion posting and responses under Assignments and Assessment items 2 and 3 are quite important, it is not possible to pass the course without active participation in the online forum discussions. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1–5] [10 hours].
  4. 1251 pages of logged, required reading (5%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1–5] [80 hours].
  5. Completion of two Exegetical 5-page, double spaced, properly formatted, 1200-word (excluding footnotes and bibliography) papers (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1–5] [14 hours preparing and writing].
  6. Completion of one Critical Review in which students will choose to analyze either of the Aageson OR Young book above. Both are required reading, but just one will be reviewed. This is a 5-page, double spaced, properly formatted, 1400-word (excluding footnotes and bibliography) paper (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1–3] [6 hours preparing and writing].
  7. Signature Assignment (Exegetical Paper or Research Paper). One 12-page, double spaced, properly formatted, 3000-word (excluding footnotes and bibliography) research paper (35%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1–5] [30 hours preparing and writing].

PREREQUISITES: BI500 or NE502; NT500 or NS500 or NS501.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Counts as a biblical elective for the 120 MDiv, 80 MAT, and 80 MATM Programs (Fall 2015). Meets the NTBK requirement for the MAT Program (Winter 2010).

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.