Winter 2020/Pasadena

OT554

Hays

OT554: RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY AND CONFLICT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT (4 Units: 170 hours). Christopher B. Hays.

DESCRIPTION: Religious diversity and conflict are not just features of the modern worlds that we inhabit; they were part of the ancient world of the Bible as well. In fact, the pages of the Old Testament are filled with stories about religious differences—not only differences with neighboring nations, but also religious and theological controversies within Israel and Judah—and indeed, within the palace and Temple themselves—prophets against kings! Priests against Levites! Today's national religious politics and church divisions have nothing on the Old Testament; but the Old Testament has a number of things to teach its readers. This course take students deep into these riveting texts that continue to shape our world, in order to understand the Bible and ourselves.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students successfully completing this course will have demonstrated (1) a basic acquaintance with various genres of ancient Near Eastern religious texts; (2) a familiarity with the major scholarly literature on Israelite religion and on its relationship to neighboring cultures; (3) an ability to employ comparative data and interpret the Old Testament from a comparative perspective through concrete case studies.

RELATIONSHIP TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: This course will address the content and interpretation of the OT/NT in its historical 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 class meets once per week for a three-hour session, for a total of 30 instructional hours in the classroom for lecture and discussion. Class sessions will involve brief lectures, Hebrew translation, student presentations, and guided discussions.

REQUIRED READING: 1360 total pages required.

Albertz, Rainer. A History of Israelite Religion in the Old Testament Period. Trans. J. Bowden. 2 vols. Westminster John Knox, 1994. ISBN: 978-0664227197 and 978-0664227203, Pub. Price $45.00 each Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [300 pp. assigned].

Miller, Patrick D. The Religion of Ancient Israel. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0664232375. Pub. price $50 [100 pp. assigned].

Course Reader [960 pp]. (See professor for complete reading list.)