Spring 2004/Pasadena
ST821/521
Brown
ST821/521: CONTEMPORARY CHRISTOLOGY 2: TRENDS IN BRITAIN AND NORTH AMERICA.
Colin Brown.
DESCRIPTION:
- The seminar is designed for Ph.D. and Th.M. students in the CATS
program. A maximum of 5 advanced students at the master's level may be admitted
by written permission of Dr. Brown. This seminar consists of a critical
examination of writings by leading Jewish, Protestant and Catholic scholars.
Attention will be paid to theological method and orientation.
COURSE FORMAT:
- The seminar will meet once a week for three hours. Each week three
members will introduce sections of the selected text. All members are expected
to study beforehand the readings for the week, and to take part in the ensuing
discussion. Assignments will be made on a first-come-first-served basis.
Selections from the required texts will be studied in the following order: Keck
provides a general introduction; Vermes sees Jesus from a Jewish point of view;
Sanders and Meier represents Christian attempts to see Jesus as a Jew;
Fredriksen represents a Jewish woman scholar's viewpoint; Crossan represents
the Jesus Seminar viewpoint; Robinson and Franzmann focus on the Jesus of Q and
Thomas; Wright, Dunn, and Hurtado represent distinctive approaches from the
"Third Quest."
REQUIRED READING:
- Crossan, John Dominic. The Historical Jesus: The Life of a
Mediterranean Peasant. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991.
- Dunn, James D. G. Christianity in the Making, 1: Jesus
Remembered. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.
- Franzmann, Majella. Jesus in the Nag Hammadi Writings. Edinburgh: T.
& T. Clark, 1996, 1-23.
- Fredriksen, Paula. Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: A Jewish Life
and the Emergence of Christianity. New York: Knopf, 2000.
- Hurtado, Larry W. Lord Jesus Christ. Devotion to Jesus in Earliest
Christianity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.
- Keck, Leander E. Who Is Jesus? History in Perfect Tense.
Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001.
- Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, 2:
Mentor, Message, Miracles. New York: Doubleday, 1994.
- Robinson, James M., Paul Hoffmann, John S. Kloppenborg, eds. The
Critical Edition of Q. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000,
xix-lxxi.
- Sanders, E. P. Jesus and Judaism. Philadelphia: Fortress Press,
1985.
- Vermes, Geza. Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels.
Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 2nd ed. 1981; Jesus and the World of
Judaism. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984; The Religion of Jesus the
Jew. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993.
- Wright, N. T. Christian Origins and the Question of God, 2: Jesus
and the Victory of God. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996.
RECOMMENDED READING FOR REFERENCE AND BACKGROUND:
- Cowdell, Scott. Is Jesus Unique? New York: Paulist Press,
1996.
- Meyer, Marvin and Charles T. Hughes, eds. Jesus Then & Now: Images
of Jesus in History and Christology. Harrisburg, Penn.: Trinity Press
International, 2001.
ASSIGNMENTS:
- In addition to class presentations and participation, a paper on
one of the topics covered by the seminar to be presented at the end of the
quarter (master's students: 25 pp.; CATS: 40 pp.).
PREREQUISITES:
- Master's level students must receive Dr. Brown's permission in
order to register for the seminar.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Elective.
FINAL EXAMINATION: None.