DESCRIPTION:

The course covers the books in the third section of the Hebrew scriptures: Psalms, Job, Proverbs, the Scrolls (Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations, and Esther), Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles. (This section of OT504 is open for enrollment only to first-year School of Psychology students.)

By the end of the course students should have:

1. become excited about these books with their wide-ranging significance for our life with God;

2. considered the importance of the wisdom books in the modern world against their middle eastern background;

3. gained expertise in approaches to interpreting the Psalms and let this bring about developments in the way they pray;

4. considered the way Israel's story is retold and extended in the Old Testament and its significance for the modern church; and

5. considered approaches to the interpretation of Old Testament short stories and their significance for women and men today.

The course meets for two hours twice a week for ten weeks. Each class combines lecture and plenary discussion with work in groups of four or five; the course includes some dramatized reading, creative writing, and listening to recorded material. Classes require substantial preparation on the part of students, on average one hour of preparation for each class hour, including study of the biblical text and other reading which is specified. The course emphasizes collaborative learning and students need to be willing to be committed to working together with other students.

Students do not need to possess any books except an NRSV and a copy of the course reader.

Students should obtain the Course Reader before the course starts.

Brenner, A. (ed.). A Feminist Companion to the Wisdom Literature, A Feminist Companion to the Song of Songs, A Feminist Companion to Ruth, and A Feminist Companion to Esther, Judith, and Susanna. Sheffield Academic Press, 1995, 1993, 1993, and 1995.

Brueggemann, W. The Message of the Psalms. Augsburg, 1984.

______. The Psalms and the Life of Faith. Fortress, 1995.

Crenshaw, J. Old Testament Wisdom. John Knox Press, 1981/SCM Press, 1982; rev. ed., 1999.

Goldingay, J. Old Testament Theology. Vol. 1. InterVarsity Press, 2003.

Gunn, D., and D. N. Fewell. Narrative in the Hebrew Bible. Oxford University Press, 1993.

Kidner, D. The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. InterVarsity Press, 1985 (= Wisdom to Live By. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1985).

1. Preparation notes submitted at each class (50%).

2. One 20-page paper (or two 10-page papers) (50%).

There is an exam for students who miss more than one lecture. The mark is then combined with that for the files of preparation notes.