DESCRIPTION: The Former Prophets and Latter Prophets in the Old Testament canon, i.e., the historical books from Joshua to Kings and the prophetic books from Isaiah to Malachi, will be studied via selected readings from the New Revised Standard Version text of the Bible. Historical, theological, literary, and canonical perspectives will be considered.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: This course will enable students (1) to know better this crucial part of the Old Testament, (2) to understand its literary features and (3) the historical and/or cultural situations in which it was written, and (4) to develop ability in interpreting the Bible.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: While the preacher brings God's Word to the people, the seminary teacher has the prior task of bringing ministerial students to the Bible, in which the revelation of the being and will of God is anchored in ancient history, literature, and culture. From this study in the Old Testament will emerge its recurring agenda of human need or perplexity and divine response, and also issues of spirituality as God's people or individual servants wrestled with problems of living and either found or resisted divine grace.

COURSE FORMAT: The class will meet for two-hour sessions twice a week for lectures and discussion.

REQUIRED READING:

Childs, B. S. Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979.

Newsome, J. D. The Hebrew Prophets. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1986.

Rendtorff, R. The Old Testament: An Introduction. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986.

LaSor, W. S., Hubbard, D. A., Bush, F. W. Old Testament Survey. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.

Soggin, J. A. Introduction to the Old Testament. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1989.