DESCRIPTION: This seminar combines work with (primarily Attic) Greek among ancient historians, together with exposure to the practice of historiography in the Classical and Roman Periods and to recent developments in the philosophy of history.

SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: Situating questions about the historical character of the NT documents within wider perspectives on the philosophy of history, both ancient and contemporary, is vital to grappling with the nature of their witness. Advanced facility with Greek is crucial for ministries of research and teaching, for which this course is preparatory.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Having successfully completed this course, participants will have demonstrated: (1) facility in Greek-reading skills, particularly with reference to Attic Greek; (2) the ability to articulate the nature and development of historiography in the Hellenistic world and in the Roman period, particularly in their relation to the socioliterary environment of Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity; and (3) the capacity to reflect critically on the major concerns of the philosophy of history vis-à-vis the interpretation of the Bible's historical narratives.

COURSE FORMAT: This seminar meets twice each week, two hours each time, once for translation and once for presentation on and discussion of literature on the philosophy of history.

REQUIRED READING:

Selections from the following: Holladay, Carl R. Fragments from Hellenistic Jewish Authors, vol. 1: Historians (SBLTT 20; Pseudepigrapha 10; Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1983); Dionysius of Halicarnassus (vol. 1; LCL 319; Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1937); Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews and Contra Apion (vols. 1, 4; LCL 186, 242; Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1926, 1930); Lucian (vol. 6; LCL 430; Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959); Polybius (vol. 1; LCL 128; Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1922); and Thucydides (vol. 1; LCL; Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1919).

Clark, Elizabeth A. History, Theory, Text. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004.

Cook, Albert. History/Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Fornara, Charles William. The Nature of History in Ancient Greece and Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.

Marincola, John. Authority and Tradition in Ancient Historiography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Tilley, Terrence W. History, Theology and Faith. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2004.

Lidell, H. G., and R. Scott. Greek-English Lexicon with a Revised Supplement. Revised by Henry Stuart Jones and Roderick McKenzie. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. (LSJ)

Mastronarde, Donald J. Introduction to Attic Greek. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.