Spring 2010/Pasadena
NS563
Sechrest
NS563: RACE AND CHRISTIAN IDENTITY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. Love Sechrest.
DESCRIPTION: This course develops a biblically-based, theological approach to
identity by exploring the relationship between racial identity, ethnic
identity, and Christian identity. Lectures and discussions about selected NT
passages and secondary literature about identity help students understand the
biblical worldview, Greco-Roman thought, and modern and postmodern trends on
the subject of racial and ethnic identity. Students will be exposed to several
biblical, theological, and theoretical approaches that will be used to
construct a uniquely Christian posture about race issues in society.
SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: Christians need to develop a biblically
based, historically and contextually sensitive understanding of the
intersection of ethno-racial identity and Christian commitment in order to meet
the challenges of multiculturalism in the contemporary church.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: The student will be able to (1) understand the historical
development of race and ethnicity vis-à-vis early Christianity; (2) gain
an appreciation for the complexities of modern discussions about identity; (3)
understand how race impacts the church in the United States; and (4) develop
biblical resources for constructing a Christian ethic of race relations and
racial identity.
COURSE FORMAT: The course will meet weekly for three-hour sessions.
REQUIRED READING: Selected chapters from the following books:
- Hays, J. Daniel. From Every People and Nation. Downers
Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003.
- Hays, Richard B. The Moral Vision of the New Testament. San
Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996.
- Isaac, Benjamin. The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity.
Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2004.
- Issues in Race and Ethnicity. Ed. CQ Researcher. 3rd ed. Washington,
DC: CQ Press, 2006.
- McKenzie, S. L. All God's Children. Louisville: Westminster John
Knox, 1997.
- Tatum, Beverly Daniel. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in
the Cafeteria? New York: BasicBooks, 1997, 1999.
- COURSE PACK that includes readings from the following:
- Buell, Denise Kimber. "The Politics of Interpretation:
The Rhetoric of Race and Ethnicity in Paul." JBL 123, no. 2 (2004):
235-51.
- Barclay, John, "`Neither Jew nor Greek': Multiculturalism and the New
Perspective on Paul," in Ethnicity and the Bible (E. J. Brill, 1996),
pp. 197-214.
- Hodge, Caroline Johnson. If Sons, Then Heirs: A Study of Kinship and
Ethnicity in the Letters of Paul. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007
(selected chapters).
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
- Group presentation on selected topic in ethnicity or race relations per
class guidelines (30%)
- Term paper (10-15 pp.) that does theological and biblical reflection on
some pertinent ethical dilemma in ethnicity or race relations raised by the
course (40%)
- Very short typewritten responses to course readings (20%)
- Class participation (10%)
PREREQUISITES: NS500, NS501, or equivalent.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets MDiv core requirement in New Testament
Theology (NTT); Meets MA requirement in Ethnicity (ETHN).
This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. (Posted February 3, 2010)