Spring 2014/Pasadena
CH853/553
Thompson
CH853/553: ETHICS & EXCURSES IN CALVIN’S PENTATEUCHAL EXEGESIS (Calvin & Calvinism Seminar) (6/4 Units). John L. Thompson.
DESCRIPTION: John Calvin left a rich legacy for Christian thought on a myriad of topics —a legacy that survives not just in his Institutes. This doctoral seminar will consider a selection of topics that may broadly be described as matters of ethics, but the 2014 seminar will be focused more narrowly (and more manageably) by attending specifically to the exegetical and Old Testament roots of Calvin's ethics as found in his original quasi-legal analysis of 1563, the Harmony of the Pentateuch. There one finds Calvin considering all sorts of teachings: law and natural law, politics and statecraft, economics, human rights and property rights, marriage and family, as well as faith and the human conscience. However, a close reading will also disclose places where he struggles to ground his theology in his exegesis, and these “excurses” will also demand our attention. The seminar is open to a limited number of advanced MA and MDiv students (TH553) with the instructor’s permission.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students who pass this course will demonstrate (1) critical engagement with selected works by Calvin; (2) an ability to represent and interact critically with secondary literature in this field; and (3) a basic knowledge of how to decipher Latin. Students at the ThM and PhD level will further demonstrate (4) the ability to conceive and execute a research agenda leading to a competent essay on a topic pertinent to this course.
COURSE FORMAT: Seminar format, meets for three hours weekly to discuss readings and issues.
REQUIRED READING:
Bieler, Andre. Calvin's Economic and Social Thought. World Council of Churches, 2005. ISBN: 978-2825414453, Pub. Price $50.95 [545 pp. assigned].
Calvin, John. Harmony of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, 4 vols. bound as 2 (1563; ET Calvin Translation Society, 1852–55; reprints include Baker as part of ISBN: 978-0801024405. ***OUT OF PRINT but available used; digital edition at www.archive.org or via www.prdl.org) [1821 pp. assigned].
_________ Sermons on … Deuteronomy (1562; ET London, 1583; digital edition via www.prdl.org).
Dommen, Edward & James D. Bratt, eds. John Calvin Rediscovered: The Impact of His Social and Economic Thought. Westminster John Knox Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0664232276, Pub. Price $30.00 [160 pp. assigned].
Various other readings from and about Calvin furnished as eReserves.
One additional text of the student’s choice, from a list to be made available at http://documents.fuller.edu/sot/faculty/thompson_john/CH853syllabus.pdf
RECOMMENDED READING:
Calvin, John. Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 3 vols. 1555. ET Calvin Translation Society, 1845-46; digital edition at www.archive.org or via www.prdl.org.
De Greef, Wulfert. The Writings of John Calvin. Expanded ed. Westminster John Knox, 2008. ISBN: 978-0664232306, Pub. Price $40.00.
Muller, Richard A. Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms. Baker, 1985. ISBN: 978-0801020643, Pub. Price $30.00.
Vermigli, Peter Martyr. Commentary on Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics. Truman State University Press, 2006. ISBN: 978-1931112550, Pub. Price $59.95.
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
Class participation & plenary readings (553=2,000 pp., 853= 2,500 pp.) with weekly written responses (10%).
Critical book review (10%).
Latin tutorials (10%).
Research essay (50%) [CH553 students may opt out of research essay; other percentages then double].
Take-home final exam (20%).
PREREQUISITES: For MA/MDiv students: CHB (or equivalent) and permission of instructor. Latin is desirable but not required.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Elective.
FINAL EXAMINATION: Yes.