Winter 2015/Fuller Live!

Colorado, Pasadena and Sacramento

NS563

Sechrest

NS563: RACE AND CHRISTIAN IDENTITY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (4 Units: 160 Hours). 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 NT texts and works about ethnic and racial identity help students understand the biblical world-view and modern and post-modern 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 for a variety of ethno-racial groups. Classes include lectures, discussion, online directed learning activities, and student-lead seminars on Christian identity ethics.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Having successfully completed the requirements for this course, students will have demonstrated the ability (1) to articulate the relationship between New Testament exegesis and New Testament ethics in moral reasoning about ethnoracial relations and identity; (2) to apply identity theory regarding race, ethnicity and gender to issues in modern ethnoracial relations for critical reflection on Christian discipleship and the mission of the church; (3) to develop moral analogies for Christian ethics on problems in race and ethnic relations in a way that incorporates contextually sensitive exegesis of the NT, and sensitivity to modern identity theory.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets once per week for three-hour sessions for a total of 30 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion plus 10 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours.

REQUIRED READING: 1,200 pp. required including selected chapters from the following books:

Horrell, David. Solidarity and Difference. T&T Clark, 2005. ISBN: 978-0567043221, Pub. Price $70.00 [102 pp. assigned].

Shelton, Jason E. and Michael Emerson. Blacks and Whites in Christian America. New York University Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0814722756, Pub. Price $28.00 [107 pp. assigned].

Tatum, Beverly Daniel. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? BasicBooks, 1999. ISBN: 978-0465083619, Pub. Price $15.95 [294 pp.].

E-RESERVES that includes ~700 pp. of readings including the following:

Guardiola-Sáenz, Leticia A. “Borderless Women and Borderless Texts: A Cultural Reading of Matthew 15:21-28,” Semeia, no. 78 (1997): 69-81.

Hays, Richard. Moral Vision of the New Testament: Community, Cross, New Creation, A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament. HarperCollins, 1996. ISBN: 978-0060637965, Pub. Price $26.99 [87 pp. assigned].

Jeung, Russell. Faithful Generations: Race and New Asian American Churches. Rutgers University Press, 2005. ISBN: 978-0813535036, Pub. Price $24.95 [selected chapters].

Levine, Amy Jill. A Misunderstood Jew. HarperSanFrancisco, 2006. ISBN: 978-0061137785, Pub. Price $13.99 [selected chapters].

McKenzie, S. L. All God’s Children. Westminster John Knox, 1997. ISBN: 978-0664256951, Pub. Price $29.95 [33 pp.].

Sechrest, Love. A Former Jew: Paul and the Dialectics of Race. T&T Clark, 2009. ISBN: 978-0567462749, Pub. Price $130.00 [selected chapters].

Smith, Andrea. “Native Evangelicals and Scriptural Ethnographies,” in MisReading America: Scriptures and Difference, Vincent Wimbush ed. Oxford, 2013, ISBN: 978-0199975426, Pub. Price $39.95 [pp. 23-65].

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. Attendance (10%). [30 hours].
  2. 1,200 pages of required reading [80 hours].
  3. Directed Learning Activities: Forum postings in response to online lectures (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes 1 and 3]. [10 hours].
  4. Journal postings (1-to-2-pages) in preparation for class discussions (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes 1 and 3]. [10 hours].
  5. Group presentation on selected topic in ethnoracial relations per class guidelines (35%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes 2 and 3]. [10 hours].

  6. Term paper (10 pp.) that does theological and biblical reflection on some pertinent ethical dilemma in ethnicity or race relations raised by the course (35%). [This activity is the signature assignment and is related to learning outcomes 2 and 3]. [20 hours].

PREREQUISITES: NS500, NS501, or NT500.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the Biblical Elective requirement in the 120 MDiv Program. Option to meet the C5 requirement in the 120 MDiv Program. Option to meet the Biblical Elective requirement in the 120 MDiv Program. Meets 144 MDiv core requirement in New Testament Theology (NTT); Meets MA requirement in Ethnicity (ETHN). Counts toward Asian American Context or Christian Ethics emphases. Serves as a course substitute for MB501.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.


NOTE: This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. Textbook prices are set by publishers and are subject to change.

For your convenience, order these texts online through the Archives Bookshop.