Summer 2016/Pasadena

OT517

Bunn

OT517: OLD TESTAMENT BOOK STUDY: Genesis (4 Units: 160 hours). Daniel D. Bunn Jr.

DESCRIPTION: This course involves reading Genesis section by section and studying in more detail a chapter or two from each section with the aid of a commentary, chapters, and articles. It considers major themes and motifs that run through the book, and the nature of the book’s unity.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Having successfully completed this course, students will have demonstrated that they (1) have read the book carefully and are familiar with its contents and themes; (2) can interpret passages within it in their own right and in their socio-historical, literary, and canonical contexts; (3) have identified central issues in the critical study of it; (4) can articulate its primary theological and ethical concerns; (5) can use English-based tools for interpreting it; (6) can recognize hermeneutical issues arising from the diverse contexts of contemporary readers; and (7) can interpret it faithfully and creatively in the context of their congregation, of the contemporary world and of their own lives.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets daily for four-hour sessions for two weeks for a total of 40 instructional hours in the classroom, for lecture and discussion. After the in-class portion, the class will consist for the remainder of the quarter of independent work on assignments.

REQUIRED READING: Approximately 1,080 pages required

The Bible—CEB, NSRV, or TNIV translation [ca. 50 pp. assigned].

Fretheim, Terence E., “Genesis,” pp. 321–673 in The New Interpreter’s Bible: Genesis to Leviticus (Volume 1). ISBN: 978-0687278145, Pub. Price $57.11 [ca. 350 pp. assigned]. [Available for free via Ministry Matters on Fuller’s library page:http://www.ministrymatters.com.naomi.fuller.edu:2048/library/#/tnib/f4ccdf0dc048754f1455601b73efe455/introduction.html.]

Hendel, Ronald, ed. Reading Genesis: Ten Methods. Cambridge University Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0521732390, Pub. Price $29.99 [ca. 246 pp.].

Moberly, R. W. L. The Theology of the Book of Genesis. Cambridge University Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0521685382, Pub. Price $29.99 [298 pp.]

The following material, available on eReserves [ca. 140 pp.]:

Dora R. Mbuwayesango, “How Local Divine Powers were Suppressed: A Case of Mwari of the Shona,” pp. 259–68 in R. S. Sugirtharajah, The Postcolonial Biblical Reader [10 pp.].

Jean-Pierre Ruiz, “Abram and Sarai Cross the Border: A Reading of Genesis 12:10–20,” in Readings from the Edges.

Randy Woodley, “Early Dialogue in the Community of Creation,” pp. 92–108 in Steve Heinrichs, Buffalo Shout, Salmon Cry [16 pp.].

Ched Myers, “From Garden to Tower: Genesis 1–11 as a Critique of Civilization and an Invitation to Indigenous Re-Visioning,” pp. 109–126 in Steve Heinrichs, Buffalo Shout, Salmon Cry [17 pp.].

John Walters, “Who Was Hagar?”, pp. 187–205 in Cain Hope Felder, Stony the Road We Trod [19 pp.].

Lai Ling Elizabeth Ngan, “Neither Here nor There: Boundary and Identity in the Hagar Story,” pp. 70–83 in Mary F. Foskett and Jeffrey Kah-Jin Kuan, eds., Ways of Being, Ways of Reading [14 pp.].

Donna E. Allen, “Rituals of Resistance to Strengthen Intergenerational Relations,” ch. 4 in Dale P. Andrews and Robert London Smith Jr., eds., Black Practical Theology.

Chapters related to Genesis, pp. 27–55, in Carol A. Newsom and Sharon H. Rings, eds., Women’s Bible Commentary [30 pp.].

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. Approximately 1,080 pp. of assigned readings in the Old Testament and secondary literature (5%) [This assignment relates to learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, and 4.] [65 hours].

2. Weekly postings (during the weeks following the face-to-face meetings) on Moodle with participation in online discussion in connection with the assigned reading (5%). [This assignment relates to learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, and 4.] [5 hours].

3. Class attendance during the two-week in-class period. Barring extreme circumstances, if students are unable to participate in all of the in-class meetings, then they will not be able to pass the class. [This assignment relates to learning outcomes 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.] [40 hours].

4. One 750- to 1000-word critical review of Moberly, The Theology of the Book of Genesis (25%) [This assignment relates to learning outcome 3] [15 hours].

5. One 1300- to 1600-word interpretive working paper on one of the designated texts (25%). This paper will become the basis for the final exegesis paper (Assignment #6) [This assignment relates to learning outcomes 1, 2, and 4] [10 hours].

6. A 2,500- to 3000-word exegesis paper, which will cover the same passage as Assignment #5 (this assignment will be designated as a “signature assignment”; 40%). [This assignment relates to learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.] [25 hours].

PREREQUISITES: BI500 or NE502; OT500 or OT501 or OT502.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Counts as a biblical elective for the 120 MDiv, 80 MAT, and 80 MATM Programs (Fall 2015). Meets the OTBK requirement for the MAT Program (Winter 2010).

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.