Winter 2018/Pasadena

BI500

Goldingay

 

BI500:  INTERPRETIVE PRACTICES (4 Units: 160 hours).  John E. Goldingay.

 

DESCRIPTION:  This course introduces interpretive approaches and practices for students of the Bible. Students will consider the aims and assumptions of biblical interpretation, become familiar with major resources for study of the Bible, interpret a variety of biblical texts in both testaments, and reflect upon the manner in which the varied contexts (e.g., social, cultural, theological) of the biblical world and contemporary readers inform interpretation.

 

LEARNING OUTCOMES:  Students successfully completing this course will have demonstrated (1) the capacity to engage in close study of a variety of passages in the Bible prior to engaging in conversation with various scholarly resources; (2) judicious use of critical tools and resources for the study of biblical texts; (3) critical reflection on the theory of interpretation; (4) practice with interpreting a variety of biblical texts from both testaments, with consideration of the varied contexts of both the biblical materials and contemporary readers; and (5) skill in developing interpretations that engage contemporary concerns, and that encourage and challenge the church to remain faithful to its mission.

 

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. The course requires about seven hours of reading each week before class. It involves writing three papers. Note that the class will not meet in first week but will meet in finals week.

REQUIRED READING:  600 total pages required

Ruth, Esther, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Amos, Matthew, Romans, Philemon (CEB, TNIV, or NRSV) [100 pp.].

Green, Joel B. (ed.). Hearing the New Testament: Strategies for Interpretation. 2nd Edition.Eerdmans, 2010. ISBN: 978-0802864208, Pub. Price $30.00. Available electronically at [200 pp. assigned].

The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 1. Available online via the Fuller database “Ministry Matters” [100 pp. assigned].

 

On eReserves [200 pages]:

Bornkamm, G. “The Stilling of the Storm in Matthew.” In Bornkamm, G. Barth, and H.-J. Held, Tradition and Interpretation in Matthew. Westminster/SCM, 1963. [pp. 52-57].

Childs, B. S. “Proverbs, Chapter 7, and a Biblical Approach to Sex.” In Biblical Theology in Crisis. Westminster, 1970. [pp. 184-200, 244-45].

Chu, Julie L. C. “Returning Home: The Inspiration of the Role Differentiation in the Book of Ruth for Taiwanese Women.” Semeia 78 (1997): [pp. 47-53.]

Davies, Margaret. “Work and Slavery in the New Testament.” In John W. Rogerson and others (eds.), The Bible in Ethics. Sheffield Academic Press, 1995. [Pp. 315-47, pp. 338-47]

Lewis, Lloyd A. “An African American Appraisal of the Philemon-Paul-Onesimus Triangle.” In Cain Hope Felder (ed.), Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation. Fortress, 1991. [pp. 232-46].

Lindsey, Hal. The Late Great Planet Earth. Zondervan, 1970/Lakeland, 1971. [Pp. 42-80].

Lorgunpai, Seree. “The Book of Ecclesiastes and Thai Buddhism.” Asia Journal of Theology 8 (1994): [pp. 155-62].

Miranda, José Porfirio. Marx and the Bible. Orbis, 1974/SCM, 1977. [pp. 109-28.].

Nayap-Pot, Dalila. “Life in the Midst of Death: Naomi, Ruth and the Plight of Indigenous Women.” In R. S. Sugirtharajah (ed.), Vernacular Hermeneutics. Sheffield Academic Press, 1999. [pp. 52-65.].

Seow, Cheon-Leong. “Theology When Everything Is Out of Control.” Interpretation 55 (2001): [pp. 237-49].

Tamez, Elsa. “Ecclesiastes.” Interpretation 55 (2001): [pp. 250-59].

Trible, P. “Love’s Lyrics Redeemed.” In God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality. Fortress, 1978. [pp. 144-65].

Vischer. Wilhelm, “The Book of Esther.” Evangelical Quarterly 11 (1939): [3-21].

van Wolde, Ellen. “Texts in Dialogue with Texts.” Biblical Interpretation 5 (1997): [pp. 1-28].

 

RECOMMENDED READING:

Collins, John J. The Bible after Babel. Eerdmans, 2005. ISBN: 978-0802828927, Pub. Price $24.50. 

Day, L., and C. Pressler (ed.). Engaging the Bible in a Gendered World. WJK, 2006. ISBN: 978-0664229108, Pub. Price $30.00.

Goldingay, J. Do We Need the New Testament? IVP, 2015. ISBN 978-0830824694, Pub. price. $22.00.

_________. Models for Scripture. Eerdmans, 1994. ISBN: 978-1894667418, Pub. Price $45.00.

_________. Models for Interpretation of Scripture. Eerdmans, 1995. ISBN: 978-1894667401, Pub. Price $35.00.

_________. Reading Jesus’s Bible. Eerdmans, 2017. ISBN: 978-0802873644, Pub. Price $24.00.

Gunn, D. and D. Nolan Fewell. Narrative in the Hebrew Bible. OUP, 1993. ISBN: 978-0192132451, Pub. Price $55.00.

Hayes, John (ed.) Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation, 2 vols. Abingdon. 1999. ISBN: 978-0687055319, Pub. Price $199.99.

Perdue, Leo G. Reconstructing Old Testament Theology. Fortress, 2005. ISBN: 978-0800637163, Pub. Price $25.00.

Thiselton, A. C. Hermeneutics. Eerdmans, 2009. ISBN: 978-0802864109, Pub. Price $34.00.

 

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. Required reading in the biblical text, with postings (usually 150-250 words each week) (graded, but pass-fail for the final grade) [This assignment is related to Learning Outcomes #1, 2, 4, 5] [30 hours].
2. Required reading in secondary sources, with postings (usually 3-5 one-sentence comments each week) (600 pages; graded, but pass-fail for the final grade) [This assignment is related to Learning Outcomes #2, 3] [40 hours].
3. Instruction time online: 10 hours forum discussion on postings (usually 100-200 words each week) (graded, but pass-fail for the final grade) [This assignment is related to Learning Outcomes #2, 3, 4, 5] [10 hours].
4. Two papers each of 1500-2000 words on particular biblical texts, one OT, one NT, with feedback on one before they write the second (which counts as the interpretive signature assignment): (33% each) [This assignment is related to Learning Outcomes #1, 2, 4, 5] [30 hours].
5. Final reflection paper of 1500-2000 words: (33%) [This assignment is related to Learning Outcomes #2, 3, 5] [20 hours].

 

PREREQUISITES:  OT500 or NT500.

 

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM:  Meets a core requirement in the 120 MDiv and the 80 MAT, 80 MATM, 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015). Meets the HERM requirement in the 144 MDiv Program.

 

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.