Summer 2019/Pasadena

NT500

Miller

NT500: NEW TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION (4 Units: 160 Hours). Renee Dutter Miller.

DESCRIPTION: New Testament Introduction orients students to the literature of the New Testament in its various literary, historical, and theological contexts, and to New Testament interpretation in service of Christian practice.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Having successfully completed this course students will have demonstrated that they (1) have an introductory knowledge of the literature, history, and theology of the New Testament; (2) can identify a range of questions (e.g., historical, literary, canonical) that might be addressed to particular New Testament texts and can explore those questions in the process of interpreting particular New Testament texts; (3) are able to take into account the varied contexts of both the biblical materials and their contemporary interpreters; and (4) can read the New Testament in ways that foster faithful Christian practice.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets daily as a two-week intensive for three-hour sessions for a total of 27 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion plus 13 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours. Class time will be divided between lectures on content and method, and hands-on work with texts. Significant student participation is expected; students will be responsible for preparing assigned passages of the New Testament to discuss online and in class.

REQUIRED READING:880 total number of pages required, plus reading the entire NT.

Either the CEB, NRSV, or TNIV translation of the New Testament [25 hours].

Achtemeier, Paul J., Joel B. Green, and Marianne Meye Thompson.Introducing the New Testament: Its Literature and Message. Eerdmans, 2001. ISBN: 978-0802837172, Pub. Price $48.00 [636 pp.; 314 pp. assigned].

Bell, Allen. “Interpreting the Bible on Language: Babel and Ricoeur's Interpretive Arc.” Pages 70-93 in Ears That Hear: Explorations in Theological Interpretation of the Bible. Edited by Joel B. Green and Tim Meadowcraft. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2013 [23 pp.; available through eReserves].

Blount, Brian K.Can I Get a Witness? Reading Revelation through African American Culture. Westminster John Knox, 2005. ISBN: 978-0664228699, Pub. Price $25.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [117 pp.].

Gorman, Michael. Apostle of the Crucified Lord. Eerdmans, 2016. ISBN: 978-0802874283, Pub. Price $48.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library. [707 pp.; 433 pp. assigned].

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

887 total number pages of books and articles required, plus reading the entire NT. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1 and 4] [84 hours, including 25 hours of reading the entire NT].
Attendance in class and participation in interpretive discussions. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1–4] [27 hours] (5%).
Participation in online discussion forums related to readings and NT passages, including initial post and responses. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2-4] [10 hours, DLAs] (5%).
Two interpretive working papers that gather the results of the student’s close reading of an assigned biblical text (2 pages each). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2] [10 hours] (30%).
A critical review of Blount,Can I Get a Witness? (2 pages). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3] [5 hours] (20%).
Peer Review of Final Interpretive Paper (1 page) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2-4] [3 hours, DLA’s] (5%)
Final Interpretive Paper: an eight- to ten-page interpretive essay that advances a particular interpretation of a biblical text. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2–4] [21 hours] (35%).

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets a core requirement in the 120 MDiv, 80 MAT, 80 MATM, and 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015) and the MATM, MAICS, and MACL Programs (Winter 2010).

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.