Fall 2019/ Pasadena

OT888

Crouch

OT888: CRITICAL APPROACHES TO THE OLD TESTAMENT (6 Units: 385 hours). Carly L. Crouch.

DESCRIPTION: This course is a PhD seminar on critical study of the Old Testament, designed to bridge the gap between master’s level core courses and doctoral research work. It will cover a range of issues in the interpretation of the Old Testament, including textuality, transmission and translation; historical and comparative approaches; feminist and womanist analysis; other minoritized criticisms; theological interpretation and reception history.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students who pass the course will have demonstrated that they have (1) attained familiarity with the variety of current scholarly approaches to the Old Testament; (2) demonstrated an awareness of when and why these different approaches are employed; (3) gained an ability to interpret Old Testament texts in keeping with these critical methods; and (4) become familiar with the major scholars whose work has influenced Old Testament interpretation.

RELATIONSHIP TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: This course will address the content and interpretation of the Old Testament in its historical and contemporary context, which is consistent with the School of Theology program learning outcomes ‘Students will have demonstrated a comprehensive knowledge of the discipline of their study’ and ‘Students will have demonstrated research skills appropriate to their area of study, sufficient to engage in original research and writing that advances theological understanding in the service of the church, academy, and/or society’. (PhD)

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets once per week for four-hour sessions for a total of 40 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion, including reading of Old Testament texts in Hebrew. Class sessions will involve intensive discussion of issues in the scholarly interpretation of the Old Testament and student presentations on approaches and methodologies and on key secondary texts.

REQUIRED READING: 2,500 total pages required.

NRSV, TNIV, or CEB Bible [200 pp. assigned]

Bible software that includes the following components: an exhaustive Hebrew concordance, the text of the Hebrew Bible, Brown, F. with S.R. Driver & C.A. Briggs. Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew English Lexicon. Hendrickson, 1996. Gesenius, W., E.F. Kautzsch, et al. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar. Dover Publications, 2006. OR Joüon, P. - T. Muraoka. A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Parts 1, 2 & 3. Biblical Institute Press, 2006. Koehler, L. and W. Baumgartner. Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. 2 Volumes. Brill, 2002.

Elliger, K. and W. Rudolph. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Hendrickson, 2006. Compact edition: ISBN: 9781598561630, Publisher’s price $69.95.

Bailey, R., Tat-siong Benny Liew, and Fernando F. Segovia, eds. They Were All Together in One Place? Toward Minority Biblical Criticism. Atlanta: SBL, 2009. ISBN: 9781589832459, Pub. Price $45.95. Available as an e-book. [165 pp. assigned]

Dell, Katharine J., and Paul M. Joyce, eds. Biblical Interpretation and Method: Essays in Honour of John Barton. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780199645534, Pub. Price: $125. Available as an e-book. [250 pp. assigned]

Junior, Nyasha. An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation. Louisville, Ky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015. ISBN: 9780664259877, Pub. Price $30. [100 pp. assigned]. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library.

Sakenfeld, Katharine Doob, Linda Day, and Carolyn Pressler, eds. Engaging the Bible in a Gendered World: An Introduction to Feminist Biblical Interpretation in Honor of Katharine Doob Sakenfeld. 1st ed. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780664229108, Pub. Price $35. [100 pp. assigned]

Course reader [1,685 pp.; including work by Marcella Althaus-Reid, John Barton, Robert Carroll, Steed Davidson, Gilberto da Silva Gorgulho, Nyasha Junior, Burke Long, Vanessa Lovelace, Stephen Reid, Timothy Sandoval, Fernando F. Segovia, Mitzi Smith, Chloe Sun, Emmanuel Tov, Renita Weems, et al]

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. 2,500 pages of required reading (Pass/Fail) [145 hours]. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-4]
  2. Informed understanding and critique of the reading, as demonstrated by attendance at and participation in class discussion (Pass/Fail) [40 hours]. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-4]
  3. Four 2,000 word (20 minute) presentations to the class (10% each, 40% in total). [This assignment relates to learning outcomes #1-4]. [80 hours]
  4. One 8,000-10,000 / 32-40 page word research paper, written in light of the assigned reading and the classes (60%). [This assignment relates to learning outcomes #1-4]. [120 hours]

PREREQUISITES: Admission into the ThM or PhD program. Open to a limited number of advanced master’s level students with the following prerequisites: LG500, LG502, and BI500 (or NE502) and OT500; and written permission of instructor.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Required for the PhD in Old Testament.

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. Copyright 2019 Fuller Theological Seminary.