REL 630 Schedule

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NT Exegesis Resources

The Contexts and Criticisms of Biblical Studies: History and Ideology

"Every exegete is dependent—usually unreflectively and uncritically—on some conceptuality."

—Rudolf K. Bultmann

Reading: "Cultural Studies" (MBI 341-44); "Ideological Criticism" (MBI 345-48); "Euro-American Biblical Interpretation" (MBI 317-22); "Authority of the Bible" (MBI 209-14); "Inspiration of the Bible" (MBI 237-39); "Biblical Theology to 1800" (MBI 247-50); "Hebrew Bible Theology" (251-59); "New Testament Theology" (MBI 261-68)

Supplemental Reading: Bultmann and Five Critics, Kerygma and Myth; "Canonical Criticism" (MBI 215-19); "Evangelical Biblical Interpretation" (MBI 221-26)

I would especially recommend the section of Bultmann titled "The Mythological Element in the Message of the New Testament and the Problem of its Re-interpretation Part I"

Part One Reading: "Hebrew Bible Textual Criticism" (MBI 19-25); "New Testament Criticism" (MBI 27-34); "Linguistics and Biblical Interpretation" (35-40); "Lexicography: Hebrew Bible" (41-43); "Lexicography: New Testament" (MBI 44-48); "Lexicography Theory and Biblical Interpretation" (MBI 49-53); "Translation" (MBI 55-60); "Septuagint" (MBI 61-66)

Part Two Reading: Bautch, "What Becomes of the Angels' 'Wives'? A Text-Critical Study of 1 Enoch 19:2." JBL 125/4 (2006): 766-80; Given, "Restoring the Inheritance in Romans 11:1." JBL 118/1 (1999): 89-96.

NB: Unless noted otherwise, all Part Two Reading assignments throughout the semester will be articles available on the library's online resources. Click here to get to the Indexes page.  Then select ATLA Religion (Religion Index).  When you get to the EBSCOhost page just type or paste in the author's name and a significant word from the title. To see if the Missouri State library has particular journals, use TDNet.  As will be noted, a few readings will be on the course's Blackboard site. 

Presenters and Discussion Leaders:

Bautch: Punch

Given: Hildreth

Supplemental Reading: "Vulgate" (MBI 67-70)

Part One Reading: "Archaeology and the Hebrew Bible" (MBI 1-8); "Archaeology and New Testament Interpretation" (MBI 9-13); "Hebrew Bible Historiography and Biblical Interpretation" (MBI 15-18); "Social-Scientific Criticism" (MBI 275-79); "Sociology and Hebrew Bible Studies" (MBI 281-87); "Sociology and New Testament Studies" (MBI 289-96)

Guest Discussion Leader: Dr. Victor Matthews

Part Two Reading: Tucker, "Is Shame a Matter of Patronage in the Communal Laments?" JSOT 31.4 (2007): 465-80; Theissen, "Social Conflicts in the Corinthian Community: Further Remarks on J.J. Meggitt, Paul, Poverty and Survival" JSNT 25.3 (2003) 371-391

Presenters and Discussion Leaders:

Tucker: Chatfield

Theissen: Hackworth

Supplemental Reading: Neyrey's Articles

Part One Reading: "Pentateuchal Criticism" (HBHI 335-43); "Leviticus" (HBHI 23-29); "Synoptic Problem" (NTHI 189-99); "Q: The Sayings Gospel" (NTHI 201-06); "Hebrew Bible Form Criticism" (MBI 113-120); "New Testament Form Criticism" (MBI 121-26); "Tradition History" (MBI 127-34); Van Seters, "Introduction" (1-7) and "Summary and Conclusion" (328-33) in Prologue to History: The Yahwist as Historian in Genesis

Part Two Reading: Van Seters, "The Story of Paradise" in Prologue to History: The Yahwist as Historian in Genesis, 107-34; Goodacre, "A Monopoly on Marcan Priority? Fallacies at the Heart of Q"

Presenters and Discussion Leaders:

Van Seters: Cooper

Goodacre: Schafer

Supplemental Reading: "Genesis" (MBI 6-10); "Exodus" (MBI 17-21); "Numbers" (MBI 34-37); "Deuteronomy" (MBI 57-69); The Case Against Q Website; The Synoptic Problem; The Two Source Hypothesis; The Five Gospels Parallels

Part One Reading: "Hebrew Bible Redaction Criticism" (MBI 135-40); "Deuteronomistic History" (MBI 327-33); "New Testament Redaction Criticism" (MBI 141-46); "The Gospel of Matthew" (NTHI 1-4); "The Gospel of Mark" (NTHI 9-15); "Gospel of Luke" (NTHI 21-24); "Acts" (NTHI 45-57)

Part Two Reading: Van Seters, "An Ironic Circle: Wellhausen and the Rise of Redaction Criticism," ZAW 115 (2003): 487–500; Sim, "Matthew 7.21–23: Further Evidence of its Anti-Pauline Perspective," NTS 53 (2007): 325-43

Presenters and Discussion Leaders:

Van Seters: Puthoff

Sim: Pudlo

Supplemental Reading: Morrow, "Is There a Redactor in the House? Two Views on Biblical Authorship," JQR 98.1 (Winter 2008): 113–121; Van Seters, "Introduction" (1-7) and "Conclusion" (354-62), in In Search of History

Part One Reading: "Mythology and Biblical Studies (1800-1980)" (MBI 97-102); "Quest of the Historical Jesus" (MBI 385-94); "Sermon on the Mount" (NTHI 171-76); "Parables of Jesus" (NTHI 177-84); Hedrick, "Parable" (On Blackboard); "John" (NTHI 29-44); Hedrick, "The Four 34 Gospels" Bible Review 18.3 (June 2002): 20-31, 46-47 (On Blackboard)

Guest Discussion Leader: Dr. Charles Hedrick

Part Two Reading: Collins, John Joseph, "Mowinckel's He that cometh revisited," Studia theologica 61:1 (2007): 3-20; Paula Fredriksen, "What You See is What You Get: Context and Content in Current Research on the Historical Jesus", Theology Today 52:1 (1995): 75-97

Presenters and Discussion Leaders:

Mowinckel: Punch

Fredriksen: Juby

Supplemental Reading: Dale Allison, "A Plea for Thoroughgoing Eschatology," JBL 113/4 (1994): 651-68; Kuhn, Karl A., "The 'one like a son of man' becomes the 'son of God'," CBQ 69:1 (2007) 22-42.

Part One Reading: Michael J. Gorman, Elements of Biblical Exegesis

Part Two Reading: Mignon Jacobs, "The Conceptual Dynamics of Good and Evil in the Joseph Story: An Exegetical and Hermeneutical Inquiry," JSOT 27.3 (2003): 309-338; Gordon Fee, "Philippians 2:5-11: Hymn or Exalted Pauline Prose?" (On Blackboard);

Presenters and Discussion Leaders:

Jacobs: Chatfield

Fee: Knowlton

Supplemental Reading:

Part One Reading: "Hermeneutics" (MBI 147-53); "Intertextuality" (MBI 155-57); Literary Theory, Literary Criticism, and the Bible" (MBI 159-67); "Narrative Criticism" (169-72); "Postmodern Biblical Interpretation" (MBI 173-78); "Reader-response Criticism" (MBI 179-83); Semiotics" (MBI 197-200); Structuralism and Deconstruction" (MBI 201-208)

Part Two Reading: Garsiel, "Revealing and Concealing as a Narrative Strategy in Solomon's Judgment (1 Kings 3:16-28)," CBQ 64:2 (2002): 229-47; Given, "Paul and Writing," in As it is Written: Studying Paul's Use of Scripture. Symposium 50. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2008 (On Blackboard)

Presenters and Discussion Leaders:

Garsiel: Hackworth

Given: Putthoff

Assignment Due: Research Proposal

Supplemental Reading: "Midrash" (MBI 71-72)

Part One Reading: "Feminist Interpretation" (MBI 371-84); "Liberation Theologies" (MBI 349-59); "Postcolonial Biblical Interpretation" (MBI 361-66); "Afrocentric Biblical Interpretation" (MBI 297-301); "Asian Biblical Interpretation" (MBI 303-311); "Cross-Cultural Biblical Interpretation" (MBI 313-16); "Hispanic American Biblical Interpretation" (MBI 323-27); "Mujerista Biblical Interpretation" (MBI 333-34); "Womanist Biblical Interpretation" (MBI 335-40); "Gay/Lesbian Interpretation" (MBI 367-69)

Part Two Reading: Punt, "Paul and Postcolonial Hermeneutics: Marginality and/in Early Biblical Interpretation," in As it is Written: Studying Paul's Use of Scripture. Symposium 50. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2008 (On Blackboard); Martin, "Heterosexism and the Interpretation of Romans 1:18-32," BibInt 3 (1995): 332-55

Presenters and Discussion Leaders:

Punt: Juby

Martin: Cooper

Supplemental Reading: Given, "A Moment for Mary Daly" (Remarks for women's history month panel discussion of Mary Daly); Hendricks, "Guerrilla Exegesis: A Postmodern Approach to African-American Biblical Interpretation," Semeia 72 (1995): 73-90; Sakenfield, "Feminist Biblical Interpretation"

Paul, Rhetoric and Intertextuality

Part One Reading: "Biblical Interpretation and the Holocaust" (MBI 329-31); "Paul" (NTHI 207-220); "Hebrew Bible Rhetorical Criticism" (MBI 185-89); "New Testament Rhetorical Criticism" (MBI 191-95); "Hebrew Bible Innerbiblical Interpretation" (MBI 227-30); "New Testament Innerbiblical Interpretation" (MBI 231-35);

Part Two Reading: Miller, "What the Preacher Forgot: The Rhetoric of Ecclesiastes," CBQ 62:2 (2000): 215-235; Dunn, "The Justice of God: A renewed perspective on justification by faith," in The New Perspective on Paul, rev. ed., 193-211 (On Blackboard);

Presenters and Discussion Leaders:

Miller: Knowlton

Dunn: Hildreth

Supplemental Reading: Calvin's Commentaries; Dunn, The New Perspective on Paul, rev. ed.; Given, "True Rhetoric: Ambiguity, Cunning, and Deception in Pauline Discourse"; Ron Hock, "A Review of Mark D. Given, Paul's True Rhetoric: Ambiguity, Cunning, and Deception in Greece and Rome"; Luther's Galatians Commentary; Project Wittenberg; Robbins, "Socio-Rhetorical Hermeneutics and Commentary"; Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation Homepage; "Some Thoughts on Thinking Rhetorically"

Part One Reading: "Apocalypticism" (MBI 269-73); "Prophecy and Prophets" (HBHI 355-66); "Isaiah" (HBHI 197-206); "Daniel" (HBHI 239-48); "Prophecy and Prophets, New Testament" (NTHI 185-88); "Revelation, Book of" (NTHI 161-70);

Guest Discussion Leader: Dr. Leslie Baynes

Part Two Reading: Carter, "Evoking Isaiah: Matthean Soteriology and an Intertextual Reading of Isaiah 7–9 and Matthew 1:23 and 4:15-16," JBL 119/3 (2000) 503-520; Bucur, "Hierarchy, Prophecy, and the Angelomorphic Spirit: A Contribution to the Study of the Book of Revelation’s Wirkungsgeschichte," JBL 127/1 (2008): 173–194.

Presenters and Discussion Leaders:

Carter: Pudlo

Bucur: Schafer

Supplemental Reading:

6:30     Putthof

7:00     Chatfield

7:30     Punch

8:00     Break (10 minutes)

8:10     Hackworth

8:40     Cooper

9:10     General Discussion

6:30     Juby

7:00     Knowlton

7:30     Hildreth

8:00     Break (10 minutes)

8:10     Pudlo

8:40     Schafer

9:10     General Discussion

Study Day