BEX 500-99 Introduction to Biblical Interpretationsara Fudge, Phd

BEX 500-99 Introduction to Biblical InterpretationSara Fudge, PhD

Cincinnati Christian UniversityOffice 513.244.8445

Spring

Course Description

This class is a survey of issues and methods of biblical exegesis with a view to the needs of practical ministry. This course prepares students to relate Scripture appropriately in sermons, lessons, small group studies and counseling.

Rationale

The Bible is the foundational document of the Christian faith. Skills in biblical interpretation, understanding basic theories and practices are essential for practical ministry.This is a foundational course that prepares the student for advanced studies in Bible and ministry.

Course Outcomes

Describe the various fields of biblical study related to hermeneutics.
Understand where the Bible came from and the function of the various English versions we have today.
Identify and explain different literary forms and genres found in the Bible.
Identify and explain the different figures of speech and literary devices used throughout Scripture.
Be able to analyze passages of Scripture using the various fields of biblical study covered in class.
Be able to apply these hermeneutic tools to the study of specific biblical passages with sound critical thinking in teaching or counseling.

Required Texts

Fee, Gordon D. and Douglas Stuart. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. 3rd ed. , Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.

Sheeley, Steven M. & Robert N. Nash, Jr. The Bible in English Translation : An Essential Guide. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1997.

Virkler, Henry and Karelynne Gerber Ayayo A. Hermeneutics: Principles and Processes of Biblical Interpretation. 2nd ed., Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007.

“Objectives” boxes listed each week on the Moodle site and in the agenda below

Each week you will find a list of objectives for the class. This list lets you know what is most significant in our studies that week. You do not need to formally respond to this list each week, but your midterm exam will be taken from these ideas. Your weekly assignments are listed below the objectives ("Assignments due") and need to be turned in each week. You may do this by uploading your work into Moodle at the assignment icon displayed with the assignments.

Major Learning Experiences and Course Requirements

Read Virkler. Write a one to two-page outline of each chapter. These will be due the Friday of the week assigned (see agenda). Typed, single-spaced.
Read Fee & Stuart. This text will be followed closely in class. Note on your final exam the percent of this book you read.
Complete the assigned exercises listed in the agenda. Write a 300-400 word solution to the scenario foundin the exercise using the principles covered in class. Focus on the hermeneutic skill covered that week. These will also guide our forum discussions.The exercises should be typed, single-spaced, Times New Roman font. Turn these exercises in each week on Friday along with the outline of Virkler. I have included an example of one of these exercises to help you see what is expected from this assignment, see below just before the agenda.
Forum Discussions: There are three forums for class discussion. The first is used as an opportunity for you to introduce yourself to the class. The next two will be discussions drawn from the exercises in Virkler. Each student is asked to post a 200-250word response to the assigned exercise. In addition to your initial post, you are asked to contribute two follow up responses to other student’s postings. All postings need to be:
Respectful and gracious to other students.
Written in standard English form.
Show an interaction with the materials we are studying and use of hermeneutical tools.
Create a handout entitled “Which Bible to Read When” which you could give to people in your church/group/etc. In this handout, describe the strengths and weaknesses of the major English translations (NASB, NIV, NLT, KJV, The Message). Include an occasion when to use each version (ex., group study, in-depth study, new Christian, personal, etc.).Use Sheeley & Nash’s text as your resource for this project.
Midterm Exam: This exam will cover the chapters in Fee & Stuart and Virkler covered in class to this point. Questions will come from the objective boxes found in the agenda below. The student will access the exam on Moodle. See agenda for date.
Final exegetical paper. Choose oneof the exercises from Virkler you’ve already done. Develop that exercise to include all the skills (as many as are applicable) you’ve learned in class. One example may be exercise #13 on page 94. In this exercise we only covered the Historical-cultural analysis. For the final exam, you will use this exercise and develop its interpretation to include a fuller discussion of all the hermeneutic skills (that are applicable) covered in class. You will want to choose an exercise that addresses a passage of Scripture that will allow you to use several of the hermeneutic skills. Outline your paper to follow the steps in your “Steps of Hermeneutics.” The final exam should be 7-8 pages. The exam is due Monday, May 7th.

Course Procedures

A week in this course ends on Friday. All work specified to be completed each week must be completed on the course website no later than 11:50 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on the last day of the week (Friday), unless otherwise specified. Assignments turned in after 11:50 p.m. on Friday are late. It is at the discretion of the instructor to accept late work.

Please contact me if you have some extenuating circumstance that prevents you from completing an assignment on time.

Should you experience any technical problems, please consult Suzanne Faber at during regular school hours. Your professor is totally unqualified, disinterested and unequipped to help you here!

The primary form of communication is through Moodle. It is your responsibility to check this website regularly to keep up with course assignments, announcements, etc. If you have specific questions please contact me through email (see top of syllabus). If you are having difficulty contacting me through email, do not hesitate to call the number that is at the top of the syllabus.

I usually check email Monday – Friday before 4:00. I will normally respond to your email inquiries within 48 hours and during those times. When you email me, please use standard conventions of spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation as you would in a business and/or academic setting. No slang or abbreviations, please.

Due to the on-line nature of this course, it is imperative that you have access to Moodle each week. Therefore, you should have a primary computer set up for Moodle use on a regular basis as well as a back-up plan in case the primary computer becomes unavailable.

Students who require academic accommodations due to any documented physical, psychological, or learning disability should request assistance from their local Academic Support Director within the first two weeks of the course. Students receiving news that they are entitled to accommodations bear the responsibility to notify the instructor and provide the appropriate documentation as soon as possible so that reasonable accommodations may be made.

As Christians, students are expected to be honest in all they do. Dishonesty, including plagiarism or cheating on exams or assignments, will result in a zero for that particular assignment and other possible actions. Note: The quizzes, exams, and other assignments for this course are open-note and open-book, not open-friend, unless specifically stated otherwise. Do not share quiz or exam answers. Writing assignments should be each student’s individual work.

Course Evaluation

Reading of Virkler, outlines, exercises35%

Reading of Fee & Stuart 10%

“Which Bible to Read When” outline 10%

Midterm Exam 20%

Final Exam 25%

Virker Exercise Example#12

A Christian man lost his job due to company downsizing. He and his wife interpreted Romans 8:28 (“All things work together for the good.” NRSV) to mean that he lost his job so that God might give him a better-paying one. Consequently he turned down several lower-or equal-paying job opportunities and remained on unemployment for over two years before returning to work. Do you agree with his way of interpreting this verse? Why, or why not?

Hermeneutical principle violated: contextual analysis to find out the author’s (Paul’s) definition of “good.”

The man in this scenario interpreted “good” to mean something along the lines of pleasure, physical benefit, or monetary advancement. We know from experience that this is not always the way things happen for Christians.

In a larger context, Paul’s letter to the Romans was to a largely Gentile community. This letter includes the most extensive outline of Paul’s theology and the need for unity in the church at Rome (“Letter to the Romans,” Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1411).

This verse falls within a passage that is about being filled with the Spirit, walking in the Spirit (not in the flesh), and the groanings of creation waiting “for our adoption as sons.” The immediate context of this passage is the Spirit who intercedes for the saints that they may be: conformed to the image of His Son…justified,…glorified.It is about hope. These are the “all things” that God promises to His saints. Nothing can keep us from God’s love. Verse 8:28 set in this context is not about monetary gain or advancement but about conforming to the image of Jesus.

Reading this verse in a couple of translations may be helpful, but they show only slight difference. I would not place too heavy of a difference between them. The NAS and KJV seems to imply that God causes/makes everything happen as they do. The NIV seems to imply that God works in the things that happen.

NAS Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

NIV Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

This verse teaches that not all things work together for good by themselves (for we know of situations that cause people to become bitter, etc.), but that God is lovingly involved in all the situations of our lives, helping us to reap good even from the tragedies and unfair situations that come our way.

The man in our scenario made two mistakes: 1) he took the verse out of context to mean what he saw as good rather than what Paul was defining as good, 2) he believed that God would change his circumstances to reflect this “good” fortune for him rather than using the circumstance he was in to make him more like Jesus.

Notice the use of the steps covered in Fee/Stuart and Virkler.

The use of more than one translation
Placing the verse within the context of the passage
Placing the verse within the context of the book
Noting who the verse addresses
Noting specific words that can be misunderstood in its context
Use of a Bible Dictionary to help understand the backgrounds of the book

As you move through Fee/Stuart and Virkler you will include other hermeneutical principles and tools that may apply to your passage and exercise scenario.

Disclaimer

This syllabus is intended to suggest the general nature and direction of this course. Details may be changed and adjustments may be made at the discretion of the instructor.

Bibliography: Recommended Texts

Fee, Gordon D. and Douglas Stuart. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. 3rd ed. , Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.

Gordon, Fee. New Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors. 3rd ed., Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002.

Goldingay, John. Models for Interpretation of Scripture. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.

Green, Joel and Michael Pasquarello III. Eds. Narrative Reading , Narrative Preaching. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003.

Kostenberger, Andreas J., Richard D. Patterson. Invitation to Biblical Interpretation: Exploring the Hermeneutical Triad of History, Literature, and Theology. Kregel, 2011.

Osborn, Grant R. The Hermeneutical Spiral. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1991.

Sheeley, Steven M. & Robert N. Nash, Jr. The Bible in English Translation : An Essential Guide. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1997.

Stuart, Douglas. Old Testament Exegesis: A Primer for Students and Pastors. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1984.

Virkler, Henry and Karelynne Gerber Ayayo A. Hermeneutics: Principles and Processes of Biblical Interpretation. 2nd ed., Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007.

Wagner, Paul D. The Journey from Tests to Translations: The Origin and Development of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1999.

Agenda

Week One: January 14-20

As stated in the syllabus, the “Objective” boxes are a guide to what is most significant for that week’s study. You do not need to answer anything in these boxes, but the midterm exam will be drawn from them. Your weekly assignments are listed under “Assignments due”.

Assignments Due 1-20

Read and outline Virkler chapters 1, 2
Read Fee & Stuart chapter 1
Forum #1: Introduce yourself to fellow classmates

Week Two: January 21-27

Assignments Due 1-27

ReadFee & Stuart chp 2.
Create a "handout" entitled "Which Bible Translation to Read When" using Sheeley and Nash. See syllabus.
As you read, consider the exercises and how you would respond.

Week Three: January 28- February 3

Assignments Due 2-3

Read and outline Virkler 3.
Read Fee & Stuart 3.

Week 4 : February 4-10

Assignments Due 2-10

Fee & Stuart 4.
Forum #2: Discuss exercise #18, 200-250 words

Week Five: February 11-17

Assignments Due 2-17

Read and outline Virkler chp 4.
Complete 2 of the following exercises: #'s 19, 24, 25, 30, 33. Focus on Lexical-syntactical analysis, 300-400 words.

Week 6: February 18-24

Assignments Due 2-24

Read and outline Virkler chp 5; Read Fee & Stuart 9.
Complete exercise 37.
Complete 1 of the following exercises: 38, 40, 42.

Week 7: February 25- March 2

Assignments Due 3-2

Read Fee & Stuart 5.

Spring Break March 3-9: Enjoy!

Week 8: March 10-16

Assignments Due 3-16

Read Fee & Stuart chp 6

Complete exercise 96

Week 9: March 17-23

Exam, posted in Moodle Week 9: Due 3-23

Next week we will begin looking at other literary forms.

Week 10: March 24-30

Assignments due 3-30

Read & outline Virkler chp 6; Read Fee & Stuart 11.

Week 11: March 31- April 6

Assignments due 4-6

Read Fee & Stuart 12
Using your hermeneutical skills, explain whether Psalm 22:1-18 can be interpreted as a Messianic passage, 600-800 words.

Week 12: April 7-13

Assignments due 4-13

Read Fee & Stuart chp 7 & 8.
Forum #3: Discuss the scenario found in exercise #47.

Week 13: April 14-20

Assignments due 4-20

Read and outlineVirkler chp 7;
Fee & Stuart chp 10.
Complete 2 of the following exercises,68, 72, 74.

Week 14: April 21-27

Our last week we will look at Apocalyptic literature and how this particular genre should be translated

Continue from last week.

Assignments due 4-27

Read and outline Virkler chp 8
Read Fee & Stuart 13.
Complete exercise 66

Final Exam DueMay 7