Phil 303/RelSt 303 - Early Christianity: Texts and Thought - Fall 2008

Janice Capel Anderson - Morrill Hall 405- Telephone 885-6065 - Office Hours - T/Th 9:20-10:50 and many other times by appointment.

*****The instructor may alter this syllabus in whatever ways she deems necessary. Check the syllabus on the web for changes in assignments, etc.  Check your e-mail for special announcements. After discussing the course with class members, adjustments may be made according to class interests.

Required Texts:

ed. Michael Coogin, The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha NRSV. 3^rd edition . Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-528485-2

David Barr, The New Testament Story: An Introduction. 4th edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2008 ISBN 0534541631.

Recommended Texts:

Kurt Aland, ed. Synopsis of the Four Gospels. American Bible Society and Fortress Press, 2001, ISBN 0826705006 Hardcover.

Freedman, David Noel, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B.Beck, eds.  Eerdman's Dictionary of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000. Pp. xxxiii + 1425, Cloth, ISBN 0802824005.

Electronic Reserve: A number of additional articles are on electronic reserve at  http://db.lib.uidaho.edu/ereserve The user name is reserve.  The password is ug4wb Some browsers require you to type these in rather than simply cut and paste.

Goals:

1. Students will attain a basic familiarity with a selection of texts from the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature. This will include gaining an elementary understanding of the historical, literary, and philosophical/theological background of early Christian texts.

2. Students will improve their ability to read and analyze difficult ancient primary sources and interpretations of these sources. 

3. Students will learn how to use various academic resources and tools for biblical interpretation on an introductory level.

4. Students will improve their ability to analyze and write about texts and interpretations.

5. Students will become aware of several interpretive methods and hermeneutic issues. They will observe how historical, literary, social scientific, theological/philosophical, and other approaches shed light on texts. Students will explore how different perspectives and presuppositions lead to differing interpretations of several key texts.

Course Schedule:

I. INTRODUCTION

Aug 26 Introduction to Course - and - Translations and Using an Annotated Bible

Please read before class:  "Translation of the Bible into English" pp. 466-71 in the Essay section of the New Oxford Annotated Bible.  This is also on e-reserve at http://db.lib.uidaho.edu/ereserve/show_course.php?pointer=1888      Check your email for the username and password.  Also, compare the translations of John 3:1-16 in the King James Version (KJV), the New International Version(NIV), and The Message and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)  translation in the New Oxford Annotated Bible.  [All four translations are available online at http://bible.crosswalk.com/ParallelBible/  

Class Preparation -List the similarities and differences you find in the four translations. How do the differences affect the meaning of the passage in your view?  Which translation seems more like a paraphrase?   For what purposes might someone use each of these translations?  What light do the annotations in the New Oxford Annotated at the bottom of the page shed on the issue of translation?  Be prepared to share your answers in class.

Aug 28 – Introduction and Methods

Read Barr, “Preface” and “Introduction,” Pages ix-xii and 1-25. 

Class Prep - Use the Reading and Study Guide and be ready to share your answers orally to questions 1, 2 and 7 in the section of the Study Guide on the Introduction.   You may wish to write an outline of your answer or jot down notes to use in class.

Image courtesy of  vroma at http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/socialclass.html   accessed 8-30-08

Sept 2 - The Cultural Environment of the New Testament

Required Reading -Barr, Chapter 1, pp. 26-53.  Map on inside front cover. 

Class Prep:  Reading and Study Guide

Recommended Reading:   Neusner "Foundations of Judaism" from Between Time and Eternity. The Essentials of Judaism on e-reserve.  Click the following for questions to guide your reading:  Neusner Study Guide and Questions.   If you are interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls, click here:  Dead Sea Scrolls.

II. PAULINE LETTERS AND TRAJECTORIES

Saint Paul par Bernardo Daddi, 1333 - Collection Andrew W. Mellon - Image sans copyright sur http://www.biblepicturegallery.com/free/Screen-sized%20pictures.htm   This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.  Obtained at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Paul_de_Tarse.gif August 25, 2008

Sept 4 "" - Jumping into Paul: I Thessalonians, Paul, and the Letter Form

Thessaloniki (Greece) - The Ancient Agorà, at the north end of Dikastirion Square. Author: Snowdog (6/25/2005) Public Domain.  Obtained at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Thessaloniki-Ancient_Agora.jpg 8-25-08

Read:  Read Paul’s autobiographical comments in Galatians 1:11-2:21, Philippians 3:5-8, I Corinthians 9:1-2; 15:3-11. Also read I Thessalonians (it’s a short letter) and Barr, Chapter Three.

Class Prep-

1.   Make a list of what we learn about Paul from the autobiographical comments.   Be prepared to share it in class.

2.   Note that Paul’s Letters have a specific form similar to other ancient letters. See Barr, pp. 80-82. The form of the letter gives a clue to interpreting it. Reading Paul’s letters is something like hearing only one end of a telephone conversation. We can read Paul’s side of the conversation. We have to imagine what was going on in Thessalonica, what the people were like, and so on. Fill in what the Thessalonians may have been doing or thinking on the right hand side of the I Thessalonians Outline handout (several pages) and be prepared to share your conclusions in class.

Ancient Corinth, urban street.  Released into Public Domain by MM.  from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:CorintoScaviStrada.jpg.   August 25, 2008

Sept. 9-

Read:    I Corinthians (use the reading guide supplied by Barr on pp. 132-33) and  Barr, Chapter Four, pp. 103-119 and 127-142 (omit the section on Galatians until next class).

Class Prep - Brief Essay Due at beginning of class.

For Fun:  Visit the Corinth Computer site at the University of Pennsylvania for plans and pictures at http://corinth.sas.upenn.edu/corinth.html

Sept 11 –

Read:  Galatians and Portion of Chapter Four covering Galatians  in Barr, pp.  119-127 and the summary on p.142-144. Plus Handout.

Class Prep: Think about the Reading and Study Guide Questions as you read. Make some notes to share in class on questions 4, 5, and 6.

Sept 16 - Tools:  Dictionaries and One Volume Commentaries –

Read on e-reserve ""Galatians" by G.N. Stanton, pp 1152-1165 in the Oxford Bible Commentary  and online or in your hard copy “Galatians, letter to the"  [pp. 476-78] and "Hagar" [ p. 538-39] in Eerdman's Dictionary of the Bible in googlebooks at http://books.google.com/books?id=P9sYIRXZZ2MC&dq=Eerdman%27s+dictionary+of+the+bible&pg=PP1&ots=sAc5AFnEqu&sig=Tqa5zbVHSfd7RDTeRI9MPdB6u-w&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result

Class Preparation:  Dictionary/Commentary Questions

Sept 18 - Romans 1-8 - Barr, Chapter 5

            Read:   Romans 1-8 and Barr, Chapter 5

            Class Prep -  Reading and Study Guide 

Sept 23 – Romans 9-16

Read:  Romans 9-16 and  reread Barr, pp. 166-80.

 Class Prep – Reading and Study Guide.  Be able to speak to questions 3 and 4 in class.

Sept 25 - Pauline Trajectories

Read- Barr, Chapter 6 - I Timothy and Acts of Paul and Thecla.  You can find translations of the Thecla portions of the Acts of Paul and Thecla at:

Ross Kraemer trans. at http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/courses/rs135/thecla.html A good,  recent translation, but does not have the ending about the rock that can be found in the Jones and Ante-Nicene Fathers translations

Ante-Nicene Fathers trans. at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf08.vii.xxvi.html

A much  earlier translation by Jones  at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/thecla.html

Class Prep:   Study Guide and Questions.  Be sure you can answer questions 1, 4, and 5.

Sept 30 Interpretive Issues in Paul

Read:  "Currents and Crosscurrents" by Calvin J. Roetzel, The Letters of Paul: Conversations in Context. Fourth edition. (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1998), Chapter 7, pp. 161-90 on e-reserve.

Class Prep: Pick one of the areas of controversy Roetzel discusses. Outline the opposing views and Roetzel’s own response to the debate. Which of the positions do you find more convincing? Why? Be prepared to share your views in class. As part of your argument be able to review and cite key Pauline passages.

Take Home One - Due October 1 by 2 PM in my mailbox in the Philosophy Office on the fourth floor of Morrill Hall or via email attachment with a return receipt attached.   Windows Live doesn't have a return receipt function, so just ask me to email you I have received your files.  If via email, must be in Word 2007 or below, WordPerfect X3 or below, or a pdf file readable by Adobe Acrobat Reader.

III. GOSPELS, ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, METHODS, AND TRAJECTORIES

Oct 2  Brown Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament (New York: Doubleday, 1997. Chapter Two - How to Read the New Testament, pp. 20-47 on e-reserve. 

Preparing for Class Discussion - Bring to class a list of what you think are the key points Brown stresses. Also prepare one question about what you have read or one comment to share.

Oct 7   Intro to Study of Gospels - Barr, Chapter 8 - Use of a Synopsis

Read the biblical passages listed below and do the comparisons and contrasts first. Then, read Barr, Chapter 6. The purpose of this assignment is to begin to familiarize you with the different gospels and their interrelationships. As you read jot down comparisons and contrasts you find. They can be viewed in parallel columns in Aland, Synopsis of the Four Gospels. All four canonical gospels can also be viewed in parallel columns on the web at the Five Gospel Parallels. Click on the Four Canonicals.  At the Five Gospel Parallels you can also view the Gospel of Thomas in a Fifth column.  Click on The Five Gospels. The URL is http://www.utoronto.ca/religion/synopsis/    The New Oxford Annotated has a Table of Parallel Passages on pp. 538-39 Essays.

Prepare for Class Discussion:

1. Parable of the Lost Sheep: Matthew 18:10-19 and Luke 15:1-7 and Gospel of Thomas 107. Make a list of key similarities and differences. Who or what is the lost sheep in each gospel? Check clues from the context of the parable in each gospel.

2. Part of the passion in all four canonical gospels: Matthew 27:33-56; Mark 15:22-41; Luke 23:33-49; John 19:17-37.  Make a list of the key similarities and differences between the four gospels in these passages.  

3. Read the following healing stories: Mt. 8: 28-34=Mk 5: 1-20=Lk 8:26-39; Mt. 9:27-31; and Mt 15:22-28=Mk 7:24-30  What are the similarities and differences?

Oct 9 Mark 1-8 and Narrative Criticism

Read:    Mark 1:1- 8:22 and Barr, Chapter 9; and Glossary of Some Literary Techniques in the Gospels.  

Preparing for Class: Read Mark 1:1- 8:22 using the Reading Guide. Be prepared to discuss the questions raised on the Reading Guide. You may also wish to consult the

Oct 14 Mark 8:23 -16:8 .  

        Read: Mark 8:23-16:8 using the Reading Guide.

        Class Prep:  Be prepared to discuss the questions raised on the Reading Guide. (Finish reading Barr Chapter 9 if you haven't already done so)

Matthew the Evangelist from the Lindisfarne Gospels The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.  Single Image in the public domain. Obtained from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Meister_des_Book_of_Lindisfarne_001.jpg   August 27, 2008.

Oct 16 Matthew 1-13

Read:    Barr, Chapter 10 and Matthew 1-13 using the Reading Guide.

Class Prep:  Be prepared to discuss the questions raised on the Reading Guide.

Oct 21 Matthew 14-28 .

Read:   Matthew 14-28 using the Reading Guide.

Class Prep:  Be prepared to discuss the questions raised on the Reading Guide.