DESCRIPTION:

The earliest Christians inhabited a "storied" world. Not only did they inherit Israel's sacred narrative but they also constructed their own identity around certain stories--stories about God, Israel, the Gentiles and, of course, Jesus. In this course we shall attend carefully to storytelling, first in the Old Testament and early Judaism, and then across the pages of the New Testament, in order to sort out how these ancient stories worked, how the Old Testament story fueled Jewish imaginations during the Greek and Roman eras, and how the story of Jesus was treasured and shaped to meet the needs of the emerging church. A rich, interdisciplinary assortment of readings, and a series of Biblical test passages will encourage our critical reflection on the nature of Biblical narrative as well as our thoughtful integration of narrative hermeneutics into the life of the church.

Insofar as this course will explore ways to read, interpret and, ultimately, to inhabit the Biblical story, it should be a useful resource for Christian leaders who are seeking to cultivate, in themselves and in others, hermeneutical sensitivity, moral discernment and a growing appreciation for the story-bound identity of the people of God.

Meets weekly for three-hour sessions, for lectures, discussion and student presentations.

A standard translation of the Bible (e.g., NRSV, RSV, NASV, NIV, JB, KJV, NKJV).

Frye, Northrop. The Great Code: The Bible and Literature. Harcourt Brace & Co., 1982.

Kermode, Frank. The Genesis of Secrecy: On the Interpretation of Narrative. Harvard, 1979.

Kugel, James L. The Bible as it Was. Harvard, 1997.

Wright, N. T. The New Testament and the People of God. Fortress, 1992.

Course Reader (containing essays by Erich Auerbach, Hans Frei, Richard B. Hays, Phyllis Trible, C. H. Dodd, Philip Kenneson, A. N. Wilder, Mark A. Powell, V. Philips Long, C. S. Lewis, Nicholas Lash and George Lindbeck).

Alter, Robert. The Art of Biblical Narrative. Basic Books, 1981.

Buechner, Frederick. Telling the Truth: The Gospel As Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale. HarperSanFrancisco, 1985.

Caird, George B. The Language and Imagery of the Bible. Eerdmans, 1997 (Duckworth, 1980).

Green, Garrett, ed. Scriptural Authority and Narrative Interpretation. Fortress, 1987.

Long, V. Philips. The Art of Biblical History. Zondervan, 1994.

1) Attend regularly and complete thoughtfully the pre-class readings. Regular quizzes on these readings will foster accountability (20%). 2) Prepare a brief (1-page) handout designed to stimulate class discussion of one of the assigned readings (10%). 3) Submit a research paper of approximately 12-15 pages, exploring either (a) one aspect of early Jewish Biblical interpretation, (b) the narrative substructure of a selected New Testament epistle, or (c) history and historiography in Luke-Acts (50%). 4) Final exam (20%).