Biblical Studies Courses

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  • BIBST 751 / Wisdom in the Biblical World - (view)
    This course shall examine questions of the origin, development, and use of wisdom (as a theme and as personified) in the ancient world. The course shall briefly survey the history of scholarship on the wisdom tradition in three major periods (ancient Israelite, the Second Temple period, and the NT period, with focus on the Gospels). Greater attention will be given to the forms of wisdom (proverbial wisdom and parabolic narratives), and their relevance and contribution to the social, religious and political institutions (Family, Temple, Palace, Court, Prophecy) of the ancient world. Signature of instructor required for registration.

Basic and Introductory Bible Classes

  • BIBST 101 / Biblical Literature I: Torah, Prophets, Writings (3) - (view)
    An introduction to the first testament as a source for understanding and appropriating the religious experiences, insights, commitments, and expectations of the various communities of ancient Israel. The focus is on learning to interpret biblical texts with theological and ethical sensitivity, using the tools and skills of historical-critical, social-scientific, and literary-critical research. Offered fall semester annually.
  • BIBST 107 / Biblical Foundations of Camp/Retreat Ministry (3) - (view)
    See CERT 310 for course description. Same as: CERT 310.
  • BIBST 111 / Biblical Literature 2: Gospels, Epistles, Apocalypse (3) - (view)
    An introduction to the history, literature, and religion of earliest Christianity; study of selected passages illustrating historical and theological interpretation; collateral readings in scholarly literature. Required of students in the M.Div. program during the first year of study. Offered spring semester annually.
  • BIBST 115 / Exegetical Skills I (1) - (view)
    This course is designed as a companion course to Bibst 101 Biblical Literature I. Course content will include 1) an introduction of the rudimentary features of Hebrew 2) training sessions in the use of biblical studies research tool such as Bible Works 3) guidance in the practices of exegetical analysis. (e.g. comparing and contrasting various translations, exploring the semantic ranges of words and grammatical constructions, formulating critical questions, exploring literary and socio-historical context, learning how to do basic research in the field of biblical studies. Offered Pass/Fail only. Graded Pass/Unsatisfactory. Corequisite: BIBST 101.
  • BIBST 116 / Exegetical Skills II (1) - (view)
    This course is designed as a companion course to Bibst 111 Biblical Literature 2. Course content will include 1) an introduction of the rudimentary features of Greek 2) training sessions in the use of biblical studies research tool such as Bible Works 3) guidance in the practices of exegetical analysis. (e.g. comparing and contrasting various translations, exploring the semantic ranges of words and grammatical constructions, formulating critical questions, exploring literary and socio-historical context, learning how to do basic research in the field of biblical studies. Offered Pass/Fail only. Graded Pass/Unsatisfactory. Corequisite: BIBST 111.

Intermediate Courses

  • BIBST 103 / Hebrew Biblical Exegesis (3) - (view)
    An introduction to exegesis and interpretation of related texts: focus varies. Course may be repeated. Same as: BIBST 742.
  • BIBST 106 / Biblical Models for Ministry: Priest, Prophet, and Sage (3) - (view)
    Survey of the distinctive roles within ancient Israel of the priests, the prophets, and wise persons, with reference to their types of authority, their functions, and their ideologies, with continual reference to these roles as they relate to leadership within the church community. Prerequisite: BIBST 101.
  • BIBST 108 / Preaching with the Hebrew Bible (3) - (view)
    A study of the various genres of texts (e.g., Prophecy, Psalms, Narratives, and Wisdom texts) in the Old Testament and the appropriate ways to utilize these texts in Christian preaching. Enrollment priority given to D.Min. students. Open to M.Div. and M.T.S. students. Prerequisite: BIBST 101.
  • BIBST 113 / New Testament Exegesis (3) - (view)
    An introduction to exegesis and interpretation of related texts: focus varies. Course may be repeated. Same as: BIBST 743.
  • BIBST 149 / Contemporary Hermeneutics for Preaching the New Testament (3) - (view)
    An overview of the main critical paradigms in New Testament hermeneutics: historical, literary, social-scientific, and ideological criticisms and their application for preaching the New Testament to a postmodern world. Particular emphasis will be given to contextual perspectives. Prerequisite: BIBST 111.
  • BIBST 150 / Women in the New Testament (3) - (view)
    A socio-historical study of the role of women in the world of early Christianity through the writings of the New Testament. Feminist methods of interpretation will be studied to help in the analysis and appropriation of selected women's stories from the Gospels and texts dealing with women in the Pauline letters. Amount of credit established at time of registration. Prerequisite: BIBST 111.
  • BIBST 151 / Texts and Topics in the Pentateuch (3) - (view)
    Literary and historical problems in the interpretation of the Pentateuch; subjects vary. Course may be repeated. Prerequisite: BIBST 101.
  • BIBST 152 / Texts and Topics in the Historical Books of the Hebrew Bible (3) - (view)
    Studies of historical and literary issues in the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Subjects vary. Course may be repeated. Prerequisite: BIBST 101. Same as: COMFE 152.
  • BIBST 153 / Texts and Topics in the Poetic Literature of the Hebrew Bible (3) - (view)
    Studies in Hebrew poetic style, wisdom, literature, Psalms, Lamentations, and Song of Songs. Subjects vary. Course may be repeated. Prerequisite: BIBST 101. Same as: COMFE 153 BIBST 741.
  • BIBST 154 / Texts and Topics: Jeremiah (3) - (view)
    Studies in social roles, the theological messages, the political concerns, the literary artistry, and the historical contexts of the writing prophets. Subjects vary. Course may be repeated. Prerequisite: BIBST 101. Same as: COMFE 154 BIBST 48 BIBST 748.
  • BIBST 155 / Children, Trauma, and the Bible (3) - (view)
    Statisticians tell us that millions of children around the globe are suffering physical and psychological traumas. Psychologists tell us that what constitutes "healing" for a child who has undergone trauma is still a mystery. How are religious communities to respond to these children in crisis? How do we create awareness? How do we minister to children and their families? For the church, the Bible has been the book most often turned to for guidance in times of trouble. But does the Bible really address the needs of children? In this course we attempt to explore various dimensions of childhood trauma and how the Bible can be both a weapon and a tool when it comes to the care of children. Prerequisite: BIBST 101 and BIBST 111 and PASTH 504. Same as: PASTH 613.
  • BIBST 165 / Topics in Hebrew Bible (3) - (view)
    Studies in the theological themes and paradigms of the Old Testament and in issues involved in theological interpretation. Subjects vary. Course may be repeated. Prerequisite: BIBST 101.
  • BIBST 169 / Religions of the Ancient Near East (3) - (view)
    Study of the religions of Mesopotamia (Sumeria, Babylonia, Assyria), Egypt, Anatolia, and Syria-Palestine (Canaan, Aram) through analysis of literature and archaeological remains. Special attention is given to general religious questions and to the interrelationship of Israel and other ancient Near Eastern cultures. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: BIBST 101. Same as: REL 169 BIBST 739.
  • BIBST 170 / Biblical Conceptions of Afterlife (3) - (view)
    Study of such topics as Sheol, heaven, Gehenna, and Hades, together with other related topics, such as divine reward and punishment, resurrection, and Satan. Emphasis on isolating the origins of each of these concepts and tracing their development through both the Old and New Testaments and other relevant ancient literature. Course may be repeated. Prerequisite: Prerequisite: BIBST 101 and BIBST 111.
  • BIBST 175 / The Synoptic Gospels (3) - (view)
    Historical, literary, and theological analysis of one or more of the synoptic gospels. Course may be repeated. Prerequisite: BIBST 111. Same as: BIBST 715.
  • BIBST 176 / The Johannine Literature (3) - (view)
    Historical, literary, and theological problems in the interpretation of the fourth Gospel and the Johannine epistles; particular attention is given to the religious-historical background of Johannine theology. Prerequisite: BIBST 111.
  • BIBST 177 / Studies in Pauline Literature (3) - (view)
    Historical problems in the interpretation of the letters of Paul. Special attention is given to the theology of Paul and the meaning of Paul's theology for the church today. Course may be repeated. Prerequisite: BIBST 111.
  • BIBST 178 / The Literature of the Emerging Church (3) - (view)
    Historical and theological study of the writings of the emerging church: deutero-Pauline Epistles, Pastoral Epistles, Hebrews, Revelation, Apostolic Fathers. Prerequisite: BIBST 111.
  • BIBST 181 / The Bible and Homosexuality (3) - (view)
    This course will center on an in-depth exegesis of all the verses in the Bible that deal with or relate to homosexuality, both in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and the New Testament. The goal throughout will be to situate this material in relation both to the ancient cultural contexts in which it was produced and the present ecclesiastical contexts in which it is interpreted, and to bring these two sets of contexts into creative and productive dialogue. Prerequisite: (BIBST 101 or BIBST 111).
  • BIBST 183 / The New Testament and Christian Ethics (3) - (view)
    The New Testament understanding of human relationships and historical responsibility; New Testament models for ethical existence evaluated as possibilities for contemporary life. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: BIBST 111.
  • BIBST 184 / Judging Judges (3) - (view)
    Study of what has been a troubling book for many Christians, primarily on account of its violence and God's seeming sanction of, even participation in, that violence. Special attention is given to the book's narrative complexity and moral ambiguity; the ways in which its images continue to permeate contemporary society; and the problem posed by its existence in the biblical canon. Prerequisite: BIBST 101.
  • BIBST 185 / New Testament Theology (3) - (view)
    Theological themes in the New Testament; problems of unity and diversity in the New Testament; evaluation of alternative approaches to theological interpretation of New Testament writings. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: BIBST 111.
  • BIBST 187 / Topics in Biblical Studies (3) - (view)
    The topic for this course changes and will be announced at the time of registration. This course may be repeated for credit. May be repeated for credit.
  • BIBST 188 / Cross-Cultural Representations of Jesus (3) - (view)
    Christianity around the world has produced a myriad of Jesus images. This course explores some of the theological, ideological, pictorial and mass media representations of Jesus that have emerged from the cultural appropriations of the gospels. Special attention will be given to the hermeneutics behind the images as well as their ethical ramifications. Prerequisite: BIBST 111.
  • BIBST 189 / The Historical Jesus Quest(ion) (3) - (view)
    A study of the problems of the historical Jesus;, representative lives of Jesus, and the evaluation of synoptic material as a source for historical knowledge of Jesus, as well as the methods, theoretical underpinnings, and ethical-theological interests of the modern quest for Jesus. Prerequisite: BIBST 111.
  • BIBST 191 / Struggling with Justice Alongside the Bible (3) - (view)
    This course will examine texts throughout the Bible that provide systems for procedural and distributive justice, retributive responses to lack of justice, and hoped for restoration of the community through acts of reconciliation in response to violence. Beyond the Biblical text the course will examine the contemporary works of restorative justice, truth and reconciliation commissions, Jubilee and debt reduction and other forms of attempts to use the Bible in relationship to contemporary justice issues. Same as: BIBST 747.

Advanced Courses

  • BIBST 158 / Proverbs in the Bible and African Literature (3) - (view)
    Proverbial wisdom as a part of the larger corpus of wisdom Literature, with its concern with issues of ethical and savoire-faire, practical know-how, plays an important role in the creation, critique, and maintenance of social, religious, and political structures in Africa and in the Bible. The course will explore how theoretical issues about the nature, content, and function of proverbial wisdom in African literature can impact and contribute to the interpretation of biblical proverbs. Accordingly, the course will combine rhetorical criticism and reader-response analyses in exploring these issues. A central focus will be on Proverb Performance: the purposeful transmission of a proverbial saying in a particular context in order to provoke and evaluate responses in both oral and literary contexts. Prerequisite: BIBST 101. Same as: BIBST 750.
  • BIBST 159 / Women, Wives, and Wenches in the Bible (3) - (view)
    Reading women's stories, demographics, and activities as portrayed in ancient sacred, historical, classics, and novels. We will compare these with classical and contemporary discourses that contained the ideological framework by which classical womanhood is constructed.
  • BIBST 710 / Law and Ethics in and Beyond the Biblical Traditions (3) - (view)
    A study of the legal materials of the Hebrew Bible and the ethical issues that emerge in the narratives and discourses of both testaments. The course includes attention to the ethics of biblical interpretation and the issues surrounding the use of the Bible as a resource for reflection on contemporary ethical issues. Signature of instructor required for registration.
  • BIBST 718 / The Bible After Postmodernism (3) - (view)
    Explores the outer limits of contemporary biblical scholarship through immersion in some of the more innovative and challenging developments in the neighboring field of literacy studies, a field that, more than any other, has shown what postmodernism might mean in academic terms and through attempting, creatively and imaginatively, to bring these developments into dialogue with biblical studies. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: (BIBST 101 or BIBST 111).
  • BIBST 725 / Late Ancient Judaism (3) - (view)
    This course will cover the history of Judaism from the Maccabean revolt through Late Antiquity, with emphasis on historiographic issues, e.g., strategies of periodizations, the usefulness of concepts such as "sectarianism" or "hellenization," the emergence of Rabbinism, and the "parting of the ways" between Christianity and Judaism. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: (BIBST 101 or BIBST 111). Same as: COMFE 790.
  • BIBST 726 / Gender, Difference, and Election in Israel's Primary Story (3) - (view)
    Re-examination of the primary story of Israel with attention to the concerns of "others" (women, children, aliens, slaves, the physically challenged, et al.), and exploration of how such a shift in emphasis might invite revisions of commonly held notions of covenant, salvation history, and election. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: BIBST 101.
  • BIBST 728 / The Books of Samuel and the Politics of Representation (3) - (view)
    A study of how the stories of Samuel, Saul, and David are told in the books of Samuel, with attention to the possible political and theological drives that may have shaped their narration in the Bible, and their subsequent representations in Western literature and art.
  • BIBST 731 / Unveiling Revelation (3) - (view)
    Brings the book of Revelation into dialogue with a variety of critical discourses, notably historical criticism, gender studies, postcolonial studies, and ecocriticism. Signature of instructor required for registration.
  • BIBST 736 / Feminist Interpretations of the Gospels (3) - (view)
    Surveys critical readings of the biblical texts proposed by feminist biblical scholars from around the world, paying special attention to the methodology they use, the role of their social location and ideological agendas, and the challenge they post to traditional readings of the Bible.
  • BIBST 737 / The Bible, Colonialism, and Postcolonialism (3) - (view)
    Using the resources of postcolonial studies, this course will examine selected texts from the Hebrew Bible and New Testament in relation to the perennial theme of empire, and the complex patterns of resistance and collusion that empire invariably elicits. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: (BIBST 101 or BIBST 111).
  • BIBST 738 / Earliest Christianities (3) - (view)
    This course explores the diversity of early Christian beginnings primarily through the writings of early Christians beyond the New Testament canon. Attention is given to diverse interpretations of Jesus and Judaism, the emergence of church structures and rituals, and the construction of the categories "orthodoxy" and "heresy" in the context of the struggle for authority and identity in the Roman Empire as well as at the intersections between historiography and contemporary religious and political debates. Signature of instructor required for registration.
  • BIBST 740 / Studies in Gnosticism (3) - (view)
    An exploration of an elusive and eclectic ancient religious phenomenon through a reading of the heresiological sources and the Nag Hammadi corpus, in conjunction with recent scholarly literature. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: CHIST 202.
  • BIBST 741 / Texts an Topics in the Poetic Lit. of the Old Testament (3) - (view)
    Studies in hebrew poetic style, wisdom, literature, Psalms, Lamentations, and Song of Songs. Subjects vary. Prerequisite: BIBST 101. Same as: BIBST 153.
  • BIBST 744 / Gender and Sexuality in Ancient Christianity (3) - (view)
    A seminar engaging both women's history and the history of cultural constructions of gender and sexuality through the readings of the New Testament and other Christian texts of Mediterranean antiquity, in combination with recent works of critical scholarship. Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: (CHIST 202 or BIBST 111).
  • BIBST 753 / Topics in Hebrew Bible (3) - (view)
    Studies in the theological themes and paradigms of the Old Testament and in issues involved in theological interpretation. Subjects vary. Course may be repeated.

Advanced Courses on Biblical and Post-Biblical Religion and Literature

  • BIBST 140 / Coptic: (3) - (view)
    An intensive study of the basic elements of Coptic grammar, followed by reading the full Coptic text of the Gospel of Thomas. Prerequisite: Knowledge of Koine Greek.
  • BIBST 752 / Myth and Society in the Acts of the Apostles (3) - (view)
    If Acts is empirical historiography does creating a sub-category of religious history bring the reader any closer to understanding the identity formation and socio-political issues attendant on the role of angels, auditions, and visions. Angels, auditions, and visions are non-empirical events. This class explores the engagement of a mythic worldview with those characters and events in the Acts of the Apostles. Can a mythic worldview shed further light on non-empirical and empirical passages in Acts and on the relationship between communities of story teller in an ancient empire? In this class we will read selected passages in the Acts of the Apostles in order to begin answering these questions."

Courses on Biblical Languages