Original web document: http://www.smu.edu/~dbinder/reli.html
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Readings from both of these volumes are noted in the outline of class meetings, below. Class discussions, computer discussion board topics and exam items will be drawn from material found within these two texts, as well as from various hand-outs and information covered in class sessions. |
I. |
Class Attendance and Participation
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Since we will be covering a voluminous amount of material in this course, regular attendance at class sessions is essential. While lectures will be the focus of these sessions, class time will also be devoted to an analysis and discussion of the materials associated with the days topic. Consequently, students are expected to "read, mark and inwardly digest" the required readings assigned for the dates specified below in preparation for class discussions. Occasional homework assignments will be given as tools for absorbing some of the key facts and terms.
II. |
Computer Discussion Board Entries
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Beginning with the second week of the course, each student will be required to make weekly contributions to a discussion board located on the instructors Web site. All posts to the discussion board will be anonymous to everyone except the instructor, and must be entered by 5 pm on Friday for that weeks set of entries. Submissions may be made for credit up to a week after the dealine with a 10 point penalty. Entries should address the material arising from that weeks readings and class sessions; they may also be made in response to a post made by another student (within the bounds of civility, of course). Some starter questions will be included in the class outline below, not to induce a rigid set of Q & A responses, but simply to stimulate thought. Entries will be judged on the depth of their reflections and not on whether the student agrees with the interpretations of the instructor. See the discussion board handout for additional technical information on posting your entries.
There will be two mid-term examinations held during class time, one on February 5 and the other on March 5. Each will last the entire class period and will consist of identification, definition, and essay questions on the topics covered in each unit of study. Prior to the examinations, the instructor will supply study sheets that the students may find helpful in exam preparation.
The final examination will be held during the published examination period. It will be similar to the mid-term exams in format, but will cover more material.
Class sessions:
Mon. 1/1 | Overview: Going Online, Textual Criticism and Dates to Remember |
Wed. 1/13 | Sources: The Written and the Unwritten |
Fri. 1/15 | A Question of Methodologies |
Discussion Board (Week 1): Try a test message to be sure you understand how to post to the system. Suggested topic: What do I hope to gain from this course? |
II. |
The Context of Early
Christianity
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Class sessions:
Mon. 1/18 | No Class: University Holiday |
Wed. 1/20 | Athens meets Jerusalem |
Fri. 1/22 | Foreign gods, Mysteries and Philosophies |
Discussion Board (Week 2): How might have Hellenistic ideas and practices influenced both Jewish thought and the rise of Early Christianity? |
Mon. 1/25 | Judas the Hammer: Forerunner of Jewish Independence |
Wed. 1/27 | The (Roman) Empire Strikes Back |
Fri. 1/29 | Jewish Groups: From Essenes to Zealots |
Discussion Board (Week 3): In what ways did the Roman rule of Palestine differ from that of the Hellenistic kings? Was Jerusalems destruction inevitable? |
Mon. 2/1 | Jewish Institutions: The Temple and the Synagogues |
Wed. 2/3 | Review for Exam |
Fri. 2/5 | Examination over Parts I and II. |
Discussion Board (Week 4): Based on your present understanding of early Christianity, how would you place it in comparison with other Jewish Groups? Were there basic incompatibilities that might have made worship in the Temple and in the synagogues difficult for early Christians? |
Class sessions:
Mon. 2/8 | The Historical Jesus: Will the Real Jesus Please Stand up? |
Wed. 2/10 | Synoptic Problems and Solutions |
Fri. 2/12 | Parallel Columns and Redactional Tendencies |
Discussion Board (Week 5): What is your opinion of the various portraits of the "historical Jesus" that you have encountered? Which solution to the Synoptic Problem do you find most convincingand why? |
Mon. 2/15 | Matthews Jesus: A New Moses? (Reading: Matt 12; 57; 23; 2628) |
Wed. 2/17 | Lukes Jesus: An Orderly Account (Reading: Luke 12; 4:1630; 2224) |
Fri. 2/19 | Marks Jesus: The Suffering Servant (Reading: Mark 14; 13; 14:1216) |
Discussion Board (Week 6): Of the three Synoptic portrayals of Jesus, which one do you prefer? Which one do you like least? |
Mon. 3/1 | Form-ing an Oral Tradition |
Wed. 3/3 | Thomas: A Fifth Gospel? (Reading: The Gospel of Thomas) |
Fri. 2/26 | Reconstructing a Historical Jesus: Critiquing Criteria |
Discussion Board (Week 7): How would you rank Thomas as a historical source in the Quest for the Historical Jesus? Which Criteria do you think are most useful in constructing a portrait of the Historical Jesus? |
Mon. 3/1 | Johns Jesus: The Logos Became Flesh (Reading: John 13, 1821) |
Wed. 3/3 | The Life of Jesus and Review for Exam |
Fri. 3/5 | Examination over Part III. |
Discussion Board (Week 8): How does Johns portrait of Jesus differ from that of the Synoptics? How does it agree? |
Class sessions:
Mon. 3/15 | Acts: An Orderly Account, Part II (Reading: Acts 12; 8; 10; 1519) |
Wed. 3/17 | Jewish Christianity: Grappling with Torah (Reading: James 15; Ehrman, pp. 135141) |
Fri. 3/19 | Jewish Christianity: After the Order of
Melchizedek (Reading: Heb 510) |
Discussion Board (Week 9): How does Hebrews reinterpret the meaning of the Temple cult in view of the death and resurrection of Christ? |
Mon. 3/22 | Pauline Christianity: A Correspondence Course |
Wed. 3/24 | Galatians: Quarreling Rabbis (Reading: Gal 14) |
Fri. 3/26 | 1 Thessalonians: A Need for Hope (Reading: 1 Thess 15) |
Discussion Board (Week 10): Galatians has been called "the Magna Carta" of Christianity. How might this document represent a parting of the ways between Christianity and Pharisaic Judaism? |
Mon. 3/29 | 1 and 2 Corinthians: A Preoccupation with Gnosis (Reading: 1 Cor 13; 11:1715:58; 2 Cor 10-12) |
Wed. 3/31 | Romans: Being Weak and Strong in Faith (Reading: Rom 12; 1415) |
Fri. 4/2 | No Class: University Holiday |
Discussion Board (Week 11): Noting especially the evidence of the Corinthian correspondence, what functions did charismatic gifts play in the early churches? What are some of the responses of early Christianity to issues of social status, including slavery? |
V. |
The Second Phase of
Christianity
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Class sessions:
Mon. 4/5 | Philemon & Philippians: Rejoicing in Chains (Reading: Philemon; Phil 14) |
Wed. 4/7 | Colossians & Ephesians: From the Cosmic Christ to the Household of God (Reading: Col 1-4; Eph 56) |
Fri. 4/9 | The Pastorals: The Need for Leadership (Reading: 1 Tim 23; 2 Tim 1) |
Discussion Board (Week 12): What forces appear to have driven the early churches to curtail prophetic ministry and the role of women as teachers by reinforcing a strict hierarchical polity? |
Mon. 4/12 | 1 Clement: More Trouble in Corinth (Reading: 1 Clement) |
Wed. 4/14 | The Didache: An Early Church Manual (Reading: The Didache) |
Fri. 4/16 | Revelation: Apocalypse Now! (Reading: Rev 13, 2122) |
Discussion Board (Week 13): How do you think the churches in Asia might have greeted Revelation, particularly in view of their tenuous positions within Greco-Roman society? |
Mon. 4/19 | Ignatius: An Early Martyr (Reading: Ignatius to the Ephesians) |
Wed. 4/21 | Conflict in the Community of the Beloved Disciple (Reading: 1 John 15) |
Fri. 4/23 | The Flowering of Gnosticism and Churches' Response (Reading: 2 Peter 13) |
Discussion Board (Week 14): What, in your opinion, was at stake in the debate between the adherents of Gnosticism and those of the churches that were eventually to define Orthodox Christianity? |
Mon. 4/26 | Marcion: A Rejection of the Wicked Creator & Building a Canon |
Wed. 4/28 | Early Catholicism: Acceptable Diversity |
Fri. 4/30 | Review for Exam |
Discussion Board (Week 15): Reflect back to the beginning of the semester on what you hoped to gain from this class. In what ways were these aspirations fulfilled or left unrealized? |
Tue. 5/4 8-11 am: Final Exam over Parts IV and V.
© Donald D. Binder, 1997-99
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