TRINITY WESTERN UNIVERSITY
Introduction to Old Testament Study Rels 101 (3 sem. hrs.)
Summer 2015
Dr Dirk Büchner dirk.buchner@twu.ca
Office: Seal Kap Contact: 3112
PREREQUISITES: None
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
An introduction to the major divisions of the Old Testament including an orientation to the following areas in the field of Old Testament studies: inspiration, principles of interpretation, canon, text, world of the Old
Testament, historical backgrounds, archaeology, theology, criticism, literary forms, and apocryphal writings.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1.
To provide students from many cultures and faith backgrounds, with an overview of the culture of the people who wrote the Bible. This will enable students to understand what is distinctive about the Old
Testament’s world over against their own, but also to make some connection to their own world of experience and spirituality.
2.
To allow students to reflect on contemporary issues such as science and faith, economic ethics, politics and social justice as they arise from reading the Old Testament.
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3.
To show that the relevance of the Old Testament as book of faith for contemporary Christians is not diminished by the role of the New
Testament and the birth of the Church.
REQUIRED TEXT(S):
1.
Victor Matthews and James Moyer, The Old Testament, Text and
Context
2.
Dirk Büchner: Course Pack from the Bookstore:
How to Read the Old
Testament When They Make You Do It (Summer 2015).
3.
An English Bible. The Good News Bible is what I prefer, because it avoids theological terms and offers ordinary English to the reader. If a more literal translation is preferred, the NIV or NASB are good. The most up to date scholarly edition is the NRSV.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Every student will:
1.
Do the required reading from the text books, the Bible and web resources for each following lesson. The course pack must be handed in at the end of the course for evaluation. It will make the student's life very much easier if the course pack is kept up to date.
2.
Prepare responses to questions in the course pack, for the next class.
3.
Complete the assignments on the due dates as set out below, based on the information in the text book and the course pack.
PROPOSED COURSE OUTLINE:
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Block One: What Does It Mean to be Human?
Monday 27 April
Class Topic: Introduction to The Bible’s Culture
Tuesday 28 April
Class topic: What makes us Human? (Part 1) Proverbs and Song of Songs:
Humans in relationship, Wise and Foolish behaviour.
Thursday 30 April
Class Topic: What makes us Human? (Part 2). Proverbs: Prosperity, Poverty and Greed.
Friday 1 May
Class Topic: What makes us Human? (Part 3): Joseph and Esther: Living with family and foreign cultures.
Monday 4 May
Class Topic: What makes us Human? (Part 4): Pain and Protest: Lament,
Innocent Suffering and Reflection about Meaninglessness.
Block Two: Who is the God of the Old Testament?
Tuesday 5 May:
Class Topic: The Grieving God of the Flood and the Golden Calf
Narratives.
Thursday 7 May
Class topic: The God of beauty and order: Creation poems and celebration.
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Friday 8 May
Class topic: Israel’s Story: A God who Liberates and Legislates Protection of
Vulnerable People.
Block Three: The Human Response to God
Monday 11 May
Class Topic: Adam, Eve, Cain and Abraham. Tests and Choices
Tuesday 12 May
Class Topic: Joshua and Judges: Politics and Justice I
Thursday 14 May
Class Topic: Samuel to Kings: Politics and Justice II
Friday 15 May
Class topic: Prophets: Political and Social protest; Reflecting on Healthy
Society.
Assignments:
1.
Due Monday May 4 23h55. Length: 8 pages 1.5 spacing, font 12.
Topic: What do we learn from the Old Testament about what it means to be human ? Grading return time: 48 hours.
2.
Due Saturday May 9 23h55. Length: 5 pages 1.5 spacing, font 12.
Topic: What do we learn about the Nature of God from the Old
Testament ?
3.
Due Sunday May 17 23h55. Length: 5 pages, 1.5 spacing, font 12.
Topic: What is the Human Response to God?
For each assignment a guide will be posted on mycourses.
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DETERMINATION OF FINAL SEMESTER GRADE
Examination in this course is by essay type questions. It is advisable to work out the questions given as review questions on an ongoing basis throughout the semester. This way it will not be difficult to prepare for the assignments and the final paper.
Assignments 1 and 2:
Final assignment and course pack (20+20)
60 %
%
40 %
TOTAL 100 %
NOTE: All assignments, including the final exam, must be completed by the last day of the University exam period.
GRADING SYSTEM
A+ 95-100 Extremely superior work, demonstrating exceptional insight and extra care.
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A 85-95 Outstanding work, full comprehension of the material with attention to details coming out of class discussions
B+ 80-85 Very Good work, attending to what was required, but lacking in excellence
B 75-80 Adequate work, but where some aspects were left unattended
C 65-75 Sparse attention to the work, showing hurried attempts or lack of attention to the instructions.
D 55-65 Poor work showing little effort or no attention to the instructions.
LATE ASSIGNMENTS POLICY
Deduction of marks.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND AVOIDING PLAGIARISM AT TWU
As Christian scholars pursuing higher education, academic integrity is a core value of the entire TWU community. Students are invited into this scholarly culture and required to abide by the principles of sound academic scholarship at TWU. This includes, but is not limited to, avoiding all forms of plagiarism and cheating in scholarly work. TWU has a strict policy on plagiarism (see Academic Calendar 2000-10, pp. 39-40).
Learning what constitutes plagiarism and avoiding it is the student's responsibility. An excellent resource describing plagiarism and how to avoid it has been prepared by TWU Librarian William Badke and is freely available for download (PPT file) or used as flash (self running) tutorials of varying lengths from: http://www.acts.twu.ca/lbr/plagiarism.ppt
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http://www.acts.twu.ca/lbr/Plagiarism.swf
(14 minute flash tutorial) http://www.acts.twu.ca/lbr/Plagiarism_Short.swf
(8 minute flash tutorial)
CAMPUS CLOSURE AND CLASS CANCELLATION POLICY
In the event of deteriorating weather conditions or other emergency situations, every effort will be made to communicate information regarding the cancellation of classes to the following radio stations CKNW
(980 AM), CKWX (1130 AM), STAR FM (107.1 FM), PRAISE (106.5 FM) and
KARI (550 AM). As well, an announcement will be placed on the
University’s campus closure notification message box (604.513.2147) and on the front page of the University’s website ( http://www.twu.ca
– also see http://www.twu.ca/conditions for more details).
An initial announcement regarding the status of the campus and cancellation of classes is made at 6:00 AM and covers all classes beginning before 1:00PM. A second announcement is made at 11:00AM that covers all classes which begin between 1:00PM and 5:00PM. A third announcement is made at 3:00PM and covers those classes which begin after 5:00PM.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
"Students with a disability who need assistance are encouraged to contact the Equity of Access Office upon admission to TWU…All disabilities must be recently documented by an appropriately certified professional…Within the first two weeks of the semester, students must
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meet with their professors to agree on accommodations appropriate to each class. Students should follow the steps detailed by the Equity of
Access Office outlined in the Student Life section of [the 2009-10
Academic] Calendar." P.40, 2009-10 Academic Calendar
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