INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL STUDIES
McCormick Theological Seminary,
B 300, Fall 2013, Wednesday, 6:00 – 8:50 p.m.
Instructors
Sarah Tanzer, New Testament, 773-947-6328, stanzer@mccormick.edu
Theodore Hiebert, Old Testament, 773-947-6341, thiebert@mccormick.edu
THE AIMS OF THE COURSE
The purpose of this course is to make us all better readers and interpreters of
the Bible. This is not a survey of biblical content. It’s a study of the ways we
read and interpret the Bible and how to enrich and strengthen our reading. To
do this, we’ll focus on the two worlds that influence the way we interpret the
Bible: the ancient world of the Bible and its authors who wrote it, and the
modern world and we who read and interpret it. We will study how the ancient
social locations of biblical authors influenced what they wrote and how they
wrote it. We will also study how our own social locations affect our reading
and interpretation of these texts.
To achieve these goals, we will practice some key skills of reading and
interpreting the Bible:
 Becoming keen observers of what’s going on in biblical texts.
 Paying close attention to the details of the biblical texts themselves as
the starting point for biblical study.
 Listening for a voice different from our own, a voice writing for a different
audience in a different time and place.
 Becoming more aware about the ways our own social locations influence
our interpretations of the Bible.
 Responding to the question: So What? Figuring out what biblical texts
written to different audiences mean in our own religious communities.
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE
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Regular attendance and thoughtful participation in class. A high
premium will be placed on regular attendance, on being on time, and on
being prepared.
Reading carefully and reflecting critically on class reading assignments in
preparation for class.
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Completing occasional one-page written assignments that respond to
class readings and that prepare you for class participation and
discussion, and for writing the course papers.
Writing five 3-4 page papers practicing the skills (above) of reading and
interpreting the Bible. The due dates for these papers are on the course
schedule below. A detailed description of these papers will be provided.
TEXTBOOKS
The only book we will ask you to buy for this course is a Study Bible based on
a different translation from the translation in the Bible you already own and
are using now. But we want to advise you which Study Bible to buy at the
beginning of the course, so we’d like to ask you to wait to buy another Bible
until the second week of the course.
The required reading for the course in secondary sources outside of the Bible
will be posted on the course website on Moodle. We advise you to print out
these readings and to make your own course book to put on your pastor’s
bookshelf along with other books you will be buying for your pastor’s library.
IBS 2013 Course Schedule:
Sept 11: Introduction to the Course and to Studying the Bible
Key Questions:
What does it look like to study the Bible in our different
contexts?
How would I describe my social location? How
does my social location shape my understanding of the
Bible?
What authority does the Bible have for me, and how
does that affect the way I study and interpret biblical texts?
How can I make my own careful observations about a
biblical text?
Assignments:
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Bring the Bible that you use most for your own
reading and study to class.
First day written assignment is due. Bring a hard
copy to class and also post it on the Moodle site for the
course.
Sept 18: The Composition, Transmission, and Translation of the Bible
Key Questions:
How were our biblical texts written, copied, and translated?
Which is the best English translation for me?
What do the footnotes in English translations mean?
What do I need to know in order to choose a translation, a
Study Bible, and a Gospel Parallels that will work best for
me?
What is the Synoptic Problem?
Assignments:
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Read the essay in your own Bible that introduces you
to the English translation it uses.
Daniel Harrington, “Textual Criticism,” in Interpreting
the Old Testament (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical
Press, 1991), 97-107.
Daniel Harrington, “Textual Criticism,” in Interpreting
the New Testament (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical
Press, 1990), 16-23.
Bart D. Ehrman, “The Synoptic Problem and its
Significance for Interpretation,” in The New Testament:
A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings
(3rd edition; Oxford and New York: Oxford University
Press, 2004), 83-91.
Sept 25: The Composition of the Bible: Part I. The Pentateuch—the first five
books of the Old Testament.
Key Questions:
Who wrote the Bible and how did they write it?
How do we identify the authors of biblical books, their styles,
and their points of view?
How does our knowledge of the author help us understand
better the biblical texts they wrote?
Assignments:
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Genesis 1-9
Norman Habel, “Discovering Literary Sources,” in
Literary Criticism of the Old Testament (Philadelphia:
Fortress Press, 1971), 18-42.
Oct 2: The Composition of the Bible: Part II. Gospels
Key Questions:
What is a Gospel?
How did the Gospels as we now have them come to be?
How are the Gospels related to what Jesus said and taught
and also to the communities of earliest Christians?
What will I be able to do with a Gospel Parallels and why is it
important for me to use it regularly?
Why do differences between the Gospels matter?
What can I learn from studying the smaller pieces that make
up a Gospel (e.g., miracle stories, sayings, parables, etc.)?
Assignments:
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Frederick J. Murphy, “Critical Study of the Gospels,”
in An Introduction to Jesus and the Gospels (Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 2005) 1-42.
Daniel Harrington, “Form Criticism” in Interpreting the
New Testament (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press,
1990), 70-83.
Paper on the Pentateuch due from 9/25
assignment.
Oct 9: Reading Week, No Class
Oct 16: The Composition of the Bible: Part III. The Prophets
Key Questions:
Who were the Prophets and to whom did they speak?
What kind of speeches did they give?
Assignments:
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Theodore Hiebert, “An Introduction to the Book of
Isaiah,” in Words of Warning, Visions of Hope (Chicago:
McCormick Theological Seminary, 2006), 13-16.
Gene Tucker, “Prophetic Speech,” Interpretation 32
(1978): 31-45.
Theodore Hiebert, “Poetry,” in Eerdmans Dictionary of
the Bible, ed. David Noel Freedman (Grand Rapids, MI:
Eerdmans, 2000), 1065-1068.
The Composition of the Bible: Part IV. Paul
Key Questions:
Why did Paul write letters?
How did the collection of Pauline letters come to be?
What do we mean by the “authentic” letters of Paul?
What do I need to know about letter writing in the
ancient world to be able to interpret Paul’s letters?
Assignments:
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Calvin J. Roetzel, “The Anatomy of the Letters,” in The
Letters of Paul: Conversations in Context (5th edition;
Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009),
59-72.
Richard I. Pervo, “Paul Becomes A Book,” in The
Making of Paul: Constructions of the Apostle in Early
Christianity (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2010), 2331.
Paper on the Gospels due from 10/2 assignment.
Oct 23: Using Resources to Study the Bible
Key Questions:
Why is it important that I develop my own understanding of
a claim that the text is making before turning to
commentaries and other resources?
When should I turn to commentaries, Bible Dictionaries, the
internet and other resources, and how do I best use these
resources?
How can I distinguish those resources that are based on
solid critical thinking from those that are not?
Assignments:
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Paper on Prophets or Paul due from 10/16
assignment.
Oct 30: The Historical World of the Bible
Key Questions:
What is it important for me to know about the history and
the politics of the biblical world (both large scale and local) in
order to interpret biblical texts?
Why should I try to understand what is going on in the
communities in which and to which these texts are written?
Assignments:
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Michael Coogan, “The Promised Land: Geography,
History, and Importance,” in The Old Testament: A
Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew
Scriptures (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011),
11-27.
Amy-Jill Levine, “Visions of Kingdoms: From Pompey
to the First Jewish Revolt,” in The Oxford History of the
Biblical World, ed. Michael D. Coogan (Oxford and New
York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 467-514.
Nov 6: The Social World of the Bible
Key Questions:
What do I need to know about ancient social practices,
communal organization, and cultural norms to better
understand the biblical text?
How does the social world of the Bible differ from my own
social location?
What do the geographical references in the biblical text
convey? What about topographical features?
Assignments:
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Philip J. King and Lawrence E. Stager, Life in Biblical
Israel (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001).
“Introduction: The Importance of Everyday Life,” 1-5;
“Family and Kinship,” 36-61; “Meals for Family and
Guests,” 61-68; “The Means of Existence,” 85-92;
“Patrimonial Kingdom,” 201-210; “Temples and
Shrines,” 330-339; and “Religious Practices,” 353-54,
357-63.
Bart D. Ehrman, “The World of Early Christian
Traditions,” in The New Testament: A Historical
Introduction to the Early Christian Writings (3rd edition;
Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004),
18-47.
Frederick J. Murphy, “Reconstructing Ancient Worlds:
Gospel Contexts,” in An Introduction to Jesus and the
Gospels (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2005), 75-85.
Paper on historical backgrounds due from
assignment on 10/30
Nov 13: Comparative Literature and Biblical Archaeology
Key Questions:
What can I learn by comparing other ancient literature
written around the same time as the Bible to my biblical
passage?
How might it heighten the understanding of my biblical
passage?
What contributions has archaeology made to our knowledge
of the biblical world and to our ability to understand and
interpret biblical texts?
Assignments:
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George Smith, “The Chaldean Account of the Deluge,”
in The Flood Myth, ed. Alan Dundes (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1988), 29-32, 42-48.
A selection of Ancient World Healing, Birth and
Nature Miracle Stories
Bart D. Ehrman, “The Material World of Jesus and the
Gospels,” in The New Testament: A Historical
Introduction to the Early Christian Writings (3rd edition;
Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).
Paper on Social World due from 11/6
Nov 20: The Biblical Canon
Key Questions:
Are all Bibles alike?
Do all Bibles contain the same books in the same order?
How and when did the books of the Bible become a Canon of
Scripture?
What does it mean to talk about the fuzzy edges of the
Canon?
Do I (or my community) have a “canon within the Canon”?
Assignments:
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Daniel J. Harrington, “Introduction to the Canon,” in The
New Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 1 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1994), 721.
Nov 27: Thanksgiving Break, No Class
Dec 4: The World and Social Location of the Reader of the Bible
Key Questions:
What is my social location and the social location of the
community/communities I belong to?
How does my social location affect how I view Scripture and
how I interpret it?
What is the value in being aware of my social location and
the social locations of others when we interpret Scripture
together?
Assignments:
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Samuel Cheon, “Biblical Interpretation in Korea: History and
Issues,” in Ways of Being, Ways of Reading: Asian American
Biblical Interpretation, ed. Mary F. Foskett and Jeffrey KahJin Kuan (St. Louis: Chalice, 2006), 31-44.
Leticia A. Guardiola-Sáenz, “Borderless Women and
Borderless Texts: A Cultural Reading of Matthew 15:21-28,”
Semeia 78 (1997): 69-81.
Mary Ann Tolbert, “Christianity, Imperialism, and the
Decentering of Privilege,” in Reading from this Place, Vol. 2:
Social Location and Biblical Interpretation in Global
Perspective, ed. Fernando Segovia and Mary Ann Tolbert
(Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995), 347-61.
Robert Allen Warrior, “A Native American Perspective:
Canaanites, Cowboys, and Indians,” in Voices from the
Margin: Interpreting the Bible in the Third World, ed. R. S.
Sugirtharajah (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1991), 287-95.
Renita Weems, “Reading Her Way through the Struggle:
African American Women and the Bible,” in Stony the Road
We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation, ed. Cain
Hope Felder (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991), 57-80.
Frank Yamada, “Constructing Hybridity and Heterogeneity:
Asian American Biblical Interpretation from a ThirdGeneration Perspective,” in Ways of Being, Ways of Reading:
Asian American Biblical Interpretation, ed. Mary F. Foskett
and Jeffrey Kah-Jin Kuan (St. Louis: Chalice, 2006), 164177.
Dec 11: The Authority of the Bible
Key Questions:
What can I say now about how the authority that I give to
the Bible shapes the way that I read and interpret it?
Where does our notion of biblical authority come from and
how do we make decisions about the Bible’s authority in
specific cases?
How does the authority that we grant to the Bible affect our
political thinking and actions and our public conversations
on a variety of social and personal issues?
Assignments:
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Michael Joseph Brown, “Hearing the Master’s Voice,”
in Engaging Biblical Authority: Perspectives on the Bible
as Scripture, ed. William P. Brown; (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox, 2007), 10-17.
Mary Ann Tolbert, “A New Teaching with Authority: A
Re-evaluation of the Authority of the Bible,” in
Teaching the Bible: The Discourses and Politics of
Biblical Pedagogy, ed. Fernando Segovia and Mary Ann
Tolbert (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Press, 1998), 168-182
and notes.
Dec 13: Paper on your social location and your role as a biblical
interpreter due.