M ODULE D ESCRIPTION
Sections 1 – 7 are key module details which once validated cannot be changed without re-
validation
1. Module Title: Hidden and revealed: Biblical and extra-biblical texts of dissent
Module
Code: PT3900
2. Credits:
CATS 15
ECTS 7.5
Level: 6 Status:
Current,
3. Programme: BA (Hons) Practical Theology Type: blended learning
Status:
Mandatory
4. Pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
5. Learning Outcomes for the module.
By the conclusion of this module, a student will be expected to be able to : a) gain an overview of the critical questions surrounding the Second Temple period b) demonstrate a working knowledge of the prescribed texts, including critical questions appropriate for each text, more specifically their historical background, theology, literary form, and reception in the Jewish and Christian traditions c) demonstrate critical awareness of the continuity and discontinuity of literary forms and ideas, and literary diversity of the selected texts d) appreciate the religious pluralism (i.e. on resurrection and immortality, concept of messianisms, eschatology) e) evaluate, analytically and synthetically, the reception and use of the prescribed texts and the Bible by oppressed and dissenting communities in a number of historical settings
6. Catalogue Summary
The module aims to use selected texts of the Second Temple period to introduce students to contemporary debates in Second temple studies, including: the history of the Jewish people in the
Hellenistic period up to the second century CE; the geographical and sociological background; the major philosophical movements of the Hellenistic and early Greco-Roman periods; the literary diversity of the texts (apocalyptic, wisdom, testamentary etc.); the theological issues involved; and the continuous process of traditions in the making, including the reception and use of the texts, as well as biblical texts and ideas, in oppressed and dissenting communities.

7. Assessment Pattern
Essay (2000 words)
Essay (2000 words)
Weight %
50
50
Pass Req
Agg
Comments
8. Indicative Tutorial Team
Rev Dr Ann Jeffers
Rev Dr Richard Cleaves
Rev Dr Janet Wootton
9. Indicative Learning and Teaching Activities
HESA Category
Scheduled
Sub-Total
Placement
Activity Type
Lecture
Seminar
Tutorial
Practical classes and workshops
Supervised time in studio/workshop
Fieldwork
External visits
Work-based learning
Project supervision
Demonstration
Placement
Year abroad
0
141
150
0
0
0
9
Hours
3
3
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
Sub-Total
Independent
Total Hours
Guided independent study
15 credits x 10 notional hours = 150 hours
10. Sample Assignments
Two assignments – one from 1,2, 3 and one from 4,5,6 (2000 words each)
1.
“The cosmology underlying apocalyptic literature is twofold: it presupposes two worlds, a heavenly one and a terrestrial one. Reality is encompassed by the overlapping and interaction of both these worlds. This is to some extent, what is to be understood in the Lord’s prayer: “Our Father who art in heaven, thy kingdom come … on earth as it is in heaven.” In what way does the world view of the texts we have been studying help us to live out our faith in today’s world?
2.
Is 2 Maccabees right to present the Maccabean struggle as one of Judaism against
Hellenism? What are the cultural parallels in the twenty-first century?
3.
To what extent can Josephus’ work on the Jewish War be described as an apologia for the Jewish people? Are there parallels in struggles for identity among oppressed peoples today?
4.
Critically evaluate the use and / or abuse of the Bible in either the anti-slavery

debate or in the emancipation of women in church and state. How does this impact on the way the Bible is read in your church as a dissenting community?
5.
Critically comment on the reception of either the Book of Daniel or the Book of
Revelation. How does the way you choose to read that book impact on your own faith and the wider world?
6.
In the light of our study of the reception of the Bible in Dissenting communities, select a contemporary issue and reflect on the way you as a member of a
Dissenting community can use the Bible to engage with that problem.
11. Indicative Outline Content
Introduction to Second Temple literature through a series of key texts which will form the basis of the module:
Part 1: The texts of the Second Temple Period: Daniel; 1 Macc 1-7; 2 Macc 3-7; 1 Enoch; 4 Ezra;
The book of Revelation.
Part 2: How dissenting communities read the Bible, including the texts of the Second Temple
Period
Teaching sessions:
Sessions 1: An introduction to Second Temple Texts
Session 2: Reading the Texts
Session 3: Dissenting communities read the Bible
12. Indicative Reading
Please note that resources, including course notes/presentations, papers and discussions, as well as access to online journals, are available through the University of Winchester Learning
Network: www.winchester.ac.uk
.
Aune, David E. Revelation. 3 vols. Word Biblical Commentary 52. (Dallas: Word, 1997-98).
Barclay, J. The Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora. From Alexander to Trajan (323 B.C.E.-117
C.E), (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996)
Bartlett, J. The First and Second Books of Maccabees (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1973).
Bartlett, J., 1 Maccabees, Guides to Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic
Press, 1999)
Bauckham, R. The Theology of the Book of Revelation. New Testament Theology. (Cambridge: University of
Cambridge Press, 1993)
Black, M. The Parables of Enoch and the Son of Man, Expository Times 88 (76) 1-8.
Boccaccini, G. Middle Judaism. Jewish Thought 300B.C.E. to 200 C.E.. (Minneapolis: Fortress
Press, 1991) chapter 1
Boesak, Allan A. Comfort and Protest: Reflections on the Apocalypse of John of Patmos. (Philadelphia:

Westminster, 1987)
Burdon, Christopher. The Apocalypse in England: Revelation Unravelling, 1700–1834. Studies in Literature and Religion. (London: Macmillan, 1997)
Charlesworth, J.H. Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1983)
Collins, J.J. Jewish Wisdom in the Hellenistic Age (Edinburgh: T&T Clark,1997) chapter 5.
Collins, J.J. The Heavenly Representative:The Son Of Man in the Similitudes of Enoch, in J.J. Collins and G.W.E Nickelsburg (ed.), Ideal Figures in Ancient Judaism: Profiles and
Paradigms, (Chicago: Scholars Press, 1980) 111-33
Davies, P.R. Daniel (OT Guides, Sheffield: JSOT, 1985) chapter 2.
Hall, R.G. Revealed Histories, (Sheffield: JSOT, 1991) chapter 5.
Harrington, D. The Maccabean Revolt: Anatomy of a Biblical Revolution, (Wilmington: Michael
Glazier, 1988)
Horsley, R., Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs : Popular Movements in the Time of Jesus (Valley Forge,
PA.:Trinity Press International, 1999)
Horsley, R., Galilee : History, Politics, People (Valley Forge, PA.:Trinity Press International, 1995)
Horsley, R., Jesus and the Spiral of Violence : Popular Jewish Resistance in Roman Palestine (Minneapolis:
Fortress Pr 1992)
Jagersma, H. A History of Israel from Alexander the Great to Bar Kochba (Kampen:
Uitgeversmaatschappij J.H. Koh, 1985)
Koester, Craig R. Revelation and the End of All Things.(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001).
Longenecker, B.W. 2 Esdras (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995);
Nickelsburg, G.W.E. Salvation with and without a Messiah: Developing Beliefs in Writings ascribed to Enoch, in J. Neusner, W. Scott Green and E.S. Frerichs (ed.) Judaisms and their
Messiahs at the Turn of the Christian Era, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1987) 56ff.
Portier-Young, A., Apocalypse Against Empire: Theologies of Resistance in Early Judaism (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011)
Rajak, T. Josephus, the Historian and his Society, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press: 1983): chapters 3,
4, 5, & 6.
Rowland, Christopher C. Revelation: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections. Pp. 503-736 in The New
Interpreter’s Bible 12. (Nashville: Abingdon, 1998)
Russell, D.S. Divine Disclosure. An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic. (London: SCM, 1992)
Russell, The Jews from Alexander the Great to Herod (London: SCM, 1967), pp. 1-59
Schüssler Fiorenza, Elisabeth. Revelation: Vision of a Just World. Proclamation Commentaries.
(Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991)
Smallwood, M. ‘Introduction’ in Josephus The Jewish War, tr. G.A Williamson (Harmondsworth:
Penguin, 1981) pp. 9-24.
Suter, D.W. Masal in the Similitudes of Enoch, JBL 100 (1981) 193-212
Suter, D.W. Tradition and Composition in the Parables of Enoch, SBL Dissertation Series 47 (1979), chapters 2, 7 & 8; see especially pp.107-116.
Willett, T.W. Eschatology in the Theodicy of 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1989)
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplementary Series 4 [ISBN 1-850-75160-
9].