Loyola Logo IPS 417-002
The Literature of Ancient Israel














Course Description


This course is an introduction to the Hebrew Bible, the sacred literature of both Christians and Jews. In order to reconstruct the meaning of Hebrew Bible texts for their original audiences, we will employ the methods of modern critical biblical scholarship. We will undertake a broad survey of this history as it is recorded in the biblical texts. It will highlight major turning points in the story of the people of Israel . Emphasis will be placed on reading the biblical texts in their socio-historical contexts and according to their individual genres. The aim of our efforts to recover the ancient cultural, religious, and literary contexts of the Hebrew Bible is the authentic appropriation of this literature in present-day contexts of pastoral ministry and personal spiritual growth.

At the successful completion of this course, students wil demonstrate

  • familiarity with the contents and historical contexts of the books of the Hebrew Bible,

  • comprehension of critical issues involved in reading biblical texts (e.g., genre, authorship, composition, historicity, etc.) and the methods and tools of biblical interpretation

  • an extension of their understanding of Biblical texts to pastoral ministry.

This course will be taught as a hybrid online / face-to-face course in May-June, 2007, using Blackboard.

Prerequisite/Co-requisite(s): None.

Please Note: As the instructor I reserve the right to change any aspect of the course at any point during the duration of the course.

Instructor


Richard S. Ascough is Associate Professor of New Testament at Queen’s Theological College in Kingston, Canada. He received his Ph.D. from the University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto (1997) and is the author of five books and a numerous articles and essays in the area of biblical studies.

Further details of Dr. Ascough’s research and teaching are available on his homepage at http://post.queensu.ca/~rsa.

He can be contacted at rsa@post.queensu.ca or 613-533-6000 ext. 78066 or 229 Theological Hall, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada, K7L 3N6.

Location


This course will take place at Christ the Servant Church, 8700 Havens Drive, Woodridge, IL, 60517 (www.ctswoodridge.org).

Dates


Begins online Saturday, May 5

Face-to-face meetings:

Friday, May 18, 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 19, 9:00 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.

Friday, June 1, 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 2, 9:00 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.

Friday, June 29, 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 30, 9:00 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.

Course Textbooks

 

 

Victor H. Matthews and James C. Moyer, The Old Testament: Text and Context. Second Edition. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2005. ISBN-13: 978-1565633582.

Access to the Bible. Recommended versions include the TANAKH or one of the following: New Revised Standard Version; Revised Standard Version; New American Bible. Do not use the King James Version or the Living Bible (or any other paraphrase). See my guide to English Versions of the Bible for help in choosing a translation. Some versions are available online at www.biblegateway.com. Readings can also be found at earlyjewishwritings.com.

The course will also include some online readings.

Schedule of Topics and Readings

Unit 1 – Tools of Biblical Interpretation

    (May 5-13, online)

  • Matthews and Moyer 2005:1-10, 19-23, 31-43
  • Online readings

Unit 2 – Israel’s History and Poetic Responses

    (Friday, May 18, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. )

  • Matthews and Moyer 2005:251-55
  • Psalms 1-2, 8-9, 14, 23-24, 30, 50-51, 73-74, 89-90, 100, 110, 117, 124, 136-137, 145-50
  • Exodus 15
  • Judges 5

Unit 3 – The Pentateuch (I)

    (Saturday, May 19, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. )

  • Matthews and Moyer 2005:45-73
  • Genesis 1-13, 21-25
  • Exodus 1-4, 12-20, 31-35

Unit 4 – The Pentateuch (II)

    (Saturday, May 19, 1:00 - 4:30 p.m. )

  • Leviticus 1-5, 16, 19, 25-26
  • Numbers 11-14
  • Deuteronomy 1-4, 17-18, 34

Unit 5 – Archaeology and the Bible

    (May 21-30, online)

  • Matthews and Moyer 2005:10-18
  • Online readings

Unit 6 – Methods of Biblical Interpretation

Unit 7 – Deuteronomistic History

    (Saturday, June 2, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. )

  • Matthews and Moyer 2005:73-122
  • Joshua 1-10; 20-24
  • Judges 1-4; 13-16
  • 1 Samuel 1-3, 7-10, 16-20
  • 2 Samuel 5-8
  • 1 Kings 1-14

Unit 8 – The Early Prophetic Tradition

    (Saturday, June 2, 1:00 - 4:30 p.m. )

  • Matthews and Moyer 2005:123-97
  • 2 Kings 18-25
  • Amos 1-7
  • Hosea 1-4
  • Isaiah 1-12
  • Jeremiah 1, 23-25, 30-33

Unit 9 – The Exile and Return

    (June 4-16, online)

  • Matthews and Moyer 2005:199-219
  • Lamentations
  • Obadiah
  • Isaiah 40-42, 49-53
  • Ezekiel 1-3, 33-39
  • Ezra 1, 9-10
  • Nehemiah 1, 4-6, 13

*** June 17 - Exegetical Assignment Due ***

Unit 10 – The Chronicler's History

    (June 18-27, online)

  • Matthews and Moyer 2005:219-36, 257-76
  • 1 Chronicles 9-17
  • 2 Chronicles 1-11
  • Haggai
  • Zechariah 1-11
  • Jonah

Unit 11 – The Wisdom Tradition

    (Friday, June 29, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. )

  • Matthews and Moyer 2005:236-57
  • Proverbs 1-3, 8-11, 31
  • Job
  • Ecclesiastes 1-3, 12
  • Song of Songs 1-2
  • Wisdom of Solomon 6-9
  • Sirach 1-6, 24

Unit 12 – The Rise of Apocalyptic

Unit 13 – The Inter-Testamental Period

    (Saturday, June 30, 1:00 - 4:30 p.m. )

  • Matthews and Moyer 2005:294-307
  • Daniel 1-3
  • Susanna
  • Esther
  • 1 Maccabees 1-9
  • Judith 8-16
  • Tobit 1-2
  • 2 Maccabees 1-2

*** July 14 - Inductive Study Due ***

Student Assessment


20% Exegetical Assignment. Choose a short passage (10-15 verses) from Joshua or Judges and provide an exegesis of the text explaining the socio-historical, literary, and theological aspects of the text. This assignment should be 5-6 pages (typed, double-spaced). Guidelines for exegeting biblical texts will be discussed in class. Due June 17 via email to rsa@post.queensu.ca.

20% Inductive Study. Following the guidelines distributed in class, write a 5-6 page (typed, double-spaced) inductive study of Ruth. Be sure to highlight the structure, major theme(s), and theological emphases of the book. Due July 14 via email to rsa@post.queensu.ca.

60% Participation in the online learning units. In this course we will be using a computer interface to create an online collaborative learning environment alongside our scheduled face-2-face meetings. Regular participation will be required and learners will be expected to be more self-directed than is often the case in classroom-only environments. For the online component we will be using an "asynchronous" format – that is, you can login and do your work anytime, anywhere (with computer access, of course!). You will not have to plan for live, real-time "chats" ("synchronous"). The computer platform that we will be using, Blackboard, will allow us to set up "threaded discussions" of various topics each week.

Much of the work will be as part of a collaborative learning group – that is, working together with others in the course to understand specific texts or a particular biblical book’s overarching theology and purposes. I will also include some discussion of the "so what" for various ministry settings (preaching, teaching, counseling).

Based on teaching other online courses I expect that there will be about 8-10 hours of online and off-line work per unit, including the online units. In order to recognize the work done in the online environment part of your grade will be based on participation in individual and group projects online. For this reason, you need to insure that you participate regularly and substantively in the online discussions. If for some reason you cannot participate substantively in a given week (e.g., because of work or illness or family commitments) I may ask you to do extra work to make up for the missed time. The online participation grade will be worth 60% of your final grade – 15% for each online unit. Each week I will assign you a letter grade based on your online participation and postings for that week. Inside the course Blackboard site I have posted a guide outlining my expectations and what each letter grade represents.

Finally, I want to assure you that I do not expect that the hybrid online/face-to-face course will be more work than a face-to-face only classroom courses. At the same time, it is not less work! It is, however, a different way of learning (check out some of the links below under "Resources Introducing Online Learning" for some ideas about what you might expect).

Online Learning


The hybrid online/face-to-face course format will involve the use of computers and the internet to create an online collaborative learning environment. Regular participation will be required. In order to insure that you can access the course on the first day it is imperative that you have registered for the course and obtained the necessary username to access the IPS Blackboard site. Instructions for doing so can be obtained from IPS. This should be done at least two weeks prior to the beginning of the course.

To login to the course go to the Loyola Blackboard site at https://blackboard.luc.edu/webapps/login/.

Resources Introducing Online Learning:

Updated April 10, 2007