·        to examine the meaning of “religious texts” or “sacred scripture”

·        to study how the Hebrew, Christian and Islamic Scriptures came to be written

·        to examine the content and structure of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures in some depth (the Islamic Scriptures will not be treated in depth)

·        to study some representative books/texts from the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures

·        to examine and investigate the place and use of scripture in a believing community

·        to investigate and to study the Qur’an as a foundational  religious text of the Western world

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of this course the student should be able:

·        to analyze a religious text using a critical-historical methodology

·        to discuss the historical development of these religious texts

·        to utilize necessary resources in interpreting these texts (commentaries, dictionaries, concordances, etc.)

·        to identify and to describe various methodologies of the critical-historical approach to texts: source criticism; form criticism; redaction criticism; canonical criticism, etc.

·        to distinguish between a critical and a uncritical interpretation of a religious text

·        to engage these foundational texts in a dialogue with issues which arise in the social, ethical and natural worlds

·        to evidence some awareness of how these foundational texts influenced and found expression in the development of the fine arts

·        to demonstrate an awareness of the process which gave birth to the texts as formative for a religious community

·        to speak intelligently of the different traditions present in the Hebrew, Christian, and Muslim religious texts

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

  1.      Required readings must be completed for the class meeting on the date indicated on the syllabus.

2.      Regular, unannounced quizzes on the readings and material covered in class will be given, and count toward 25% of the final grade. Missed quizzes cannot be made up and will result in a grade of zero.

3.      A mid-term exam, scheduled for October 9, counts for 25% of the final grade.

4.      A cumulative final exam, scheduled as indicated below, counts for 25% of the final grade.

5.      A 5 to 7 page paper typed final paper (due at the time of the final) dealing with a synthetic question, namely, “What might be an appropriate scriptural response for our time to the issues of social justice articulated by Kozol?” Your paper must cite specific texts of your choice, e.g., Amos, Exodus, Luke, Ruth, etc., and counts for 25% of the final grade

Text of the Qur’an is available on the web:

http://www.unn.ac.uk/societies/islamic/quran/naeindex.html, “The Noble Quran.”

NOVEMBER 23,25,27      THANKSGIVING RECESS

Dec. 30                          Reception and Residue of   the Texts

 Jonathan Kozol, “Poverty’s Children: Growing up in the South Bronx", The Progressive, October 1995: 22-27.                                                                                            

Dec. 2,4                          Discussion / Video – Johathan Kozol, Amazing Grace

Dec. 7                             Final comments

FINAL EXAM:

SECTION 01 (8:30) – THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1998; 10:35-1:05

SECTION 02 (9:30) – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1998; 10:35-1:05