Biblical Authority & Interpretation (Journey Students ONLY)

Instructors: Pamela Eisenbaum and Ted Vial

Graduate Student Assistant: Joshua Smith ( jsmith@iliff.edu )

E-mail: peisenbaum@iliff.edu and tvial@iliff.edu

(or to message both, use the Ask Your Instructor a Question option in the Canvas Help menu)

***N.B. you can find the schedule for gathering days

Course Synopsis

Debates over biblical authority within Christianity and in the public square are common place in American society.  Such debates have a long history. "Biblical Authority and Interpretation" examines a wide range of perspectives on scriptural authority and interpretation from the history of Christianity and beyond.  Engaging with such a variety of attitudes toward the Bible, its translation, and interpretation will help students think critically about their own use of scripture, and begin to articulate thoughtfully their own positions on the uses of Scripture in our contemporary world.

Course Overview

Course Objectives

The learning goals for this course are as follows:

1)    To create critical awareness about the role of the Bible in Christian tradition and the various ways in which it has been granted authority by theologians and communites

2)    To develop deeper historical consciousness by introducing students to some key figures in the history of Christian thought and their views of the Bible

3)    To contemplate the ways in which modernity has challenged biblical authority and understand the stakes over the debate about the Bible’s status for Christians and American culture generally

4)    To enable students to engage primary sources for themselves (rather than studying the topic exclusively through text books or modern scholarship)

5)    To develop better skills at reading and writing critically in the context of a graduate theological school

6)    To learn to use the resources of the course to think theologically about the Bible in terms of one’s particular religious tradition, and to articulate one’s own position on the nature, significance, and authority of the Bible, as well as one’s role as a biblical interpreter

Course Texts

Readings will be made available in Canvas.

Participation in online discussion  20%

Posting and Presentation Denominational Statement  10%

Critical Analysis of Denominational Statement  35%

Short Paper  35%

Author Background (10%)

Use the sign up tool on the course Canvas page to pick one author from the first 4 weeks of the class.  Post to Canvas a useful orientation to the author: dates, places, main themes, why they are important, interesting anecdotes, etc.  You have a lot of freedom with the format.  You can simply post text (250 words max, please), or a video, YouTube clip, etc. etc.  At the end please include 2 or 3 links to further reliable information.  Author background assignment is due Monday at 11:59 in whatever week you are signed up.

Short Paper (35%)

Write a 5 page paper in which you choose two of our authors from the first four weeks of the course and compare and contrast their views of biblical interpretation and authority.  You may choose any two authors you want, with the exception of Wright and Borg.  Not every author we read addresses the Bible directly, but in every case you should be able to surmise what use they would make of the Bible. 

Your goal is not merely to list similarities and differences that you notice.  Your goal is to make an argument about the underlying principles that lead each author to his or her way of using the Bible.  They may or may not state these principles explicitly, but they are there and you can find and articulate them.

Papers will be graded according to the following 4 criteria: 1. A clearly stated claim; 2. Textual evidence to support the claim; 3. Quality of writing (organization, proper use of sentences and paragraphs, grammar, spelling, and all other mechanics); 4. Depth and seriousness of analysis.  In a short paper the claim typically appears as the last sentence of the introductory paragraph (if it is not there the writer needs clearly to mark where it is, since otherwise readers will assume that sentence is the claim).  A claim states the conclusion of the argument put forward in the paper.  You have a great deal of freedom here.  A claim might state what is the most important idea in the readings, or what the most important similarity or difference is, or what the author must assume to make his or her argument, or what the logical extension of that argument might be, etc.   In a short paper you will likely not be able to summarize all the points the authors make, nor should you try.  Part of your task of analysis is to prioritize what is most important.  Your paper will not follow the same organization as the readings under analysis, since the logic of your argument will not be the same as the logic of the arguments of the readings.  If your paragraphs tend to begin “And then . . .;  Next . . .” then it is probably time to go back and do at least one more draft and re-think what you are presenting and how. 

The purpose of the papers is three-fold: the first is to encourage deep engagement with the texts; the second is to encourage a habit of discussion that is open, respectful, and rigorous.  This is best accomplished when the analytical essays take a charitable stance towards the readings.  Some of them will seem old-fashioned, and the writers may have different concerns than do we.  As in any good conversation, it is important first to try to see where the writer is coming from, rather than to be dismissive of his or her ideas.  There will be plenty of time later to decide what is useful to you and what is not.   We must begin with an accurate understanding of what is going on in the essay.  Third, these section papers will help develop your skills as readers and writers.

Please double space, use 12-point font, and upload as a .pdf file to the course Canvas page on or before Sunday October 7th.  If you’d like some feedback on your paper in progress, contact Joshua.  Do not, however, hand in your very first draft—we want to assist you with the substance of your paper, which means you need to have formulated something of substance to work with.  Expect to do some rewriting.

Presentation and Critique of Denominational Statement  (35%)

Oral Presentation: 10% | Critical Analysis 25%

Most denominations have an official statement on Biblical authority and interpretation.  These can vary from a few sentences (Methodists) to 45 pages (Presbyterians).  This assignment has three parts:

1. Find, read, and post on Canvas the statement from your denomination before you arrive on campus October 9th.  You may also use the statement from another denomination or faith tradition that interests you.  If the tradition you want to examine has no such official statement, you may interview a leader in the tradition and write an account of their hermeneutical principles.  Please check with an instructor to make sure you’ve got the kind of statement we are looking for.
2. Make a 5 minute oral presentation in class during Gathering Days.  Tell us what you know about the background of the document (e.g., when was it published? who authored it?) and offer your initial thoughts about its assumptions and claims regarding biblical authority.
3. Write a 3-4 page critique of the statement, using what we have learned in this class.  “Critique” does not mean trash it—it means a thoughtful analysis of how to locate the statement in its historical and theological contexts (this might be done through comparison with some of the readings on our syllabus), the hermeneutical principles behind the statement, and possible strengths and weaknesses of adopting such a hermeneutical stance. What you learn you in class means: you must have a substantive discussion that makes use of two figures covered in the class, but they must come from different periods covered in the class. Due date: October 26th.  Please upload to Canvas.

Degree Learning Goals: Please take some time to look over the Professional Degree Learning Goals (MDiv, MASC, MAPSC) and the Academic Degree Learning Goals (MTS, MA).

Incompletes:  If incompletes are allowed in this course, see the Master's Student Handbook for Policies and Procedures.

Pass/Fail:  Masters students wishing to take the class pass/fail should discuss this with the instructor by the second class session.

Academic Integrity and Community Covenant:  All students are expected to abide by Iliff’s statement on Academic Integrity, as published in the Masters Student Handbook, or the Joint PhD Statement on Academic Honesty, as published in the Joint PhD Student Handbook, as appropriate.  All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Community Covenant.

Accommodations:  Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to reasonably accommodate student needs.   Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations.  The advising center can be contacted at advising@iliff.edu or by phone at 303-765-1146. 

Writing Lab:  Grammar and organization are important for all written assignments.  Additional help is available from the Iliff Writing Lab, which is available for students of any level who need help beginning an assignment, organizing thoughts, or reviewing a final draft. 

Inclusive Language:  It is expected that all course participants will use inclusive language in speaking and writing, and will use terms that do not create barriers to classroom community.