N.T. Lit: Romans

Syllabus 1.5

Instructor:  Pamela Eisenbaum

Office: Iliff Hall 103; phone: 303-765-3167; peisenbaum@iliff.edu

Course Overview

 

Course Objectives

This course is designed as a seminar for students who have completed at least one introductory course (or the equivalent) in New Testament. Primary objectives include:

Books

Required for Everyone:

Required for PhD Students:

In addition to the required texts, here are some other important/useful books on Romans (a few of our additional readings come from these volumes):

N. Elliott, The Arrogance of Nations; Romans in the Shadow of Empire (Fortress, 2008)

• M. Nanos, The Mystery of Romans (Fortress, 1996)

• M. Harding and A. Nobbs (eds.), All Things to All Cultures: Paul Among Jews, Greeks, and Romans (Eerdmans, 2013) •

M. Zetterholm, Approaches to Paul: A Student’s Guide to Recent Scholarship (Fortress, 2009)

• J. Marchal, Studying Paul’s Letters: Contemporary Perspectives and Methods (Fortress, 2012)

• K. Donfried (ed), The Romans Debate (Hendrickson, revised edition, 2005)

• Caroline Johnson-Hodge, If Sons, Then Heirs: A Study in Kinship and Ethnicity in Paul’s Letters (Oxford, 2007)

• S. Westerholm, Perspectives Old and New on Paul: The “Lutheran” Paul and His Critics (Eerdmans, 2004)

• S. Westerholm, Justification Reconsidered: Rethinking a Pauline Theme (Eerdmans, 2013) • K. Stendahl, Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (Fortress, 1976)

• K. Stendahl, The Final Account: Paul’s Letter to the Romans (Fortress, 1995)

• C. Grenholm and D. Patte, Reading Israel in Romans: Legitimacy and Plausibility of Divergent Interpretations (Trinity, 2000)

• D. Hay and E.E. Johnson, Pauline Theology III: Romans (Fortress, 1995)

• J.D.G. Dunn, The Theology of the Apostle Paul (Eerdmans, 1998)

• P. Eisenbaum, Paul Was Not a Christian: The Original Message of a Misunderstood Apostle (HarperOne, 2009)

Click here for Commentaries on Romans

Assignments Summary

  1. Completion of all required reading prior to the day for which it is assigned and participation in the online and class discussion. (10%) Participating in the online discussion means that, minimally, each student will make a post in response to the questions raised by the discussion leaders for that week (see #5 below). You must post by 11:59 on Monday evening. Since this is a seminar, attendance is required. If you are ill or have an emergency and cannot come to class, please let me know ahead of time if at all possible. Should you miss more than one class, you may be required to do make-up work.
  2. Masters students only: Two short papers, 1200-1800 words , each worth 30% of your grade. These papers are not intended to be research papers, though you may wish to do the optional reading for the weeks in which you write your paper. They are response papers, in which you choose a particular aspect or issue of the week’s reading and respond to it. In these papers you need to articulate the issue in your own words and provide your own critique. Other details:
    1. One of your papers must be exegetical, and because you will present the paper in class (see 2.2), it must focus on a text from the section of Romans assigned for that day. That is, you must take a particular passage in Romans and take a position on how to interpret it, drawing from, or arguing against, any relevant secondary readings from the class. You must also look at two-three commentaries (beyond the assigned reading) so as to compare other scholars’ perspectives. You may choose any commentaries you like.
    2. You will present the exegetical paper in class, and it must be posted on Canvas on the Sunday before class at 11:59 p.m. On the first day of class, you will sign up for the week you present your paper.
    3. The second paper must be turned in on the last day of class.
  3. “Tell a Friend:” Write a short paper (300-500 words, approx. 1.5-2 pages) in which you tell a friend about something you’ve learned from the week’s reading. Alternatively, assume you are writing for the church newsletter, an op-ed piece, or a blog post.  Whatever context you assume, your goal is to communicate one key idea you think is useful for your audience, and explain it to them in your own words.  You may focus on one particular reading or an idea that has come up in several readings, but the subject needs to pertain to the issues for that week.  Demonstrate in your posting your careful thinking about the biblical material and readings. These papers should be posted in the forum designated for them the evening before class and uploaded to the assignment designated “Tell a Friend.”  You may do this assignment any week except the week you write a response paper.  (20%)
  4. Doctoral Students only: Final Research Paper, which includes presenting a draft of the paper to the class on the last day of class. 50% + 10% for the presentation.
  5. Leading online discussion. Each week 1-2 students are responsible for initiating the online discussion. (Each student performs this assignment only once.) Discussion leaders should initiate the online discussion by articulating what they understand to be the central issues raised by the week’s readings and posing two or three questions for discussion. Leaders’ postings should be about 300 words. You will sign up the first day of class for the week in which you fulfill this assignment. It may be any week except the weeks when you write a response paper. Leaders must post by 11:59 on the Friday before class. (10%)

Summary of Sign-ups

Each week's reading is listed in "Assignments" which is where you participate in the discussion, and where you find the links to the additional readings (i.e. readings that are not in required texts). This is a summary list of all the readings for the quarter.

JAN 10 INTRODUCTION TO COURSE | SIGN UP FOR PRESENTATIONS

• Read Romans

Martin Luther,

JAN 17 (RE) ORIENTING OURSELVES TO ROMANS

• Read all of Romans!

• Read Galatians

• Reasoner, Introduction, Locus 1: Rom 1:16-17, pp. 1-11.

• K. Stendahl, “The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the

West,” pp. 78-96 in Paul Among Jews and Gentiles

• J.D.G. Dunn, “The New Perspective on Paul,” pp. 299-308 in The

Romans Debate

• Rodriguez, Introduction, pp. 1-12.

• Martin Luther, Preface to the Epistle to the Romans

JAN 24 JEWS, GENTILES, AND THE IMPARTIALITY OF GOD

• Romans, chaps 1-4

• Rodriguez, chaps 1-5: pp. 13-94

• Reasoner, Locus 3: Rom 3:21-28, pp. 23-41

• Sze-Kar Wan, “’To the Jew First and Also the Greek:’ Reading Romans as

Ethnic Construction,” pp. 129-155 in Prejudice and Christian Beginnings:

Investigating Race, Gender, and Ethnicity in Early Christian Studies, eds.

L Nasrallah and E. Schüssler-Fiorenza (Fortress, 2009)

• S. Stowers, A Rereading of Romans, 1-41, 83-125 (required for PhD

students; optional for masters students)

JAN 31 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

• Romans 3-4

• Wright, Preface, chaps 4, pp. 79-108 & 7+Conclusion, pp. 177-225

• S. Westerholm, “Justification by Faith” pp. 51-74 in Justification

Reconsidered: Rethinking a Pauline Theme (Eerdmans, 2013).

• Optional: Eisenbaum, “A Remedy for Having Been Born of Woman: Jews,

Gentiles, and Genealogy in Romans,” JBL 123 (204), 671-702.

FEB 7 DIVINE JUSTICE ON EARTH

• Romans, chaps 3-5

• Jennings, 1-98

• Reasoner, Locus 4-5: Rom 5:12, 18-21, pp. 43-66

FEB 14 SIN AND THE DIVIDED SELF

• Romans 6-8

• Rodriguez, chaps 6-9: pp. 95-168

• B. Gaventa, “The Birthing of Creation,” and “The Cosmic Power of Sin in

Paul’s Letter to the Romans,” pp. 51-62 & 125-36 in Our Mother Saint

Paul (WJK, 2007).

• Reasoner, Locus 6-7: Rom 7:7-8:4, 28-30, pp. 67-94

• Optional: Stowers on Self-Mastery, pp. 227-284

FEB 21 SALVATION FOR ISRAEL? SALVATION FOR ALL?

• Romans 9-11

• Rodriguez, chaps. 10-12: pp. 169-231

• Reasoner, Locus 8: Rom 9:16-18, pp. 95-104; Locus 10-11: Rom 10:4

&11:25-27, pp. 113-28

• J. Garraway, Chap 6: Romans 9-11, in Paul's Gentile Jews (Palgrave MacMillan,

2012), pp. 135-161.

• Optional: J. Sievers, “God’s Gifts and Call are Irrevocable,” in Reading

Israel in Romans, 127-73 (?)

FEB 28 THE RULE OF LAW AND THE RULE OF FAITH

• Romans 12-13

• Reasoner, Locus 12 & Conclusion, pp. 129-49

• Elliott, Arrogance of Nations, pp. 143-61

• Jennings 176-232

• Optional: W. Campbell, “The Rule of Faith in Romans 12:1-15:13: The

Obligation of Humble Obedience as the Only Adequate Response to the

Mercies of God,” 259-86 in Pauline Theology III: Romans (Fortress,

1995)

MAR 7 A PAULINE ETHIC FOR THE STRONG AND THE WEAK

• ROM 14-16

• Rodriguez, chaps 14-15: PP. 257-95

• K. Ehrensberger, “Reading Romans in the Face of the Other: Levinas the

Jewish Philosopher Meets Paul the Jewish Apostle,” 115-54 in Reading

Romans with Contemporary Philosophers and Theologians, ed. D. Odell-

Scott (T & T Clark, 2007)

• Ehrensberger, “Called to be Saints: The Identity Shaping Dimensions of

Paul’s Priestly Discourse in Romans” in Reading Paul in Context:

Explorations in Identity Formation. T & T Clark, 2010, pp. 90-109.

• Optional: Joshua Garraway, “The Circumcision of Christ: Rom 15:7-13”

JSNT 34.4 (2012) 303-22.

MAR 14 TURN IN SHORT PAPER II | DISCUSSION

• Short presentations and discussion of Final Papers

Click here if you would like a complete, printable syllabus.

Tips for Exegesis Papers

Print Syllabus

Grading Scale

(For details on assignments and how they are weighted, go to "Assignments.")

94-100 = A

91-93 = A-

87-90 = B+

83-86 = B

80-82 = B-

77-79 = C+

73-76 = C

70-72 = C-

70 < = F

Under special circumstances, I will grant Incompletes, but students must follow the school's policy (masters students - Iliff; doctoral students - DU), which can be found in the student handbook.

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. 

DateDayDetails
Jan 10, 2017TueIntroduction to Course & Sign-upsdue by 06:59PM
Jan 17, 2017TueReadings for January 17 | (Re)Orienting Ourselves to Romans due by 06:59AM
Jan 24, 2017TueReadings for January 24 | Jews, Gentiles and the Impartiality of Goddue by 06:59AM
Jan 31, 2017TueReadings January 31 | Justification by Faithdue by 06:59AM
Feb 07, 2017TueReadings February 7: Divine Justice on Earthdue by 06:59AM
Feb 14, 2017TueReadings for February 14 | Sin and the Divided Selfdue by 06:59AM
Feb 21, 2017TueReadings for February 21 | Salvation for Israel, Salvation for All?due by 06:59AM
Feb 28, 2017TueReadings February 28 | The Rule of Law and the Rule of Faithdue by 06:59AM
Mar 07, 2017TueShort Paper I : Exegesisdue by 06:59AM
Mar 07, 2017TueReadings for March 7 | A Pauline Ethic for the Strong and Weakdue by 06:59AM