Monday and Wednesday 10:30-11:30
Tuesday and Thursday 1:00-2:00
Telephone: (office) 3425
e-mail: aageson@cord.edu
and by appointment
COURSE
DESCRIPTION:
This course will examine the Jewish context and
character of Jesus of Nazareth. There will be an effort to investigate
Jesus’ life, ministry, and death in the social and religious context of
first-century Palestine. This course will also focus on the character of
the Gospels as literary narratives that tell the stories of Jesus. The man
Jesus also came to be the object of worship and devotion, and this course
will investigate how it is that Jesus became a focal point of the
churches’ thought and ritual practice. The legacy and continuing
importance of Christ for the church will be explored. To this end, the
course will be concerned with:
1. the history of early Judaism and the social and religious world into which Jesus of Nazareth came.
2. the development and function of the various aspects and features of the New Testament gospel literature.
3. the varied and changing treatment of significant Christological themes within biblical and post-biblical tradition.
4. the continuing reflection on the figure of Christ in the post-biblical communities of faith.
THE STUDY OF RELIGION IN THE LIBERAL ARTS: GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
1. To give rational and cogent explanation of religion and religious phenomena.
2. To observe in the study of religion the interaction between method and the material of religion.
3. To understand that, in the study of religion and the methods appropriate to the study of religion, we arrive at only penultimate conclusions and that inquiry into religion is invariably open-ended.
4. To develop an intellectual skepticism which drives intellectual inquiry, encourages curiosity, and prevents the collapse into cynicism.
5. To understand that religion is not primarily a private or personal matter but is corporate and public and therefore open to observation.
6. To observe that religion is not simply a way of believing or thinking but is way of living, doing, and behaving.
7. To see that religion was, is, and will be a prime force in the formation of culture, social and political organization, and thus of civilization itself.
8. To perceive that religion--both past and present--functions on the level of ethnos (a social group, a people), ethos (a world view), and ethics (a way of living).
REQUIRED
TEXTS:
Primary Text
New Revised Standard Edition of the Bible
Secondary Texts
In the Beginning: Critical Concepts for the Study of the Bible
by James W. Aageson
Excavating Jesus by John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan Reed
The Changing Faces of Jesus by Geza Vermes
Material on Reserve in the Library
COURSE
REQUIREMENTS:
1. Study of the assigned texts in the Bible and the secondary sources. (This includes class participation. Coming to class unprepared, without the appropriate books or without having read the assignment will be considered an absence. Doing work during this class related to other courses or activities will also be cause to receive an absence for the day.)
2. Three examinations
3. Ten responses and reactions in folder
4. Research paper.
5. More than two absences for the semester will result in a 30% reduction in the participation and attendance grade. More than four absences for the semester will result in a 60% reduction in the participation and attendance (exceptions will be made for extreme situations such as severe illness, death in the family etc.)
6. All Assignments must be completed to receive a passing grade
COURSE
EVALUATION:
1. Examination # 1 15 percent
2. Examinations # 2 & 3 40 percent (20 percent each)
3. Folders (10) 10 percent (3Rs papers)
4. Research paper 25 percent
5. Class attendance 10 percent
and participation
_______
100 percent
DUE DATES:
Exams
Paper
September 22 December 1
October 20
Finals Week
ACADEMIC
INTEGRITY:
Students are expected to be guided by the highest
expressions of academic integrity in completing course requirements.
These expectations are set forth in Academic Integrity at Concordia
College. Students who show a
disregard for academic integrity and are detected should expect to be
penalized by receiving failing grades (in such cases make-up is not
possible). Each violation of
academic integrity will be reported to the Academic Dean’s Office and
the offender will be placed on probationary status for one year.
Violations of academic integrity include cheating, plagiarism, falsification, facilitating others’ violations and impeding. These violations are fully defined in Academic Integrity at Concordia College, pp. 11-13 and should be carefully studied.
These definitions were developed in a North American cultural context. Other cultures define forms of academic dishonesty differently. International students studying at Concordia, however, are expected to be guided by North American norms of academic integrity. Any student who is unclear about the application of these norms in the completion of a particular assignment should consult the course instructor.
COURSE
OUTLINE:
Week 1: September 8
Introduction
Video: “Jerusalem, City of Heaven”
Week 2: September 15
Read: In the Beginning: pp. 1-144 for exam
The Physical World of Jesus
Independent Study on Monday
Maps, Geography, Pictures,
Read: Crossan and Reed, pp. xv-50
Week 3: September 22
Exam # 1
Top Ten Discoveries Continued
Maps, Geography, Pictures
Week 4: September 29
How to build a kingdom
Read: Crossan and Reed, pp. 51-97
Lecture and Discussion
Jesus in his place and Roman domination
Read: Crossan & Reed, pp. 98-181
Lecture and Discussion
“Masada”
Video
Week 5: October 6
Jesus in his place and Roman Domination Continued
Excavating Jesus: Conclusion
Read: Crossan & Reed, pp. 182-276
Discussion
Week 6: October 13
The Jesus of John
Discussion and lecture
Read Vermes, pp. 1-62 & The Gospel of John
Week 7: October 20
No class—Mid-semester break
Week 8: October 27
Exam # 2
The Jesus of Paul
Discussion and lecture
Read: Vermes, pp. 63-82 & Epistle to the Philippians
Week 9: November 3
The Jesus of Paul continued
Discussion and lecture
Read: Vermes, pp. 83-124
Week 10: November 10
The Jesus of Acts and the Synoptic Gospels
Lecture and discussion
Read: Vermes, pp. 125-235 & The Gospels of Matthew and Luke
Video: “From Jesus to Christ,” part 3
Week 11: November 17
Mark
Read: Mark’s Gospel 1:1-8:21
Group reports: Narrative Criticism—David Rhoads
Simon Peter’s Mother–in-Law—A.J. Levine
Week 12: November 24
No
class—Thanksgiving break
Week 13: December 1
Mark
Mark’s Story of Jesus
Read: Mark’s Gospel 8:22-16:8
Group reports: Mark’s Hero of the Twelfth-Year Miracles—A.J. Levine
A Gentile Woman’s Story, Revisited—A. J. Levine
Paper Due
Week 14: December 8
The end of the story
Group reports: Women Disciples of Jesus—A.J. Levine
The Failure of the Women Who Followed Jesus—A. J. Levine
Week 15: Final --Exam # 3
Folders:
Each
of you shall write 10, one page “reflection, reaction, review” papers
(otherwise known as 3Rs papers) and keep them bound together in a folder.
The purpose of these is to get you to think, question, reflect, and
analyze things we are reading about Jesus. Each paper should be related to
one of the reading assignments or something we have discussed in class. At
the top of each paper you should put the date and the issue to which you
are reacting. These papers will be collected twice during the semester and
on occasion you may be asked to read your paper aloud in class, if you
have written on something that pertains to our on going class discussion.
The papers will not be given a letter grade or commented upon, but will be
given a perfect score if taken seriously and written well.