Northern Seminary NT301 Jesus and the Gospels Fall 2014 Mondays, 1:00-3:40 pm Scot McKnight E-mail: smcknight@faculty.seminary.edu Purpose of the Course (from catalog): This course provides a basic introduction to Matthew, Mark, Luke (the "Synoptic Gospels") and the Gospel of John, and acquaints students with an overview of the teaching and mission of Jesus in these Gospels. Prerequisite: IN301. (Required) Objectives/Outcomes: The student, upon completion of this course, will be able to: Understand the major models of critical interpretation in Synoptic Gospel studies and John. Write a competent, fair-minded, and critical review of a major book on Jesus or the Synoptic Gospels or the Gospel of John. Sketch in essay format (500 words) major critical issues (textual criticism, gospel criticisms, major themes in Jesus mission and the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John) in words understandable to ordinary lay persons in a church. Understand and articulate conversion theory and how it applies to your own journey and formation. Articulate major themes in each of the Synoptic Gospels as well as in John. Required Textbooks: Dunn, James D. G. Jesus Remembered (Christianity in the Making 1). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003). ISBN: 0802839312; $38.00; 1019 pp [329 pages reading]. Hagner, Donald A. The New Testament: A Historical and Theological Introduction. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-8010-3931-7. $34.00; 872 pp. [371 pages reading] McKnight, Scot. Turning to Jesus. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002. ISBN: 0-664-22514-4; $25.00 [Amazon has plenty of cheaper copies]; 214pp [207 pages reading]. McKnight, Scot. Kingdom Conspiracy. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2014. ISBN: 978-1587433603; $ 17.00 [Amazon]; 304 pp. [300 pages reading]. Blount, Brian. Then the Whisper Put on Flesh: New Testament Ethics in an African American Context. Nashville: Abingdon, 2001. ISBN: 0687085896; $24.00; 232pp [92 pages 1
reading]. Additional Reading (see each week s entry below) 300 pages+ for a book review of the student s choice. Course Requirements: 1. All assigned papers and essays are to be submitted on Moodle. 2. All assignments are due before 7am the day of class unless otherwise noted. 3. 500 word essays are condensed and tight, full of evidence when needed, and not brief, breezy papers. I may ask you to read your paper aloud in class. (Write with that end in view.) They will be graded for comprehensive perception; articulation; display of evidence and inductive method; proper formatting. 4. Late submissions: for each day late in submission, the grade will be docked 10%. 5. Book Review: Each student is to submit a 1000 word critical book review of a 300+ page book on Jesus or one of the Synoptic Gospels or the Gospel of John. That book review is to have a 250 word comprehensive, tight summary of the arguments of the book and a 750 word response. Write this review for publication. Due date: December 3 (Wednesday after last class). 6. Contribute meaningfully and in a civil manner to class discussions and lectures. 7. Do all assignments in the syllabus. 8. Class attendance: It is expected that students will attend and participate in all class sessions. Failure to attend at least 80% of class sessions is grounds for automatic failure. Students are expected to communicate with me in advance if they are to miss a class session. 9. All essays are to be submitted in accordance with Turabian, 8 th edition. 10. Papers submitted electronically are to be in Word.doc or.docx (preferably the latter) format. Grading: Scale: A = 100-95 A- = 94-90 B+ = 89-87 B = 86-83 B- = 82-80 C+ = 79-77 C = 76-73 C- = 72-70 D+ = 69-67 D = 66-63 D- = 62-60 F = 59 and below 2
Course Outline and Weekly Assignments: Note: Through 3 November, essays are due the Monday after the lecture. From 10 November forward, they are due the day of the lecture. Week 1: Sept 22 Historical Context: Judaism and Jesus 1. Assignments Due: Nothing. 2. Mapping Judaisms and the Shema 3. Concept maps for the principal sects at the time of Jesus. 4. Reading for Further Study: N.T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, 145-338; E.P. Sanders, Judaism: Practice and Belief. 63 BCE 66 CE; J. Magness, Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus; W.A. Simmons, Peoples of the New Testament World. Especially Collins-Harlow, The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism. Week 2: Sept 29 Synoptic Methodology 1. Assignment Due (7am): Write a 500 word outline of The World of the New Testament, using Hagner, NT Introduction, 29-49. 2. Matthew 8:5-13 par, the Lord s Prayer and Gospel Methodology (Textual, Source, Form, Redaction, Literary, Social-scientific and Socio-pragmatic criticisms, and the Historical Jesus debate). 3. Reading for Further Study: S. McKnight, Interpreting the Synoptic Gospels Week 3: Oct 6 Jesus: Events of His Life 1. Assignment Due (7am): Write a 500 word essay explaining to a high school educated lay person why John 7:53 8:11 is in some Bibles but is not original to the Gospel of John. Tell me what you would say to that person, and use second person singular ( you ) when needed pastorally. 2. Instead of #1, write a 500 word essay explaining the Oxford Hypothesis for the Synoptic Problem. Give an example of each level of the Oxford Hypothesis (Mark/Q/Matthew/Luke). 3. Assignment: James D.G. Dunn, Jesus Remembered, 339-382, 765-879. 4. Quiz: Dunn 5. Birth, Baptism, Temptation, Table Fellowship, Death, Resurrection 3
6. Reading for Further Study and books for your final paper (each of which counts for the page count for the review): J.D.G. Dunn, S. McKnight, The Historical Jesus in Recent Research; James D.G. Dunn, Jesus Remembered, 11-136; James D.G. Dunn, A New Perspective on Jesus; N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God; C.H. Dodd, The Founder of Christianity; E.P. Sanders, Jesus and Judaism; J.P. Meier, A Marginal Jew; M. Borg, Jesus: A New Vision; S. McKnight, Jesus and His Death, 3-46; P. Schaefer, The Jewish Jesus; R.W. Fox, Jesus in America; M. Bird, Are the One Who is to Come?; A.J. Levine, The Misunderstood Jew; M. Bockmuehl, This Jesus; N.T. Wright, The Challenge of Jesus; R. Horsley, Jesus and the Spiral of Violence. These are some of the books available; there are many more and you may review a book on this list with permission of the professor. Week 4: Oct 13 Kingdom of God/Heavens 1. Assignment Due (7am): Write a 500 word essay on the Baptism of Jesus answering one question: Why was Jesus baptized in the Jordan River by John? 2. Assignment: S. McKnight, Kingdom Conspiracy; Brian Blount, Then the Whisper Put on Flesh, 13-44; Hagner, NT Introduction, 68-82 (study). 3. Quiz: Blount, McKnight 4. Jesus and the Kingdom of God; Liberation Theology and the Kingdom in the church today. 5. Reading for Further Study: S. McKnight, A New Vision for Israel, 70-155; Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 417-430. Week 5: Oct 20 Discipleship 1. Assignment: Write a 500 word essay on the meaning of kingdom in the teachings of Jesus. Define it in one sentence and then expound that definition with abundant evidence from the Gospels. 2. Assignment: S McKnight, Turning to Jesus, about half. 3. Quiz: none. 4. Class Topic: Jesus and Discipleship 5. Reading for Further Study: D. Bonhoeffer, Discipleship (formerly titled The Cost of Discipleship); S. McKnight, A New Vision for Israel, 156-237; Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 210-222; R. Schnackenburg, The Moral Teaching of the New Testament. 4
Week 6: Oct 27 Mark 1. Read Mark in one sitting in less than one hour. 2. Assignment: S. McKnight, Turning to Jesus, rest of book. 3. Assignment: 1000 word essay on conversion theory and its implications for understanding your own journey ( conversion ) and formation. The essential approach is simple: Tell your own spiritual journey but use the categories of conversion theory in Turning to Jesus as you tell your story. (So, talk about your context, your crisis, your quest, etc.) 4. Reading for Further Study: Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 512-525 (R.A. Guelich); R.T. France, The Gospel of Mark; Joel Marcus, Mark; Adela Yarbro Collins, Mark. Week 7: Nov 3 Matthew 1 1. Assignment: Read Matthew in one sitting in less than one hour. 2. Assignment: Write a 500 word essay showing the connection of Christology to discipleship in Mark, focusing on Mark 8:27 9:1. 3. Assignment: Hagner, NT Introduction, 163-192; Blount, Then the Whisper, 50-63. 4. Quiz on Mark: Hagner, Blount 5. Matthew: Structure, Theology 6. Reading for Further Study: Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 526-541 (S. McKnight); W.D. Davies, D.C. Allison, Matthew (3 vols.); R.T. France, The Gospel of Matthew; D. Garland, Reading Matthew. Week 8: Nov 10 Matthew 2 1. Assignment: Read Matthew in one sitting in less than one hour. 2. Assignment: Write a 500 word essay on the Ethics of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, focusing especially on the Sermon on the Mount. 3. Assignment: D.A. Hagner, NT Introduction, 193-226; Blount, Then the Whisper, 63-79. 4. Quiz on Matthew: Hagner, Blount 5. Matthew: Sermon on the Mount, Missionary Discourse, Eschatological Discourse 5
Week 9: Nov 17 Luke 1. Assignment: Read Luke in one sitting in less than one hour. 2. Assignment: Write a 500 word essay on the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of Luke. 3. Assignment: D.A. Hagner, NT Introduction, 227-254; Blount, Then the Whisper, 79-92 4. Quiz on Luke: Hagner, Blount 5. Luke: Themes in Luke 6. Reading for Further Study: Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 495-510 (D.L. Bock); J.B. Green, The Gospel of Luke; J.A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel of Luke; Nov 24: No Class Week 11: Dec 1 John 1. Assignment: Read the Gospel of John in one sitting in less than one hour. 2. Write a 500 word essay on the theme of Eternal Life in the Gospel of John. 3. Assignment: Hagner, NT Introduction, 255-304; Blount, Then the Whisper, 93-118 4. Quiz: Hagner, Blount 5. John: Christology, Life, and Faith 6. Reading for Further Study: R. Bauckham, C. Mosser, The Gospel of John and Christian Theology; C.R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John s Gospel. December 3, Book Review due. 7am. POLICIES FOR ALL MASTERS CLASSES NOTE: All communications from the seminary will go to your seminary email account. Contact ithelpdesk@seminary.edu if you need help forwarding your seminary email address to your personal email address. As a seminary community we hold integrity/hospitality as core values. Individuals are able to do their best work and thinking when their peers are fully present and engaged. We expect each person to both participate in class and carefully listen to others with the belief that everyone s contribution is equally important. Therefore, the following policies have been 6
established in order to provide clarity in regard to attendance expectations and relationships in the classroom. Class Attendance Policy It is expected that students will attend and participate in all class sessions. Failure to attend at least 80% of class sessions is grounds for automatic failure. A professor may set other attendance expectations. Students are always expected to communicate with a professor in advance if they will be absent. Expectations are higher for online and intensive courses (see syllabus for specific requirements). Class Tardiness Policy The third time a student is late to the start of class, it will be counted as a class absence. It is also expected that students will return from a break by the time specified by the professor. Late Work Policy If a student cannot complete the work for a course by the due date listed on the syllabus, they must submit a Request for a Grade of Incomplete form to the Registrar by 4:30 of the last day of the term. The form must be signed by the instructor and Dean of Students. The professor may set stipulations and grade reductions. In the absence of a formal request form, the student will receive a grade based upon work completed by the last day of the term. Turabian Format All papers, including footnotes and Reading for Further Study, must be submitted in the correct format according to Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 8 th ed., 2013. Plagiarism Plagiarism is the act of passing off as one s own the words or ideas of someone else without providing proper acknowledgement or documentation. See the Academic Honesty Policy in the Seminary Catalog for more information on plagiarism and how to avoid it. Electronic Format All work submitted electronically must be in a Word document format (.doc,.docx). Technology Use in the Classroom Unless it is directly tied to note-taking or research for the class, students are expected to refrain from using cell phones, laptops, or other electronic devices during class. Course Evaluation in Moodle Students must complete an online course evaluation using the seminary Moodle system at http://moodle.edu in order to receive a final grade for the course. The evaluation will be open for one week starting the last day of the term. If you need assistance connecting to Moodle or accessing the evaluation, please send an email to moodlehelp@seminary.edu. 7