INTRODUCTION TO THE LITERATURE OF THE BIBLE

 

THE GOSPELS

 

RS 210B F8

 

William A. Tooman, Ph.D.

 

Time: Mon, Wed 12:00-1:40                                  Location: Maz 104

Office Hours: 10:00-12:00 M & W         Office: Predolin 323

Email: wtooman@edgewood.edu          Office Phone: 663-3271

 

Edgewood College, rooted in the Dominican tradition, engages students within a community of learners

 committed to building a just and compassionate world.

 

The College educates students for meaningful personal and professional lives of ethical leadership,

service, and a lifelong search for truth.

 

 

Course Description

 

An examination of the four canonical Christian gospels, their genre, poetics, rhetoric, and theology.  Emphasis is placed on the interpretation of the Gospels (in English translation) including their suasive power in past and present.  The primary objectives are to learn how to read the Gospels with skill and to hone analytic and writing skills.

 

Goals

 

There are four principal goals for this class:

 

     ·    To gain basic knowledge of conventions of the Gospel genre.

     ·    To familiarize students with the contents and arguments of Matthew and John.

     ·    To develop the necessary skills to competently read and interpret the gospels.

     ·    To improve written communication.

 

In this class you will read and write.  There are no tests or quizzes.

 

Text Books

 

The following textbooks are required

 

     ·    Donald Senior, The Gospel of Matthew (Nashville: Abingdon, 1997)

     ·    R. Alan Culpepper, The Gospel and Letters of John (Nashville: Abingdon, 1998)

     ·    An English Bible.  Any English Bible will do, excepting the Message or the Amplified

Bible.  Students must bring their bibles with them to every period.


 

Assignments and Grades

 

There are three components to your grade – attendance and participation, weekly written assignments, and the final paper.

 

Attendance and Participation:  Your attendance grade is the number of times you attend divided by the total number of lecture periods.  For example, in a course with 29 lecture periods a student who misses three classes will receive an attendance grade of 89.6%.  This grade will be increased or decreased up to 25% based upon classroom participation.

 

Weekly Written Assignments:  Following most Wednesday class periods you will be asked to read and interpret a passage from the Gospels.  These assignments will be graded on the following scale:

 

30 pts.      exemplary

20 pts.      satisfactory

10 pts.      unsatisfactory (too brief, not thoughtful enough, etc.)

 0 pts.        incomplete

 

There are a total of ten written assignments, and you may skip one of them.  Late assignments can be turned in, but they will be downgraded.  Note however; you may not fall behind by more than two written assignments.  (If, for example, writing assignment 6 is due and you have not yet turned in assignment 4, I will give you a zero for assignment 4.)  There are no exceptions to this rule.

 

Project Paper: Each student will write a 10-page, double-spaced paper for this class.  The paper may be either (1) an interpretive paper, analyzing a particular passage or motif in detail, or (2) a research paper, examining some topic related to the gospels.  Any graduate students taking the class to fulfill a prerequisite requirement must write an interpretive paper.  Instructions for this paper will be distributed later in the semester; see class schedule for important deadlines.  Final copies of Project Papers are due on May 9th.  Papers will be downgraded ½ of a letter-grade for every day that they are late.

 

Extra Credit

 

Anyone who is concerned about his or her grade may undertake an extra-credit assignment worth 30 points.  You may do as many extra credit assignments as you wish, but they can only improve your final grade by a total of one full grade point.  There are any number of options for earning extra credit.  The following are just suggestions:

 


 

1.   You may watch a documentary related to Jesus or the Gospels, and write up a two-page summary and analysis of the film (the summary portion should not be more than one full page of the essay).  There are several of these films in the library and the Religious Studies department.

 

2.   You may read one of the extra-biblical gospels and write a two-page synopsis of its contents and intention.

 

3.   You may read one of the apocryphal or pseudepigraphal stories from the Second Temple period and write a two-page analysis of its contribution to your understanding of the period, its literature, etc.

 

These are just suggestions.  Feel free to suggest other topics.

 

 

 

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Grading Summary and Scale

 

TOTAL POINTS                                    GRADE SCALE

 

· Writing Assignments                300 points                  94-100     A

· Class Participation                   150 points                  88-93       AB

· Final Paper                              150 points            82-87       B     

Total                                          600                           76-81       BC

                                                        69-75        C

                                                        63-68       CD

                                                        57-62       D

 

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CLASS SCHEDULE

 

The following is a schedule of topics and assignments for each class period this semester.  The schedule may be altered based on classroom progress or to account for specific student interests.

 

 

  DATE            TOPICS                                                                ASSIGNMENTS

 

Unit 1:  Introduction to Gospels

· 1-22        Introduction to the Class                                           Read: Mark 1-4

· 1-24        Introduction to Gospels                                             Read: Mark 5-8

· 1-29        Reading Gospels 1, Genre                                      Read: Mark 9-12

· 1-31        Reading Gospels 2, Background                                  Writing Assignment 1

· 2-5          Group Reading                                                          Read Mark 13-16

· 2-7          Reading Gospels 2, Background cont.                        Writing Assignment 2

· 2-12        Group Reading                                                          Read Mark again

· 2-14        Reading Gospels 3, Process                                  Writing Assignment 3

· 2-19        Group Reading                                                          Read Senior, chaps. 2-3

· 2-21        Reading Gospels 4, Poetics                                   Read Senior, chaps. 4-5

· 2-26  Reading Gospels 4, Poetics cont.                                Read: Matt 1-4:11          

 

Unit 2:  The Gospel of Matthew

· 2-28        Introduction to Matthew                                             Writing Assignment 4

· 3-5          Matt 1 - 1:1-4:11                                                        Read: Matt 4:12-10:42

· 3-7          Matt 4:12-10:42                                                         Writing Assignment 5

· 3-12        Group Reading                                                          Read: Matt 11-16:12

· 3-14        Matt 11:1-16:12                                                         Writing Assignment 6

· 3-19        Group Reading                                                          Read: Matt 16:13-20:34

· 3-21        Matt 16:13-20:34                                                            Writing Assignment 7

· 3-26  Group Reading                                                                Read: Matt 21-28

· 3-28        Matt 21-28                                                                 Précis due

· 4-2 ® 4-9  Spring Break                                                         Read: Culpepper, chaps. 1 & 5

 

Unit 3: The Gospel of John

· 4-11        Introduction to John                                                   Read: John 1-4

· 4-16        John 1-4                                                                     Writing Assignment 8

· 4-18        Group Reading                                                          Read: John 5-12


 

· 4-23  John 5-12                                                                   Writing Assignment 9

· 4-25  Group Reading                                                                Read: John 13-17

· 4-30  John 13-17                                                                 Writing Assignment 10

· 5-2          Group Reading                                                          Read: John 18-21

· 5-7          John 18-21                                                                 No Assignment

· 5-9          Course Conclusion                                                   Project Papers Due

 

 

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Students with Disabilities

 

If you have a documented disability that requires accommodation, please contact Elizabeth Watson in Learning Support Services (Student Resource Center, 206 DeRicci, 663-2281).  She will work with you provide appropriate accommodation, and all information will be kept confidential.

 

 

Learning Support Services

 

Learning Support Services (Student Resource Center, 206 DeRicci and 408 Sonderegger) provides academic support for students.  Peer tutors and/or note-takers are available for some undergraduate courses.  Individual assistance in time-management, study skills, and test-taking is also available.  Please contact Learning Support Services at 663-2281 for more information.

 

 

Academic Honesty Policy

 

The following are examples of violations of standards for academic honesty and are subject to academic sanctions: cheating on exams; submitting collaborative work as one’s own; falsifying records, achievements, field or laboratory data, or other course work; stealing examinations or course materials; submitting work previously submitted in another course (unless specifically approved by the instructor); falsifying documents or signing an instructor’s or administrator’s name to any document or form; plagiarism, or aiding another student in any of these actions.

 

Cheating on quizzes or assignments will result in zero points for that assignment or test.  (Note, this is a considerably worse grade than an F.)

 

Regarding plagiarism in this course, students are expected to cite all sources, written or otherwise, in all papers.  Guidelines for citation will be stipulated in the paper instructions to be distributed in class.