Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• STH TN 813: Methods and Exegesis in Paul's Letters
  Introduction to Paul's Letters with special attention to traditional themes (Law, Grace, Justification, etc) and contemporary contextual approaches (Feminist, Postcolonial, and Queer Studies). (Requires TN 721 or equivalent) (Cluster 1)
• STH TN 816: Greek Reading I
  This course builds on Greek language skills by engaging in close readings and translations of New Testament and other Greek literature. (Cluster 1)
• STH TN 820: Methods and Exegesis: The Gospel of Mark
  English exegesis of the gospel according to Mark. MDiv and MTS students must complete their Sacred Texts & Interpretation New Testament core requirement before registering for this course.
• STH TN 828: Sex and the New Testament
  Sex and the New Testament
• STH TN 829: Enslavement and Early Christian Literature
  This course introduces historiographical questions, historical considerations, literary explorations, and theological consequences around the topic of enslavement in Early Christian Literature and its legacy in religious discourses. First, we will consider theoretical and methodological questions about enslavement (definitions, implications, and universality). Second, we will explore the historical, political, cultural, and social contexts of enslavement in the first century Roman Empire. Here we will focus on the material conditions (archaeological evidence) of the enslaved and the cultural understandings of their existence. Third, we survey New Testament Texts that either include characters that are enslaved or refer to the topic of enslavement as a key component in the narrative. Finally, we advance the theological implications of considering enslavement a central topic in early Christian formations. MDiv and MTS students must complete their Sacred Texts & Interpretation  New Testament core requirement before registering for this course.
• STH TN 862: Methods and Exegesis: Africana and Womanist Biblical Approaches
  This is a seminar-style, intensive course in which students critically read works of African American and Womanist biblical scholarship on the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, while critically engaging biblical passages and peers in discussions about approaches, contexts, implications, strengths and challenges. The course begins with the conviction that all knowledge is perspectival. That is, how we access and interpret texts has to do with a complex combination of factors, including ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and social-cultural history (just to name a few), that constitute who we are at one particular instance in time. In particular, the course seeks to understand the historic perspectives and approaches of African American and Womanist readings and appropriations of biblical texts as a way to build students' capacities to appreciate the interpretative strategies of others (especially historically marginalized and/or underrepresented groups) as well as to identify and articulate their own critical and socially-situated understandings of biblical passages and its implications. MDiv and MTS students must complete their Sacred Texts & Interpretation New Testament core requirement before registering for this course. Students have the option to apply for a 1-unit Greek Reading Directed Study to accompany this course.
• STH TO 704: Hebrew Bible 1
  In this graduate-level introduction to the Hebrew Bible, we investigate ancient Israel¿s literature within its historical, geographical, cultural, social, political, economic, and religious contexts. TO704 fulfills a Core Requirement in the ¿Sacred Texts & Interpretation¿ category for MDIV and MTS students.
• STH TO 723: Biblical Hebrew 1
  This course serves as an introduction to Classical Hebrew grammar, syntax, and vocabulary, and it includes exercises in translation and composition. Through this two-semester sequence (TO 723 and TO 724), students will be prepared to read and translate texts from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) with the aid of a lexicon.
• STH TO 724: Biblical Hebrew II
  Graduate Prerequisites: (STHTO723) - Continues and presupposes STH TO 723. (Cluster 1)
• STH TO 802: The Prophetic Tradition
  The history of biblical prophecy in the context of ancient Near Eastern prophetic phenomena. Emphasis on reading primary texts and questions of social context, role, literary forms, rhetoric, and relation to tradition and to the present. (Requires TO 704 or equivalent) (Cluster 1)
• STH TO 807: History of Israelite Religion
  The origins and development of the religion of Israel and Judah from its earliest roots in Canaanite culture to its transformation in the Persian period. Attention to extra-biblical, as well as biblical evidence; the religion of family and countryside, as well as that of cities and elites; ritual behavior and mythological representation, and theological assertions and questionings.
• STH TO 813: Proverbs
  A study of ancient Israel's proverbs as poetry, as strategies for dealing with a variety of social interactions, and as compact exemplars of ancient wisdom. We will examine both the sayings of Israel's sages and the popular proverbs everyone "performed," assisted not only by critical biblical scholarship, but also by the fields of paremiology (the study of proverbs), folklore studies, and anthropology. (Requires TO 704 or equivalent) (Cluster 1)
• STH TO 814: The Cultural Background of the Hebrew Bible
  Investigation of the cultural background and presuppositions of the biblical writers by interpretation of biblical texts and archeological remains and by comparison with materials from other ancient Near Eastern cultures. Implications for understanding and use of the Bible. (Cluster 1)
• STH TO 821: The Book of Psalms
  The Psalter, its development, organization, and content. The Psalms interpreted in their worship setting. Attention given to literary and devotional values of these lyrical classics of Israel. (Requires TO 704 or equivalent) (Cluster 1)
• STH TO 829: Genesis
  A study of the Book of Genesis in the context of other ancient Near Eastern creation myths and stories. The course covers the Primeval Cycle, the Abraham Cycle, the Jacob Cycle and the Joseph Narrative with special attention to their reception and relevance for contemporary religious audiences. Prerequisite: STH TO 704: Hebrew Bible I. (Cluster 1)
• STH TO 833: Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period: Old Testament Apocrypha & Pseudoepigrapha
  An examination of the setting, origin, purpose, and religious outlook of Second Temple Jewish writings usually labeled Old Testament Apocrypha/Pseudoepigrapha, with attention given to the continuity of the Biblical traditions and the background they provide for an understanding of first-century Judaism and the New Testament. 3 credit hours. Prerequisite: TO704. (Cluster 1)
• STH TO 835: Current Issues in Biblical Interpretation
  Examination and evaluation of several current methods and approaches. Students are encouraged to develop a generally valid and fruitful approach. Emphasis on working with specific biblical texts.
• STH TO 837: In the Shadow of Empire: Syncretism and Resistance in Persian Period Judah and Egypt
  This course investigates how the Persian and Hellenistic imperial contexts influenced and shaped the development of the Hebrew Bible. Students will read the post-exilic biblical and extra-biblical texts from Judean communities in Persian period Judah and Elephantine. This seminar course will primarily explore how the ancient people engaged in acts of syncretism and resistance with the empires that ruled over them. (Requires TO 704 or equivalent.) (Cluster 1)
• STH TO 838: Biblical Interpretation from Hispanic and Latin American Perspectives
  This course provides an introduction to the contexts, assumptions, and methods of Hispanic and Latin American Biblical exegesis and its major contributions to Biblical and Religious Studies. The course's objectives are: 1. To develop an awareness of the Hispanic and Latin American approaches to the Bible, their differences and points of contact.; 2. To understand the different assumptions of the Hispanic and Latin American interpretation of the Bible; 3. To develop intercultural exegetical skills and cross-cultural sensitivity; 4. To experience and develop an understanding of the reality of US Hispanics and Latin Americans through learning about its history, economy, political, social, and religious context. Selected passages from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament will be analyzed in terms of the cultural and historical situation of Latin Americans and Hispanic peoples in the United States. (Requires TO 704 or equivalent) (Clusters 1 and 2)
• STH TO 844: Ancient Egyptian Magic and Religion
  A survey of the religion and magical practices of ancient Egyptians from the time of the pyramids through the Greco-Roman period (ca. 2600 BCE -- 400 CE). The course offers an insight into the ancient Egyptian gods, religious thought, and ideas through the analysis of texts, iconography, and objects used in religious / magical practices. A special focus is on the role of popular magic and religion in everyday life and in the temple. No prerequisites. Undergraduate students are welcome to register. The course also requires approximately six additional hours of class at the Museum of Fine Arts where students read/study pieces of the MFA Egyptian Collection. (cluster 1)