Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. 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 TM 963: African Christianity
  Seminar exploring African Christian theologies and cultural issues, with special emphasis on Southern Africa. The course covers such themes as the nature of God, the problem of evil, environmentalism, gender, and indigenous churches. Also offered as STH TM 863 for masters students.
• STH TN 721: New Testament Introduction
  Content of the New Testament writing in its historical setting and special attention to its relevance today. This course is a prerequisite for all New Testament II courses. MDIV & MTS CORE REQUIREMENT.
• STH TN 723: New Testament Greek I
  Introduction to the grammar and vocabulary of the Greek New Testament. For students with no training in Greek. (Credit for STH TN 723 is only given after successful completion of STH TN 724.) (Cluster 1)
• STH TN 724: New Testament Greek 2
  Graduate Prerequisites: STH TN 723.
  Continues and presupposes STH TN 723. (Cluster 1)
• STH TN 803: Jesus in the Gospels
  A theological and exegetical study; attention to literary and religio-historical problems. (Requires TN 721 or equivalent) (Cluster 1)
• STH TN 805: Pauline Studies
  Paul's life, letters, and thoughts are considered historically and in their bearing upon Christian theology. (Requires TN 721 or equivalent) (Cluster 1)
• STH TN 806: The Gospel of John
  The purpose of this study of the Fourth Gospel is to acquaint the student with this work from the later New Testament period in a way that provides understanding of and the capacity for criticism of the text involved (in addition to some non-canonical Johannine literature, e.g., the Gnostic Apocryphon of John). Appreciation for both the unity and the diversity within the Johannine literature should increase during this study. (Requires TN 721 or equivalent) (Cluster 1)
• STH TN 808: From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of Christianity
  Introduces the texts of the New Testament and other early Christian writings: first, to place Jesus of Nazareth in the religious and social context of Second Temple Judaism and the Roman empire; and second, to explain the origins and growth of Christian beliefs, practices, and social formations up to the second century. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
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  • Historical Consciousness
  • Social Inquiry I
  • Critical Thinking
• 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: The Gospel of Mark
  English exegesis of the gospel according to Mark. (Requires TN 721 or equivalent) (Cluster 1)
• STH TN 823: Last Supper Texts
  TBD (Cluster 1)
• 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.(Requires TN 721 or equivalent) (Cluster 2) (Fulfills NT II requirement)
• STH TN 862: African American and Womanist Hermeneutics
  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. (Cluster 1 or 2)
• STH TO 704: Hebrew Bible I
  Introduction to the religion and literature of ancient Israel; development of Hebrew scripture within its cultural, historical, and social contexts. Required of all students who have not completed a thorough introduction to the Hebrew Bible. A one-hour study section is also required. This course is prerequisite for all Hebrew Bible II courses. MDIV & MTS CORE REQUIREMENT.
• STH TO 723: Biblical Hebrew I
  Hebrew grammar, including exercises in translation and composition, following Lambdin's Introduction to Biblical Hebrew. Prepares students to read Hebrew prose. (Credit for STH TO 723 is given only after successful completion of STH TO 724.) (Cluster 1)
• STH TO 724: Biblical Hebrew II
  Graduate Prerequisites: STH TO 723.
  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 804: The Book of Ezekiel
  The book of Ezekiel is radical literature; and those who would study it seriously must be prepared for strange visions, troubling twists on traditions, weird sign acts, priestly minutiae, and almost relentless divine anger. We will read the entire book of Ezekiel, using "among other resources" Darr's commentary on the book of Ezekiel in the New Interpreter's Bible Commentary. Class sessions will include lectures and seminar-style class discussions. (Requires TO 704 or equivalent) (Cluster 1)
• 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)