Courses

• STH TN 826: The Corinthian Correspondence
  A theological and exegetical study; attention to literary and religio-historical problems.
• STH TN 833: Archaeology and Christian Origins in the Aegean Basin
  This course focuses especially on three important archaeological excavations in the Aegean Basin?Corinth, Ephesus and Pergamum?utilizing material evidence as a means of exploring the civic context of nascent Christianity. Attention will be given to Greek and Roman city planning, urban architecture, daily life as reflected in the material remains, traditional civic religion, Roman imperial religion, and the use of domestic space for religious purposes. The relevance of these data for understanding Christian origins and early Christian writings?particularly 1 Corinthians and Revelation?will also be a matter of central concern in this course.
• STH TN 835: Greek Reading I: Plato and Paul
  Practice in the reading and translation of ancient and koine Greek texts.
• STH TN 841: Luke-Acts
  Luke-Acts as apologetic and missionary instrument in the Roman world. Redefinition of the figure of Jesus, Paul, and the apostles in the late first century.
• STH TN 848: Story and Storytelling
  The nature of narrative, the types of narrative specific to the Bible and the Near East, and the transmission of stories. The art of storytelling and the retelling of biblical stories today.
• 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.)
• STH TO 724: Biblical Hebrew II
  Continues and presupposes STH TO 723.
• 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.
• 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.
• STH TO 807: History of Isrealite 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 assertations and questionings.
• STH TO 811: Dead Sea Scrolls
  Examination of the ancient Hebrew documents discovered in the Judean desert. Topics include authorship of the Dead Sea Scrolls, what they tell us about ancient Judaism and early Christianity, their theological importance, and why publication of the scrolls has taken so long.
• 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.
• 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.
• STH TO 815: Hebrew Reading and Exegesis I
  Reading of selected prose texts, with some general grammatical review. Emphasis on precise exegesis and translation into fluent current English. Half course.
• STH TO 816: Hebrew Wisdom
  Hebrew wisdom as found in the Book of Proverbs, selected psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Job. Attention to similar themes in contemporary literature.
• STH TO 818: Old Testament Theology
  Recent attempts at an Old Testament theology. Relations to historical criticism, history of Hebrew religion, and dogmatic theology. Theological assessment of Old Testament views of God, humanity, history, kingship, prophecy, priesthood, and law. The place of the religion of the people of Israel in Christian theology.
• STH TO 819: Hebrew Reading and Exegesis II
  Readings of poetic passages from the Hebrew Bible, selected from various genres and periods. Introduction to the forms of Hebrew poetry, especially parallelism. Students should expect to continue to consolidate and extend knowledge of classical Hebrew grammar, to build vocabulary, to become sensitive to different kinds of Hebrew literature and its piety or theology, to learn to recognize different literary and cultural presuppositions, and to practice imaginative reading and translation.
• 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.
• STH TO 823: The Book of Jeremiah
  The course will involve a reading of the complete book of Jeremiah with attention to the two different text types; the different kinds of literature in the book (narrative prose, sermonic prose, and the various kinds of poetry); the rhetoric and its cultural, social, and religious context; the character, meaning, and purpose of individual pericopes; and the structure and purpose of the whole book.

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