Winter Quarter, 1999
University of California, Santa Barbara

Rather than a survey of all the New Testament texts, the course this term will focus on narrative. We'll read most of the narrative texts of the New Testament, including the four canonical gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, an account of the early Christian movement. But the course will also focus on the issue of narrative in relation to the New Testament: what difference does it make that the central New Testament texts are narratives? How does narrative shape understanding? How do different narratives of what may be understood as the same event create different senses of meaning and significance? We'll be concerned about the ways narrative works (beginnings, endings, sequence, time, etc.). To this end, we'll also read some non-narrative NT texts (two epistles of Paul) and some non-canonical (and non-narrative) gospels, that is, texts that weren't accepted into the canon of the New Testament. And we'll read some critical discussions of the issue of narrative in relation to the New Testament.

The course will also involve an emphasis on modern scholarly methods and disciplines of reading the Bible. Some of this is likely to be unfamiliar even to those who have some knowledge of the Bible; much of one's previous reading of the New Testament is likely to have been in religious contexts. Because the texts were written as experiences of spiritual faith, it is impossible to ignore their theological and religious messages; this dimension of the New Testament must receive our consideration and respect. But we will not be viewing them in primarily religious terms. They are powerful works of the human imagination, grounded in specific historical and cultural situations. For this reason we approach them as literary and historical texts, aware at the same time of their centrality to our religious and ethical culture. Students whose orientation toward New Testament texts is based on religious faith should have no quarrel with the emphasis of the class as long as they are willing to understand that the texts are grounded in historical and cultural contexts and written as human expressions of religious experience. Students whose orientation is non-religious, or non-Christian, should have no quarrel with the emphasis of the class as long as they are willing to understand the cultural and historical role of religious experience. In short, we'll be reading in terms of historical and literary understanding.

We'll be making use of the tools of modern scholarship, the literary, linguistic, historical, and (occasionally) archeological knowledge that has made biblical scholarship such an exciting field in recent decades. Of paramount importance is a spirit of openness and inquiry in our communal interpretive endeavor. Should you have any questions about the orientation of the course, please see the instructor early in the quarter.

Because of the emphasis on new methods and disciplines of reading, faithful class attendance is essential. If for some reason you must miss a class, please be sure to talk to a student who did attend and review his or her notes and/or discuss the class with the instructor or your discussion leader in office hours.

There will be two papers required, one shorter one due before midterm and a longer one toward the end of the quarter, a midterm and a final exam. The exams will cover both the assigned reading and material covered in lecture.