Syllabus
Texas A&M University, Fall 2005
ENGL 365/RELS 360. Bible as literature (3-0). Credit 3. Tues., Thurs., 11:10–12:25. Engineering/Physics 216. Professor D. G. Myers

Course description
This is a course that in divinity school would be called Introduction to Old Testament, although Hebrew bible is the more neutral term that will be used in class. (The New Testament—or, more properly, the Christian bible—will not be taught, because it lies outside the instructor’s expertise.) Specifically, this course is an introduction to problems of the biblical text, canon, and interpretation, from a perspective that complements ecumenical religious interests with historical scholarship. (By problems, I do not mean the colloquial sense of defects and shortcomings, as in, You’ve got serious problems! But rather the academic sense of questions posed for solution.) The Hebrew bible is the common source of Judaism and Christianity, but the sole and complete source of neither. Although we will treat the bible as a religious text—indeed, one of our problems is how a religious text is treated differently from secular literary texts—we will not seek to derive a living religious message from it. Our number includes people of different religious convictions. (Witnessing will not be tolerated.) And so our approach must necessarily be ecumenical. What we shall try to do in this class is to understand, not our own religions (we can go to church or synagogue for that), but rather the common source of our religious differences—to get beneath our own religious convictions about the bible in order to examine the underlying religious experience which is recorded within it.

Course objectives
Students who successfully complete the course can expect:
• To learn a distinctive ecumenical approach to the bible.
• To grasp and handle the concepts and terminology of biblical hermeneutics.
• To discern the interpretive problem or problems in any biblical text and to begin to think these through for themselves.
• To familiarize themselves with the findings of historical scholarship on the bible.
• To recognize the various kinds of writing, the literary genres in the bible.
• To master a small vocabulary of key Hebrew terms.
• To distinguish the plain sense of the bible (in Hebrew, the peshat) from the various ways in which the bible can be used to support a derash, a particular religious message.

Required texts
Hebrew-English Tanakh [abbreviated NJV]. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2001.
Brevard S. Childs. Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979.

A note on the biblical text
Again, only the Hebrew bible will be studied in this class. The edition which has been ordered—and which you are expected to purchase and use alongside any other editions that you may own—is a modern English translation in three different versions: a compact paperback, a larger format hardback, and a bilingual Hebrew-English edition. Although you are welcome to supplement the class text with another version or versions, you should be especially wary of paraphrased translations or other versions which alter and distort the original Hebrew for the sake of doctrinal orthodoxy.

Course schedule
Aug 30

Introduction
(Neh 8)

Sept 1

Text, canon, and interpretation
(Introduction, pp 49–106)

Sept 6

YHVH is a man of war
(Exod 15.2–20; Pss 74, 82, 104; Isa 27.1, 45.78)

Sept 8

God of the philosophers and God of the bible
(Gen 3.8, 12.19; Exod 20.23, 23.13b, 33.12–23; Deut 6.4–15; Zech 14.19; Mal 2.10–15; Judg 2.10b–12)

Sept 13

Genealogy of creation
(Gen 1.12.4a, 6.9, 10.1, 11.10, 11.27, 25.12, 25.29, 36.1, 36.9, 37.2; Introduction, pp 112–35)

Sept 15

Creation of man
(Gen 1.26–27, 2.4b–5.32; Introduction, pp 140–58)

Sept 20

Election of Abraham’s seed
(Gen 11.10–18.33)

Sept 22

Akedah: faith or favoritism?
(Gen 22)

Sept 27

FIRST EXAMINATION

Sept 29

Jacob and Esau
(Gen 25–33)

Oct 4

Class cancelled

Oct 6

Call of Moses
(Exod 1.1–4.18, 6.2–7.13; Introduction, pp 164-78)

Oct 11

Formalizing the covenant
(Gen 9, 17; Exod 34)

Oct 13

Class cancelled

Oct 18

Class cancelled

Oct 20

Moral law and ceremonial law, plus an excursis on homosexuality
(Exod 20–24; Lev 18.22, 20.13)

Oct 25

Class cancelled

Oct 27

SECOND EXAMINATION

Nov 1

The Deuteronomic history
(Deut 1.15.5, 12, 29–30, 34; Introduction, pp 204–24)

Nov 3

Samuel and the transition from priesthood to kingdom
(Judg 2, 12.7–15; 1 Sam 18; Introduction, pp 230–80)

Nov 8

Davidic covenant and the messianic idea
(1 Sam 10, 11.14–12.15, 15.1–16.13, 24; 2 Sam 1, 5.1–10, 7, 23.17; Pss 2, 89, 132)

Nov 10

Political significance of the prophets
(1 Kgs 11.29–39, 12.25–13.6, 14.1–16, 17–19; Introduction, pp 285–301)

Nov 15

Theological significance of the prophets: First Isaiah
(Isa 16, 9–12, 36–39; 2 Kgs 18–20; Introduction, pp 306–25)

Nov 17

Of servants and saviors: Second Isaiah
(Isa 40–54; Introduction, pp 325–38)

Nov 22

THIRD EXAMINATION

Nov 24

Thanksgiving

Nov 29

The psalter: let them praise
(Pss 1, 19, 93, 94, 146–50; Introduction, pp 508–23)

Dec 1

The psalter: out of the depths
(Pss 22, 27, 31, 116, 120, 130)

Dec 6

The royal psalms
(Pss 2, 44, 72, 95–99, 110)

Sat., Dec 17

5:00 pm, TAKEHOME FINAL due via Turnitin.com

Changes in schedule
The schedule of readings above may be amended at any time; the instructor reserves the right to do so on short warning. It is the student’s responsibility to ascertain and complete the reading assignments prior to class. The current schedule is posted here at the instructor’s web site.

Course work
There will be four examinations. The first three exams will be given in class, and will be worth 20% each. The final, counting for 40% of the semester grade, will be divided into two halves of equal value—one half on the material covered since the third exam, the other half a cumulative review of the entire course.

Attendance
Attendance is required. After the second one, each unexcused absence will reduce your semester grade by 4.5%. Please note the University policy on excused absences in §7 of the Student Rules: "To be excused the student must notify his or her instructor in writing (acknowledged e-mail message is acceptable) prior to the date of absence if such notification is feasible. In cases where advance notification is not feasible (e.g. unanticipated illness, accident, or emergency) the student must provide notification by the end of the second working day after the absence. This notification should include an explanation of why notice could not be sent prior to the class. The student must also provide documentation substantiating the reason for the absence, [which] is satisfactory to the instructor, within one week of the last date of the absence. For illness, documentation should include a note from a doctor or clinic." For a University-approved list of excused absences, see §7 of the Student Rules. N.B.: It is the responsibility of instructors in the University to offer review sessions, makeup quizzes, and exams at a time that does not conflict with a student's other classes. Hence makeup work for another class does not constitute an excused absence. If necessary the English department will negotiate with your other instructors to arrange times for makeup work that do not conflict with this or any other class.

Academic integrity
All students enrolled at Texas A&M University are expected to abide by the Aggie Honor Code. The burden of proof in establishing academic integrity is squarely on the student, as the Code makes clear: Misconduct in research or scholarship includes fabrication, falsication, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, reviewing, or reporting research. It does not include honest error or honest differences in interpretations or judgments of data. Texas A&M University students are responsible for authenticating all work submitted to an instructor. If asked, students must be able to produce proof that the item submitted is indeed the work of that student. Students must keep appropriate records at all times. The inability to authenticate ones work, should the instructor request it, is sufficient grounds to initiate an academic dishonesty case. For a fuller explanation of the Aggie Honor Code go here.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy Statement
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Services for Students with Disabilities, in Koldus 126. Phone 5-1637.

Web site
Elsewhere on this website can be found: an account of the interpretive principles which govern this class, a comparative listing of the Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Protestant canons, a small vocabulary of key Hebrew terms, and a glossary of biblical hermeneutics.

Copyright notice
The materials generated by the instructor for this course are copyrighted. These include, but are not limited to, the syllabus, handouts, outlines, review sheets, examinations, and those texts posted at the instructor’s web site. Because these materials are copyrighted, you do not have the right to copy them—or to give them to anyone else for copying—unless you have secured written permission in advance.

Office and contact information
Blocker 206-D. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30–2:15. Phone 5-8345.

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