Vanderbilt University Department of  Religious Studies, College of Arts and Science

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Interpreting the Gospels: MATTHEW
Monday 3:10-5:30 pm (classroom: Divinity G23; Discussion Groups: DIV G25, G 26; G28)

Here's a brief description of the course.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions, or you want to discuss whatever class-stuff.  I would appreciate your suggestions on how to make our class more interesting and fruitful for everyone. Daniel M. Patte

Course Description
Focusing this year on the Gospel of Matthew, this class will compare scholarly interpretations of the Gospel with interpretations by Christian believers who read this Gospel as Scripture – that is, as a text with a teaching for or about their lives in specific religious, socio-economic, and cultural contexts. As we successively read different parts of the gospel, we will consider the teachings of this text for believers today – including teachings formulated by members of the class and related to mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic North American churches, African-American churches, feminist circles, and "Third World" churches – and how these teachings compare with diverging scholarly interpretations of this Gospel. We will also consider how these teachings compare with other interpretations of Matthew in the history of the church (using Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol I, Matthew). The first and essential requirement for this class is active participation in seminar-like discussions, including several short oral presentations; and a concluding term paper (written in several stages during the second half of the term).

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