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RLST
212 - DIV/REL 3162 Pauline Chritianity:
Romans
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of Pauline Christianity! Monday 3:10-5:30 pm , |
Course Description: The Pauline Interpretaion of Christianity
WEB PAGE:
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/religious_studies/212/212.htm
CATALOG DESCRIPTION: THE PAULINE INTERPRETATION OF CHRISTIANITY. An introduction to Pauline Christianity and its place in the early church, using the letters of Paul the deutero-Pauline letters, and the portraits of Paul in Acts. [This semester emphasis: Romans.]
PEDAGOGICAL GOALS of this class:
1) Introducing members of the seminar
a) to Paul and his interpretation of Christianity (in and for his context), and
b) to the different interpretations of Paul by his readers (biblical scholars, believers in different cultural contexts in history and today), in order to help members of the seminar to gain a critical perspective on the variety of interpretations which they encounter.
Pedagogical goal: Intellectual Literacy concerning the scholarship on Paul (by the end of the semester, you will be expected to know major differences among three distinctive scholarly interpretations of Paul),
2) Inviting members of the seminar to develop their own interpretations of Paul's letter to the Romans, and helping them to do so;
Pedagogical goals: Intellectual Literacy concerning Paul's letter to the Romans (by the end of the semester, you will be expected to know the content of Romans); and Hermeneutical/Interpretive Skills (Keeping in mind the warning of a Ghanaian preacher: "Some people claim to know the Bible, but the Bible doesn't know them," throughout the semester in a weekly exercise you will be expected to illustrate the way in which believers identify specific teachings in Romans for specific life and religious contexts-how they allow Romans to know their life in this context?)
3) Teaching members of the seminar how to assess their interpretations by comparing it with other interpretations (scholarly interpretations and also Christian believers' interpretations)
Pedagogical goals: Methodological, Analytical, and Hermeneutical Skills: Analyzing the textual, contextual, and theological/religious choices involved in each interpretation (by the end of the semester, you will be expected to show that you can compare several interpretations on the basis of the choices they made; and to assess their relative values).
Thus, each session will have three parts:
Part A: Plenary: Introducing Paul and his interpretation of Christianity
Assigned readings, quizzes on key theological concepts; lecture; the lecture also reinforces key points of Part C of the preceding week (bringing continuity).
Part B: Groups: Round-Table Discussion of YOUR interpretations of a passage of Romans focused on a key concept (you need to come to class with it);
Students sign up the previous week to participate to one of the three groups, each focusing on different concepts; the goal of the round-table is to show the different interpretations of the same passage by members of the group and to prepare to teach the rest of the class about their findings.
Part C: Plenary: Reports by groups. Assessment of the diverse interpretations present in each group in terms of key theological concepts discussed in Part B.
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