1 the New Testament (SS 512) Notre Dame Seminary Dr. Nathan Eubank

The New Testament (SS 512) Notre Dame Seminary

Dr. Nathan Eubank Spring 2014 Notre Dame Seminary 7:30-4:30 Saturday Email: [email protected] Room ? (504) 866-7426 Ext. 3015 Office hours: 1-2:30pm Monday and by appt.

Course Description This course, designed for the M.A. Program, introduces the literature, history, and theology of the New Testament. It explores the contexts and contents of the various literary genres contained in the New Testament. Through this study, the course provides a familiarity with the New Testament books, as well as modern scholarly research. Close attention is given to the historical context of the New Testament. The course introduces major themes and issues in New Testament theology, with a special emphasis on the biblical foundations of the Catholic faith.

Course Rationale Dei Verbum 17: “The word of God, which is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe (see Rom. 1:16), is set forth and shows its power in a most excellent way in the writings of the New Testament.”

Envisioned Outcomes Students will be able: a) to identify the various New Testament books according to their genre and contexts; b) to demonstrate a familiarity with the New Testament books and modern scholarly research; c) to apply knowledge of the historical context of the New Testament to its interpretation; d) to demonstrate a grasp of major themes in New Testament theology.

Required Texts 1. Burge, The New Testament in Antiquity: A Survey of the New Testament within Its Cultural Context. Zondervan, 2009. ISBN-10: 0310244951

2. Gorman, Michael J. Reading Paul. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade, 2008. ISBN-10: 155635195X

3. HarperCollins Study Bible. 2006. ISBN-10: 0060786841

4. Synopsis of the Four Gospels, Revised Standard Version, American Bible Society, 2010, ISBN: 978-1585169429

5. Cohen, Shaye J. D. From the Maccabees to the Mishnah. 2nd ed. Westminster John Knox Press, 2006. 0664227430

Lecture, Presentation, and Reading Schedule

Note: readings are marked with a little arrow thing!

25 January: Introductory Matters, Judaism, Greco-Roman Cultures

7:30-8:20AM Introduction to Course and Syllabus 8:30-9:45AM Lauds, morning Mass, and breakfast break 9:45-11:00 AM Lecture: First Century Judaisms: Interpreting the Heritage of Israel  Cohen, From the Maccabees to the Mishnah 11:15-noon Lecture: Graeco-Roman Culture 12:00-1:00 PM LUNCH 1:00-1:30 PM Lecture and discussion: about the paper assignments. 1:45-3:00 PM Lecture and discussion: the Approach of this Course, Catholic and Historical  Dei Verbum paragraphs 11-13  Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration, forward. Discussion questions: why is historical criticism necessary? What are its limitations? Why does this course focus disproportionately on the historical study of the human authors rather than reading the texts in the Spirit in which they were written? 3:10-4:30 PM Lecture: what is the New Testament? Text and Liturgy  Black, New Testament Textual Criticism: A Concise Guide (handout excerpt)  Recommended: Paul Griffiths, “Which are the Words of Scripture,” Theological Studies 72 (2011): 703-22.

8 February: Gospels, Synoptic Problem, Matthew, Mark, Luke

Note: Be sure to bring your Synopsis of the Four Gospels today!

7:30-8:20 AM Lecture: what are the gospels? 8:30-9:45AM Lauds, morning Mass, and breakfast break 9:45-11:00 AM Lecture: Synoptic Problem 11:15 - NOON Lecture: Matthew  The Gospel According to Matthew  Burge et al., The New Testament in Antiquity, chapter 8. 12:00-1:00 PM LUNCH 1:00-1:50 Lecture: Matthew 2:00-2:50 PM Lecture: Mark  The Gospel According to Mark  Burge et al., The New Testament in Antiquity, chapter 9.

3:00-4:30 PM Lecture: Mark

***8 March 2012 PAPER#1 DUE BY 5PM (delivered by email) ***

29 March: Luke-Acts, and John. 4 Gospels one Jesus

7:30-8:20 AM Lecture: Luke  The Gospel According to Luke  Burge et al., The New Testament in Antiquity, chapter 10 8:30-9:45AM Lauds, morning Mass, and breakfast break 9:45-11:00 AM Lecture: Luke 11:15 - NOON Lecture: John  The Gospel According to John  Burge et al., The New Testament in Antiquity, chapter 11 12:00-1:00 PM LUNCH 1:00-1:50 PM Lecture: John 2:00-2:50 PM Non-canonical gospels  The Gospel of Peter (handout)  The Gospel of Thomas (handout) 3:00-4:30 PM Lecture: 4 Gospels and 1 Jesus

12 April: Acts and Paul

7:30-8:20 AM Lecture: Acts  Acts of the Apostles  Burge et al., The New Testament in Antiquity, chapter 12 8:30-9:45AM Lauds, morning Mass, and breakfast break 9:45-11:00 AM Lecture: Ancient letter writing, Paul the writer of letters 11:15 – NOON Lecture: Romans, Galatians  Romans  Galatians 12:00-1:00 PM LUNCH 1:00-1:50 PM Seminar: discussion of Gorman’s Reading Paul.  Reading Paul (duh ) 2:00-2:50 PM Lecture: 1-2 Corinthians  1-2 Corinthians 3:00-4:30 PM Lecture: Ephesians, Colossians, Pastoral Epistles

***19 April PAPER #2 DUE BY 5PM (delivered by email)***

10 May: Final Exam, canon, everything else

8:30-9:45AM Lauds, morning Mass, and breakfast break 9:45-noon Final Exam 12:00-1:00 PM LUNCH 1:00-1:50 PM Seminar: James vs. Paul?  James  Recommended: Burge et al., The New Testament in Antiquity, chapter 22 2:00-2:50 PM Lecture: Hebrews, Apocalypse of John  Hebrews  Recommended: Burge et al., The New Testament in Antiquity, chapter 23  Apocalypse of John  Recommended: Burge et al., The New Testament in Antiquity, chapter 26 3:00-4:30 PM Lecture: formation of the NT canon

A Few Notes on Reading: 1. Skimming does not work. 2. Many texts need to be read more than once to be understood. 3. You are more likely to remember what you read if you take notes while reading and conclude by writing a one-sentence summary of what you read. 4. The most important reading is slow, careful, attentive, prayerful reading of Scripture. 5. You are not required to agree with everything you read in assigned scholarly literature. The professor himself will at times disagree with these scholars. 6. Nevertheless, our pursuit of truth and charity demands that we approach all literature with a posture of patient humility so that we may separate wheat from chaff and grow to understand new things.

Course Requirements Reading comprehension/ class participation: 20% Paper #1 (due March 8): 20% Paper #2 (due April 19): 30% Final exam: 30%

 Reading comprehension will be measured by asking seminarians questions about the readings in class.  Class participation refers to one’s alertness, teachable spirit, and willingness to engage in conversation or to ask questions when invited to do so by the professor.

Attendance Policy 1. Class attendance: Due to the nature of the program, no one can miss more than 3 consecutive hours of instruction without excuse and remain in the course. Also, no one

can miss more than a total of four hours of instruction without 10% of the final grade being subtracted. 2. MISSING A SATURDAY SESSION: this course meets exclusively in an intensive five Saturday format. Because of this, missing a Saturday session is never allowable if a student has not sought and received permission from the instructor. If a student is allowed to miss a Saturday session, the following conditions apply: a) The student must seek and receive permission to miss the session PRIOR TO the session; b) The student must hand in all class requirements that are due on the date of the session missed no later than the date of that session; c) The student must arrange in advance to have a fellow student tape the entire Saturday session, and notify the instructor of the name of the student who will be taping the session; d) The student must take notes on all lectures and class activities from the taped session, and submit a typed copy of these notes to the instructor PRIOR TO the next class meeting (this can be done through email); e) The student cannot achieve a grade higher than a “B” in the course; f) If the student fails to meet the above requirements (A-D), then the student `will receive an “F” for the course. g) NO STUDENT IS ALLOWED TO MISS ANY ADDITIONAL SESSIONS. If a student misses an additional session they must withdraw from the course (with a grade of “W”, “WP” or “WF”) or receive an “F” for the course.

Academic Integrity Students are expected to take full responsibility for their academic formation. They are expected to “respect academic scholarship by giving proper credit to other people’s work, while at the same time preparing well for assigned materials and examinations in such a way that their academic integrity will never be questioned.” A student involved in academic dishonesty will receive an “F” for the assignment and will be reported to the seminary administration. Ultimately, a student found guilty of academic dishonesty may be dismissed from the Notre Dame Seminary.

Attendance, Late Papers and Assignment Submissions Policy Unexcused absences and tardiness will adversely affect the class participation grade. A late assignment will lose 10 percentage points for every day it is late after the assigned due date. Assignments will not be accepted unless they are delivered by email to the instructor as a ms word file, 12 point Times New Roman font, one inch margins.

Make-up Work Students will not be given the opportunity to do additional work or make-up work in order to change their final grade. Make-up work simply changes (and lowers) the standard requirements set forth in the course syllabus and creates a situation that is unfair to all other students who were

5 evaluated according to the syllabus. Extra credit may be offered during the semester; if so, it will be offered to all students equally.

Use of laptops during class We live in an age of distraction. Many of us find it difficult to stop fiddling with electronic devices or to take a break from checking email. To engage in prayerful study – that is, to do our work with rigor and attentiveness to the voice of the Lord – we must learn to be quiet and focus. Therefore, the use of laptops in class is strongly discouraged. Any person who is seen using a laptop (or other electronic device) for something other than taking notes will receive an automatic 5% reduction in the final grade.

Selected Bibliography Aland, Kurt. Synopsis of the Four Gospels. An invaluable resource for comparing the Gospels. See also the less expensive version by Throckmorton: Gospel Parallels, NRSV Edition: A Comparison of the Synoptic Gospels. Cohen, Shaye J. D. From the Maccabees to the Mishnah A great introduction to the Jewish world of the New Testament. Hays, Richard B. Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul. An investigation of how Paul interprets Scripture that has sparked widespread scholarly interest in this issue. ______.The Moral Vision of the New Testament. The exegetical descriptions of various parts of the NT are particularly helpful for beginning students. Powell, Mark Allan. Jesus as a Figure in History An introduction to historical Jesus research. Sanders, E.P. Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63 BCE - 66 CE ______. Paul and Palestinian Judaism

See the following Catholic commentary series: Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture (self-consciously obedient to the Magisterium and pastoral) Sacra Pagina There are a number of excellent non-Catholic commentary series, including the following: Anchor Bible Commentary International Critical Commentary Bible dictionaries can be helpful entry points into an issue. The standard is: The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Edited by David Noel Freedman. See also the IVP Bible Dictionary Series. ATLA is an important resource for finding scholarly journal articles. The following journals are among the most important New Testament journals: Catholic Biblical Quarterly

Journal for the Study of the New Testament Journal of Biblical Literature New Testament Studies Novum Testamentum For patristic biblical interpretation see the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series, which is available in the library. This series is very helpful, but cannot replace reading the fathers for oneself. The Catena aurea of Thomas Aquinas (available online: http://www.catecheticsonline.com/CatenaAurea.php )