Syllabus

COURSE SYLLABUS

REL/HUM 488

(HUM: CRN 4691, REL:   CRN 4687)

Interpreting the Bible in Cross-Cultural Perspective

Spring 2003 Second Half-Semester

One-Credit Seminar

Pre-requisites:   REL 141, 211/221, HUM 151

Rev. Dr. Herbert Hoefer, STM, Ed.D.                   Campus phone:   493-6494

Mon 7:00-8:50 p.m.                                                                Home phone:   503-251-0070

Office Hours:       10:30-1200                                                   E-mail:   <hhoefer@cu-portland.edu>

Office:   South Centennial 220

“What the Bible is depends on who you are”

Norman K. Gottwald and Anne Wire, p. v, Biblical Hermeneutics by Itumeleng Mosala

Course Description:

The student will experience how Christians in different cultures around the world interpret the Bible very differently.   Examples from tribal cultures, feminist perspectives, oppressive contexts, Hispanic theology, Black theology, and other cultural/religious perspectives will be studied.  

Course Goals:

•  Cognitive

The student will understand the diversity of spiritual messages available in the Bible.

•  Affective

The student will appreciate different cultural perspectives in approaching the Bible.

•  Behavioral

The student will develop abilities to relate to people of diverse cultural backgrounds.

Course Objectives:

     A.   Cognitive

•  Skills

The student will learn to read the Bible from multi-cultural perspectives.

              2.   Knowledge

a. The student will understand the socio-political background of the Biblical narrative.

                   b. The student will understand the effect of spirituality on society.

3.   Attitudes

a.    The student will understand how culture affects one’s perspective in       interpreting and applying Scripture.

•  The student will understand how one’s own culture affects one’s own interpretation and application of Scripture.

   B.   Affective

              1.   Skills

•  The student will learn how to relate Scripture to different cultural situations.

•  The student will learn how to discern the cultural background of different biblical interpretations.

•  Knowledge

a.   The student will understand the global, multi-cultural nature of the Christian church.

b.   The student will understand the various needs which drive one to search the Scriptures.

              3.   Attitudes

•  The student will welcome the enrichment of various viewpoints and messages from Scripture.

•  The student will learn to be open to the correction of one’s own cultural bias.

C.   Behavioral

1.   Skills

•  The student will learn to relate to people of different cultural backgrounds.

•  The student will learn to apply Scripture to various cultural groups.

2.   Knowledge

a.   The student will develop an interest in studying different cultures.

•  The student gain a background in different cultural perspectives.

•  Attitudes

a.   The student will consider serving in a cross-cultural situation.

•  The student will develop comfort in working with people from a different cultural perspective.

Course Requirements:

•  The student will read the textbook The Bible in Cross-Cultural Perspective by Jacob Loewen.   A study sheet for the book is provided in the Appendix in the form of a test to be taken toward the start of the course, on March 20 th .

•  The student will write a 2-3 page paper in response to at least two of the “Items for Reflection and Discussion” at the end of one of the chapters in Unexpected News by Robert McAfee Brown.   The paper is due on April 3 rd .

•  The student will give a 15-minute oral report on some of the “Perspective” articles listed in the Appendix.   Students will sign up for times to give their presentations, beginning on April 17 th .

•  Attendance at the class sessions is expected and is part of the grade.   Double weightage will be given to attendance during the student presentations from April 17 th on.

Course Evaluation:

              Test                      40 points

              Paper                    25

              Report                   20

              Attendance          15

                                      100

The course is graded on a pass/no pass basis.   For a passing grade, a score of 70 is required.      

Class Schedule:

March 10            Introduction to course

                            “Lens of Culture” discussion

                            Video:   “Women Serving Religion”

                            “Cross-Cultural Interpretation in the Spirit” discussion

17           Video:   “Hope Is the Last Thing to Die”

              “Recognizing the Unwritten Curriculum” discussion

                            Test on The Bible in Cross-Cultural Perspective (see Appendix)

24           Discussion on The Bible in Cross-Cultural Perspective

                            “Approaches to a Text:   Luke 10:38-42” discussion

                            “Who Will Interpret the Bible in India ?” discussion

              31           Paper due , on Unexpected News .  

                            Discussion of Unexpected News

                            “Western Colonial Use of the Bible” discussion

April     7              “Feminist Approaches to Recovering Scripture” discussion

              “Nicaraguan Peasants’ Reading during Samoza Dictatorship” discussion

                            “Gen. 1-2 as Matriarchal”

14           Student presentations

21           Student presentations

28           Student presentations

APPENDIX

Test on Text:   “The Bible in Cross-Cultural Perspective”

This is a “take-home, write-in-class” test.    The student is expected to read the text book utilizing this test as a study guide and then be prepared to take the test without the book.   Everyone will answer the two questions in Part A of the test.   Students will be randomly allocated questions in Part B and Part C of the test, and they can answer from among the assigned questions.   

You will be provided a fresh copy of the test at class time.   This test may be written on the writing pads provided in class or on computer during class time and e-mailed or given on disk to Prof. Hoefer.

Total Points:   50

Part A (18 points; answer both questions;)

1. pp. 19-25 and 95-104.   Explain how Loewen sees the development of worldviews in Old Testament history from the view of God as personal, tribal, national/territorial, and then universal. (8 points)

1. pp. 133-48.   In each of Loewen’s five tables (see attached), under the “Biblical” column are several illustrations of “Instances recorded” that coincide with the African worldview but contrast with the “Western Christian” worldview.   Identify10 biblical examples from the information Loewen provides, with at least one example from each table.   Indicate in your answer the table and the line for which you are providing the example. (10 points)

Part B (12 points; 4 points each; choose 3 from among 5 questions assigned)

1. pp. 13-14.   List 6 issues of life to which our cultural upbringing blinds/biases us.   Four of the issues can be from Dr. Loewen’s list, but at least two should be your own examples.

1. p. 41.   Fill in four of the blanks in Loewen’s diagram of Old Testament cosmology.   (See attached.)

1. pp. 48-56.   Trace the development in understanding of life after death as Loewen describes it, from a) shoel to b) reward and punishment to c) immortality of the soul (see also p. 75) to d) Paradise to e) bodily resurrection to f) hell to g) purgatory.   Describe at least four of these stages.

1. pp. 77, 111-15.   What positive and negative aspects does Loewen see in the biblical metaphor of God as “father,” drawn from the worldview of the time?
2. pp. 89-91.   How does the African worldview of a deity as territorially linked affect:   a) nomadic tribal movements, b) mission compound conversions, c) tribal warfare, d) ecological measures, e) social morality, f) place of death, g) attitude toward foreigners.   Describe four of the above examples.

1. pp. 118-24.   Loewen states:   “The effectiveness of any channel of communication from God depends in part on worldview, on what people understand to be legitimate, authentic, powerful, sacred.” (p. 124)   Describe the different channels God used through the changing worldviews of the biblical narrative:   a) dreams, b) visions, c) ecstatic prophecy, d) “true prophecy,” e) New Testament prophecy, f) written word.   Describe four of the above channels.

1. pp. 126-31.   In the traditional African worldview, some of the following might be involved in dealing with a person’s illness: a) Western medicine, b) deceased ancestors, c) “double vision,” d) stolen soul, e) spiritual attack, f) sorcery, g) soul thieves, h) release formulae.   Utilizing at least four of these terms, describe a possible diagnosis and treatment of a villager’s high fever.

Part C (20 points, 2 points each; choose 10 from among 15 questions assigned)

1. p. 12.   How did Dr. Loewen deal with the clash of worldviews he experienced in his university studies?

1. p. 16.   Describe two contrasting cultural views on the reason one has become wealthy.

1. pp. 25-31.   State two of the “major worldview shifts” that took place during the intertestamental period and are reflected in the New Testament worldview.

1. pp. 37-40.   Relate the contrast Loewen describes between the biblical worldview of “the uttermost parts of the earth” and the Empera tribal view.

1. pp. 45-46.   What does Loewen mean when he states that to read the Bible “monoculturally is to read it wrong”?

1. pp. 47-48.   What brought Loewen to change his interpretation of “a cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1)?

1. p. 63.   Give an example of an anthropomorphic representation of God in the Bible.

1. pp. 65-66, 72, 105.   What is the “heavenly council” that Loewen finds in the Old Testament worldview?

1. pp. 67-69.   In the spirit world of Old Testament and intertestamental cosmology, what are the roles of two of the following figures:   a) watcher angels, b) Satan (see also p. 74), c) Rahab, and d) evil spirits.

1. pp. 78-79.   Loewen states that “the New Testament has a clear separation between God and evil in its cosmology.”   Illustrate the change from Old Testament cosmology in relation to the role of both evil spirits and Satan.

1. pp. 83, 219-20.   What is the “God of the gap” mentality that Loewen deplores in Western Christianity?

1. pp. 87-89.   How do the term “father of our ancestors” and “high God” fit into African worldviews as a term for God?

1. 93-94.   “Many African Christians do not feel that their multiplicity of gods…. excludes monotheism.”   Why?

1. p. 104.   What does Loewen mean when he states that Israel ’s cosmology was never polytheistic, but it was henotheistic?

1. p. 106.   Why was there a great temptation of polytheism once the Hebrews entered Canaan ?

1. pp. 107-08.   What is the potentially dangerous link that Loewen sees between nationalism and monotheism?

1. pp. 117-18, 125.   How does the role of prophecy and shamanism in the traditional African worldview lead Christians away from their traditional Christian denominations to the new Independent Churches?

1. pp. 125-26.   What is the relationship between good spirits, bad spirits, and human souls in African cosmology?

1. 149-50.   Contrast differing worldviews’ interpretation of a bad car accident in which no one was seriously injured, according two of the following worldview beliefs in “impersonal power:”   a) astrology, b) karma, c) luck, d) spirits.

1. pp. 150-55.   Explain two of the following examples of holiness/taboo in the Bible:

a) ark of the covenant, b) war plunder, c) Mt. Sinai , d) “holy ground,” e) dietary laws.

1. pp. 155-56.   How did the Jewish people express their awe for the holiness of God’s Name?

1. pp. 158-59.   What is the difference between magic and miracle?
2. pp. 161-62.   Loewen asserts that believe in evolution or in the “market” is a belief in impersonal power.   Explain.

Scriptural Perspectives in “Voices from the Margin”

1. Perspective of the Oppressed

1. Korea – pp. 85-104 (see also pp. 228-43)
2. India – pp. 105-16
3. Japan – pp. 138-55
4. Central America – pp. 436-43

1. Tribal Perspective

1. India – pp. 117-37
2. Solomon Islands – pp. 179-84
3. Illiterates – pp. 421-35

1. Mystical/Allegorical Perspective – pp. 156-67

1. Perspective of Women

1. Pakistan – pp. 267-76
2. Drama – pp. 255-66

1. Buddhist Perspective

1. pp. 319-38
2. pp. 339-48

1. Perspectives on the Exodus

1. Brazil – pp. 215-27
2. Africa – pp. 244-54
3. Palestine – pp. 267-76
4. Native Americans – pp. 277-85

Feminist Perspective in “Jesus According to a Woman” and “Jesus and the Freed Woman”

“According to a Woman”

pp. 9-14

    15-22

    31-41

   49-59

   61-74

   75-88

   89-103

“Freed Woman”

pp. 15-29

      30-41

      89-103

     104-27

     128-54

Other Cultural Perspectives on Scripture

pp. 143-53, Biblical Hermeneutics and Black Theology in South Africa , Itumeleng J. Mosala (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, 1989)

pp. 31-45 (Marginality), pp. 62-66 (Poverty), pp. 91-102 (Aliens in the land), Santa Biblia:   The Bible through Hispanic Eyes, Justo L. Gonzales (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1996)

pp. 167-76, Must God Remain Greek?:   Afro Cultures and God Talk, Robert Hood (Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1990)

pp. 121-28, What Has Jerusalem to Do with Beijing ?:   Biblical Interpretation from a Chinese Perspective, Yeo Khiok-Khng (Trinity Press, Harrisburg, PA, 1998)

pp. 130-36 (Confucian), T ext and Experience:   Towards a Cultural Exegesis of the Bible, (Sheffield Academy Press, Sheffield, England, 1995)

pp. 218-25, The Way of the Black Messiah, Theo Witvliet (Meyer-Stone Books, Oak Park, IL, 1987)

pp. 57-77, Whispers of Liberation:   Feminist Perspectives on the New Testament,” Nicholas King (Paulist Press, NY, 1998)

pp. 188-94, “Canaanites, Cowboys, and Indians:   Deliverance, Conquest, and Liberation Theology Today,” Robert Allen Warrior, The Postmodern Bible Reader (Blackwell, 2001)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Feminist Theology

But She Said:   Feminist Practices of Biblical Interpretation , Elisabeth Schuessler Fiorenza (1992)

Searching the Scriptures:   a Feminist Introduction , Elisabeth Schuessler Fiorenza (1993)

Whispers of Liberation:   Feminist Perspectives on the New Testament , Nicholas King (1998)

Feminist Interpretation of the Bible , Betty Russell, ed. (1985)

Jesus According to Woman , Rachel Conrad Wahlberg (1975)

Jesus and the Freed Woman , Rachel Conrad Wahlberg (1978)

Feminist Interpretation:   the Bible in Women’s Perspective , Luise Schottroff, Silvia Schroer, and Marie-Theres Wacker (1998)

Women’s Bible Commentary , Carol A Newsom, ed (1992)

Black Theology

For My People:   Black Theology and the Black Church , James H. Cone (1984)

Biblical History and Black Theology in South Africa , Itumeleng J. Mosala (1989)

Black Theology II:   Essays on the Formation and Outreach of Contemporary Black Theology , Calvin E. Bruce and William R. Jones, ed. (1978)

The Old Testament in the Context of Africa , J.J. Burden (1991)

Shoes that Fit our Feet , Dwight Hopkins (1993)

The Way of the Black Messiah , Theodore Wituliet

Must God Remain Greek:   Afro Cultures and God-Talk , Robert E. Hood (1990)

Biblical Hermeneutics of Liberation and Modes of Reading the Bible in the South African Context , Gerald West (1991)

Developing World Theology

What Has Jerusalem To Do with Beijing :   Biblical Interpretation from the Chinese Perspective , Yeo Khiok-Khang

Biblical Theology in Asia , Ken Gnanakan (1995)

Asian Biblical Hermeneutics and Postcolonialism:   Contesting theInterpretation , R.S. Sugirtharajaj (1998)

Voices from the Margin:   Interpreting the Bible in the Third World , R.S. Sugirtharajah, ed. (1995)

The Bible and the Third World , R.S. Sugirtharajah (2001)

Unexpected News:   Reading the Bible with Third World Eyes , Robert McAfee Brown (1984)

The Bible in Cross-Cultural Perspective , Jacob A. Loewen (2000)

Rise my People, Claim Your Promise , Nirmal Minz

Decolonizing Theology , Noel Leo Erskias (1981)

The Postmodern Reader , ed. by Jobling, Pippin, & Schleifer (2001)