Assessment

Each student will present three in-course papers, a final synthesis paper of 5,000 words, and attend a review meeting. A limited number of students may make a class presentation in place of one of their in-course papers.

Module Aims

The aim of this course is to explore the question of Saint John Paul in Tertio Millennio Adveniente, his encyclical of 1994: “to what extent has the Word of God become more fully the soul of theology and the inspiration of the whole of Christian living.”

Furthermore, the course aims to provide a historical overview and hermeneutical critique of the development of biblical interpretation over the last two thousand years.

Finally, it seeks to increase both the rigour of the participants’ research methodology, and their professionalism in presenting the results of their research.

Indicative Syllabus:

By means of seven historical and hermeneutical “windows” the course will explore how the Scriptures have been received in Jewish and Christian traditions down through the ages. Through investigating the reception and reinterpretation of the Scriptures in the apostolic and patristic periods, in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and finally in modernity and beyond, participants will obtain a deeper sense of the richness of the Scriptures, and of how they are the “Word of God” and the soul of theology.” (See Dei Verbum § 21; Verbum Domini § 31; 35).

Timetable: Semester 1: Tuesdays 6.15 to 8.15 pm. First meeting 20/09/22

Learning Outcomes

• — have an appreciation of the various approaches to biblical interpretation through the ages
• — be able to situate theologians who work with scripture in their hermeneutical context
• — be able to describe and critique theologians’ approaches to scripture employing contemporary hermeneutical theory, and specifically the synthesis provided by Sandra Schneiders
• — be attentive to the complexities involved when employing scripture in their own theological reflections

Bibliography

• — Schneiders, Sandra M. The Revelatory Text. Interpreting the New Testament as Sacred Scripture. 2nd ed. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1999.