Course Description
Biblical interpretation in black America from 1865 to the present.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Additional readings and a research paper along with more extensive examinations to reflect the additional responsibilities.
Athena Title
BIBLE BLACK CHURCH
Prerequisite
Junior or senior standing or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered every even-numbered year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
1. To make students aware of the approaches to the interpretation of the Bible in the Black community. 2. To enable students to understand the historical reasons why these differences exist. Communicate Effectively through Writing To strengthen skills in written composition, analysis, and presentation by means of projects such as essays, papers, reports, and examinations. Communicate Effectively through Speech To strengthen skills in oral expression, analysis, style, and interaction by means such as class reports, class discussion, and oral examinations. Computer Literacy To enhance and facilitate computer literacy by the use of word processing, the web, email, and OASIS through research, preparation, and presentation of work such as oral class reports and completion of written assignments. Critical Thinking To foster critical thinking by engaging in activities such as classroom discussion and debate, essay examinations, and oral presentations. Moral Reasoning (Ethics) To assist in the continued development of moral and ethical reasoning and reflection by encouraging creative thinking regarding individual and community concerns and needs, the challenging of prejudices and stereotypes, and examining rational and ethical bases of constructive social interactions.
Topical Outline
I. Biblical Studies in the Post-Enlightenment Period II. 19th Century African American Interpreters of Scripture III. Black Biblical Hermeneutics: 1900-1950 IV. Black Biblical Hermeneutics: 1950 to the Present A. Thurman, forerunner to King, Cone, & Felder B. King, the student of Thurman C. Cone & Liberation Theology: A Marxist Appropriation of Thurman D. Felder: Advancing Thurman into the 21st Century V. Course summation and conclusion