This core course will enable students to engage in informed study of the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles; to understand the progress of critical scholarship over the past hundred years in relation to the study of these texts; and, through some thematic study, to relate material in the Gospels and Acts to its wider New Testament and theological context.

At the end of the double module a student should be able minimally to understand the genre, characteristics and some key themes of Gospel and be aware of varieties of approaches which have been applied to the study of them. Optimally a student should have a critical understanding of variations in canonical Gospels and the reasons for them, of diversity of scholarly approaches to Gospel study and an understanding of the insights such approaches have offered.

In particular students should be able to demonstrate:

·       An understanding of Gospel as a literary genre and of the factors which occasioned Gospels

·       A critical awareness of a number of scholarly approaches to the study of Gospels and Acts which have emerged in the 20^th -21^st centuries

·       Recognition and analysis of important theological, Christological, eschatological, ecclesiological and other themes of concern to each Evangelist.

·       Critical appreciation  of the distinctiveness of each Gospel and of factors which may have informed it

·       Understanding of elements common to the Gospels and of the factors which determined them

Sessions will usually be lecture based. Each lecture will be accompanied by a handout setting out the structure of the lecture, additional bibliography, and some relevant quotations. Handouts will not be an alternative to note taking but will be a useful checklist against notes and a help in organising revision. Students are encouraged to raise questions at any point in the lectures, and when appropriate, time will be given in the sessions to class discussion.

The ability to:

• Reason from evidence, whilst being tolerant of other interpretations of the evidence.
• Critically evaluate evidence and its interpretation.
• Sustain a logical argument and reach a defensible conclusion.
• Analyse and synthesise information.
• Make individual presentations, and contribute effectively and creatively to group discussion.
• Actively respond to peer and teacher feedback.
• Discuss and question new ideas.
• Understand how people have thought and acted in contexts other than the students’ own.
• Present analyses in a clear and coherent manner, both orally and in writing.
• Solve problems.
• Demonstrate a willingness to seek, and accept, help and guidance.
• Accept responsibility for the student’s own activities and their outcomes.
• Display self-reliance.
• Adopt a demanding work-schedule.
• Revise judgements in the light of new evidence.
• Use computers as a research and writing aid.

This module will be assessed by means of 1 essay @ 2,000 words (worth 50%) and a 1.5 hour exam worth 50%.

Lectures will cover the context and exegesis of key biblical texts. Seminars will critique different positions on, and examples of, biblical hermeneutics.

Please refer to Background Reading and Resource List for an Indicative Reading and Resource List.

Indicative Reading and Resource List:

Key texts:

The Holy Bible with Apocrypha, New Revised Standard Version (published variously by OUP, HarperCollins, SPCK, Hendrickson).

Reference works:

K.J. Vanhoozer, ed., Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible (London: SPCK, 2005).

G. Bray, Biblical Interpretation: Past and Present (Leicester: IVP, 1995).

Introductory Texts

C.G. Bartholomew and M.W. Goheen, The Drama of Scripture (Grand Rapids: Michigan: Baker Academic, 2004).

J. Barton, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation (Cambridge: CUP, 1998).

I. Boxall, New Testament Interpretation (London: SCM 2007).

G.D. Fee and D. Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All it’s Worth (rev. ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003).

M.J. Gorman, Elements of Biblical Exegesis (rev. ed.; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2009).

P. Gooder, ed., Searching for Meaning: An Introduction to Interpreting the New Testament (London: SPCK, 2009).

J.B. Green, Seized by Truth: Reading the Bible as Scripture (Nashville: Abingdon, 2007).

_______, Practicing Theological Interpretation: Engaging Biblical Texts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011).

D. Holgate and R. Starr, Biblical Hermeneutics (SCM Studyguide; London: SCM, 2006).

D. Jasper, A Short Introduction to Hermeneutics (Nashville: Westminster John Knox, 2004).

G.T. Meadors, ed., Four Views on Moving Beyond the Bible to Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009).

S. Moyise, Introduction to Biblical Studies (2^nd ed.; London: T&T Clark, 2006), esp. chapters 6-9.

M. Oeming, Contemporary Biblical Hermeneutics: An Introduction (London: Ashgate, 2006).

Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church (Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 1993).

S.E. Porter and J.C. Robinson, Hermeneutics: An Introduction to Interpretive Theory (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011).

G. Shillington, Reading the Sacred Text (London: T&T Clark, 2002).

A. Thiselton, Hermeneutics: An Introduction (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009).

F.C. Tiffany and S.H. Ringe, Biblical Interpretation: A Roadmap (Nashville: Abingdon, 1996).

More Advanced Texts on Biblical Interpretation and Hermeneutics

A.K.M. Adam et al, Reading Scripture with the Church: Toward a Hermeneutic for Theological Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006).

P. Ballard and S.R. Holmes, eds., The Bible in Pastoral Practice (London: DLT, 2005).

C. Bartholomew et al, eds., Out of Egypt: Biblical Theology and Biblical Interpretation (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2004).

R. Beckford, Jesus is Dread: Black Theology and Black Culture in Britain (London: DLT, 1998).

W. Brueggemann, Texts under Negotiation: The Bible and the Postmodern Imagination (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993).

J.J. Collins, The Bible after Babel: Historical Criticism in a Postmodern Age (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005).

E.F. Davis and R.B. Hays, The Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003).

J.D.G. Dunn, The Living Word (2^nd ed.; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2009).

D.F. Ford and G. Stanton, eds., Reading Texts, Seeking Wisdom (London: SCM, 2003).

S.E. Fowl, ed., The Theological Interpretation of Scripture (Blackwell Readings in Modern Theology; Oxford: Blackwell, 1997).

J. Goldingay, Models for the Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995).

J.B. Green and M. Turner, eds., Between Two Horizons: Spanning New Testament Studies and Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000).

W. Jeanrond, Theological Hermeneutics: Development and Significance (London: SCM, 1991).

A.S. Jensen, Theological Hermeneutics (SCM Core Text; London: SCM, 2007).

P.J. Leithart, Deep Exegesis: The Mystery of Reading Scripture (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2009).

R. Lundin, ed., Disciplining Hermeneutics: Interpretation in Christian Perspective (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997).

M. Silva, ed., Foundations of Contemporary Interpretation (Leicester: Apollos, 1997).

S. M. Schneiders, The Revelatory Text: Interpreting the New Testament as Sacred Scripture (2^nd ed.; Collegeville, MN.: Liturgical Press, 1999), esp. part 1.

C. Spinks, The Bible and the Crisis of Meaning: Debates on the Theological Interpretation of Scripture (London: T&T Clark, 2007).

A.C. Thiselton, New Horizons in Hermeneutics (London: Marshall Pickering, 1992).