The Syllabus

Spring Semester 2000
Class Meetings: Mondays and Fridays 8:30-9:50 a.m.
Instructors: John Alsup & Steve Reid

Course Description:
Quite apart from popular interest in things apocalyptic as the year 2000 approaches, every student of the New Testament has discovered through courses of basic introduction, interpretive methodology, and exegesis that questions of eschatology and apocalypticism play a major role in scripture. They have had a defining role in the discussion of God's relationship to history, of the relationship between the Testaments, of time and types of time, and of other fundamental theological matters. The genre of apocalypse, moreover - inherited and critically appropriated from the Old Testament and Judaism - has played a prominent role in gospel writing (cf. Mark 13 and parallels) and in epistolary composition (cf. I Thess. 4:13-5:11; I Peter passim; etc.). The Book of Revelation, the final book of the Bible, represents the largest single literary version of  Christian apocalyptic in the canon. Its relationship to the genre of "gospel" and "epistle" remains an important exegetical task. Unfortunately, however, this document has been a closed book for many, even for those who acknowledge the importance of things eschatological. This course seeks to do its (modest) part in re-opening consideration of Revelation's angle of vision in keeping with the charge "me sphragises tous logous tes propheteias tou bibliou toutou, ho kairos gar engus estin" (Rev. 22:10).

A Brief Prologue:
In keeping with the goals and requirements of the course (cf. below) the participants in the course will engage in a form of cooperative learning that depends on the contributions of the collective membership and that - hopefully - will model a style of exegetical cooperation that will reproduce itself in future pastoral settings. On an experimental basis, and to the degree that class members support the enterprise, assignments for preparation and contributions to our work together will be made available in the "Topics" area of the Bi 216 website:

The Goals of the course are, therefore: 1) to gain a better understanding of the genre of apocalypse, the Book of Revelation itself, and the New Testament concept of "eschatological existence"; 2) to practice the skills of listening in the context of advanced New Testament exegesis; 3) to focus our cooperative exegetical work individually on a project of one's choice (cf. "requirements").

Requirements:
1) Participation in the team=based Greek translation project.
2) Participation in class discussins based on exegesis and critical interaction with the textbook and one other assigned commentarty (cf. chart below).
3) A written critical review of an assigned book or article (cf. chart below) due on March 10 or 20. If possible please submit it also on a floppy disk.
4) A final project due by 5pm on the Monday of Finals Week (May 15th, 2000), except for seniors for whom the due date is 5pm on the Friday of Reading Week (May 12, 2000). The final project, written or oral, might take one of the following forms: Three written sermon manuscripts with exegetical precis (each sermon plus precis being ca. 10 pages in length) based on texts of one's choice from the Book of Revelation; a term paper with a 20 page limit ( = regular option) or a paper with no page limit ( = thesis option); a didactic project for the local church (project size is negotiable, but should approximate the size of the first two mentioned above (ca. 20-30 pages); an oral discussion over a period of ca. 1 1/2 to 2 hours on a mutually agreed upon topic and shaped through meetings during the semester to insure a quality conversation; an html-related project designed to enhance the long-range goals of the course for distance learning. Students are invited to submit a rationale for other individual choices. Projects shall be submitted during the semester or during the deadline stated above, or in the case of the oral discussion, negotiated for a time during Finals Week (compliance with deadlines for graduating seniors is presupposed).

Grading is based on the equation: 50% class participation, 50% final project.

Class Schedule:

Feb. 7 - Syllabus discussion and approval
Video/Discussion: "Facing the Millenium" (a Jim Lehrer News Hour conversation with Richard Landes of The Center for Millenial Studies; aired Dec. 22, 1999, Austin); also "A Conversation with Elie Wiesel", holocaust author and theologian regarding his new book "And the Sea is Never Full. Memoirs, 1969- "

Feb 11 - The Text: Beginnings and Endings : Rev. 1:1-3 and 22:6-21
Genre: seeing what we are looking at. Aproaches: "Apocalypse!" (PBS: Frontline; a selection); Michael Card (CD- "Unveiled Hope", a selection); What does the text remind you of among possible biblical counterparts?

Feb. 14 - Introductory Questions: Roloff textbook, Introduction, pp. 1-17

Feb. 18 - Theological Perspectives: cf. L. Goppelt, Theology, Vol 2, pp. 178-197

Feb. 21 - Commissioning
  Chs. 1:4-20

Feb. 25 - Letters to the Seven Churches
  Chs. 2:1-3:22

Feb. 28 - Letters to the Seven Churches
  Chs. 2:1-3:22

Mar. 3 - Letters to the Seven Churches
  Chs. 2:1-3:22

Mar. 6 - Letters to the Seven Churches
  Chs. 2:1-3:22

Mar. 10 - Letters to the Seven Churches
  Chs. 2:1-3:22

Break Week -  Mar. 13 - 17

March 20 - Throne Room, The Lamb, and the Book
  Chs. 4:1-5:14

March 24 - Throne Room, The Lamb, and the Book
  Chs. 4:1-5:14

Mar. 27 - First Series of Visions - Seven Seals
  Chs. 6:1-8:1

Mar. 31 - First Series of Visions - Seven Seals
  Chs. 6:1-8:1

Apr. 3 - First Series of Visions - Seven Trumpets
  Chs. 8:2-11:19

Apr. 7 - First Series of Visions - Seven Trumpets
  Chs. 8:2-11:19

April 10 - Second Series of Visions - The End and The Struggle of God
  Chs. 12:1-19:10

April 14 - Third and Final Series of Visions - God's Plan For History
  Chs. 19:11-22:5

April 17 - God's Plan For History
  Chs. 19:11-22:5

April 24 - God's Plan For History
  Chs. 19:11-22:5

April 28 - God's Plan For History
  Chs. 19:11-22:5

May 1 - Endings and Beginnings - Revisited
  Chs. 22:6-21 and 1:1-3

May 5 - Summary and Conclusions

May 8-12 - Reading Week

May 15-19 - Finals Week