Course Summary

Exegesis and the skill of applying the message of biblical scripture

The course introduces techniques for studying the Old and New Testaments in view of application to current life. It assumes the student has a working knowledge of the nature and content of the Old and New Testaments. The primary task is to determine how select texts of scripture should be studied in order to understand the author's original intent. The study is divided into three modules: (1) The Art of Interpretation, (2) Interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures, and (3) Interpreting the Greek Scriptures.  This "foundation" course is normally the fifth course a student takes in either the M.T.S. or M.Div. program. Prerequisites: M 1, 2, and 3. 3 semester graduate credits.

Objectives

• Analyze texts by applying rules of exegesis

• Apply appropriate principles, tools, and methods to interpret a biblical passage

• Construct principles and tools for interpreting biblical passages to modern situations

Credit for the course requires a score of 70% or greater on 3 module examinations, an exegesis, and an essay. Each graded element is valued at 20% of the final grade. Exam problems are multiple-choice. A sample problem is given below:

The science of interpreting a text is known as (A) hermeneutics, (B) homiletics, (C) literary criticism, (D) textual criticism.

Resources

A Bible of any translation (NIV recommended)

Electronic Collection contains online e-books.