Course Syllabus

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BIB540E: Anabaptist Approaches to Scripture
ANABAPTIST MENNONITE BIBLICAL SEMINARY
Spring 2013 Syllabus

Professor: Loren L. Johns
E-mail:     ljohns@ambs.edu
Phone:     296-6228 (o) and 535-0410 (h)

Course Description

What is distinctive about Anabaptist approaches to Scripture ... and why? This course is a critical and appreciative examination of the tradition regarding what Mennonites and other Anabaptist groups have shared with others in their use of Scripture and where, how, and why they have differed. The course will pay attention to the 16th century in Europe, the 17th-20th centuries in Europe and North America, and today’s issues in (primarily) North America.

Prequalification

Online courses are not for everybody. To see if you are a good candidate for an online course, take the online inventory available at http://www.gar­rett.edu/in­dex.php/component/mad­blanks/? task=show­mbmod&mid=190&mbcsr190configid=2.

Goals

  1. To reflect critically on our own individual stories with the Bible and what has shaped our experiences with the Bible.
  2. To understand and appreciate within its historical and theological context each of the 16th-century Anabaptist emphases with regard to the Bible.
  3. To be able to articulate convincingly which of the historical emphases Anabaptists held in common with other European Christians, which were distinctive in some way, and why some Anabaptist held this emphasis.
  4. To assess critically, appreciatively, and theologically the enduring value of each of the historic emphases within today’s context.
  5. To understand how today’s discourse regarding the Bible has been shaped and affected by historical developments since the 16th century.
  6. To reflect critically and appreciatively on some of the major factors in today’s society that are affecting our approach to Scripture.
  7. To explore various methods of Bible reading and interpretation, from form criticism to lectio divina.

Canvas

We will be using Canvas as our course management system, which will serve as the medium for all announcements, assignments, discussions, and instruction pertaining to this course. Address: https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/768339

Procedure and Requirements

1) Monitor Canvas. Although some elements of the course will be set up and available weeks or months ahead of time, a few minor activities and readings may be assigned within a week or so of their due date. As a result, you will need to monitor the Canvas site regularly.

2) Contribute to Class Discussions. Each week you will be asked to write in response to some issue identified for that week.

3) Research and Write a Paper. Write a 4,000-word research paper on two of the Anabaptist “principles” of biblical interpretation, one of which you think today’s church should embrace, practice, and/or recover, and one of which you think has little usefulness for today’s church.

a) Explain the principle and give an example or two from the literature about how the Anabaptists used it.
b) Argue why the one principle was and is a useful and important approach to Scripture.
c) Argue why the other principle may have been a useful and important approach to Scripture at one time, and also why in today’s world it no longer is.

4) Preach: Write a 15-minute sermon about the role of the Bible in the church today. Preface your sermon with a 250–500-word explanation about the context in which and for which you are preaching this sermon that explains why you are saying what you are.

5) Provide Feedback: Write a 400–500-word evaluation of the readings assigned for this class (or others on this subject matter that you happened to read), identifying which ones would contribute the most to a reader on “Anabaptist Approaches to Scripture” (and why).

Textbooks Required

  1. Swartley, Willard M., ed. Essays on Biblical Interpretation: Anabaptist-Mennonite Perspectives. Occasional Papers, no. 1. Elkhart, IN: Institute of Mennonite Studies, 1984. (Provided electronically)
  2. Murray, Stuart. Biblical Interpretation in the Anabaptist Tradition. Studies in the Believers Church Tradition, no. 3. Kitchener, ON: Pandora Press, 2000.

Evaluation and Grading

Letter grades will be given with the following scaling:

Contribution to class discussions in Canvas, 35%
Research paper, 35%
Sermon, 20%
Feedback, 10%

Plagiarism Policy

AMBS policy is that you should not do it. “Plagiarism results from the unacknowledged use of material found in print sources, oral presentations, or visual, electronic or other media sources. Plagiarism does not require an intention to deceive. It can result when a student submits as his or her own work ideas, language, data or other material contained in a source not acknowledged by the student, if the student knew or should have known that such acknowledgement was required.”  (http://law. slu.edu/policies/plagiarism.html) Occurrences of plagiarism will result in a range consequences determined by the professor; the first consequence is failure of the assignment. All occurrences of plagiarism are reported to the dean and the student’s adviser. (See Policy on Plagiarism in the Academic Policies and Procedures Manual)

Extension Policy

No extensions will be given in this online class, for which self-pacing is a high value. An exception may be made for a death in the immediate family that occurs in the week preceding the last class.

Course Evaluation

As part of AMBS’s commitment to improve the quality of teaching and learning, we take seriously the feedback we receive from students in course evaluations. By seminary policy, students are required to complete an online course evaluation outside of class time in order to get credit for a class. Evaluations are optional for auditors. The online course evaluation will become available to students the last week of class at http://evals.ambs.edu where further instructions are available. Username and password are required. Students must complete the evaluation within one week of the last day of class to be in compliance. Students who wish to convert an NC (due to noncompliance) to a passing grade must pay a $25 fee to complete the evaluation and to have the grade converted. Students who have technical difficulties with completing the evaluations should contact Brent Graber at 296-6221 or bgraber@ambs.edu.

Writing Services

A Writing Services Specialist is available to work with students, particularly students in this class, on paper-writing: thesis, argument structure, citation, grammar, etc.

Course Summary:

Date Details Due