TM204 Reading and Preaching Biblical Law and Narrative

This module is taught with slightly different specifications for both Wesley College and WEMTC. For WEMTC students it is an occasional course that may be run for accelerated students. It will be run 2004 Summer Term at Bristol jointly with Wesley College. It will be run therafter on request. The Wesley version is run most years and has less focus on preaching. This module is at level two and not an option for WEMTC Certificate Students except with permission of a Core Staff Member. Wesley students are expected to have core biblical papers as pre-requisites.

Click here for Handouts and preparatory reading

For WEMTC: This module explores and evaluates the different ways First Testament Law and Narrative may be read in order to find meaning suitable for preaching today. On the basis that both Law and Narrative may have had original sermonic settings it then explores how law and narrative formats and methods might influence the form and method of our preaching.

For Wesley: This unit explores the range of meanings of the word 'law' in the OT and the different types of legal material including the Decalogue. Attention is paid to the way in which Christians have appealed to bibliucal law in addressing ethical issues. The main substance of the course will be the study of selected individual biblical narratives and the way in which they relate to one another.

The other half of the module explores how First Testament Narrative material works as literature looking at subjects such as plot, character, style and structure.It considers the implication of having narrative within our theological framework and discusses what might be meant by this having authority for Christians today.

The class is taught at a University Level Two and requires TM102.5 Introduction to the First Testament as a prerequisite. Some Wesley Students may take this module at level one but need to have completed an introductory module on the Old Testament. It is studied in a broadly academic environment acknowledging the various methods of modern scholarship but with a view to understanding how this greater knowledge can enhance our own faith and preaching/ bible studies. Click here for:

• Full module description for TM204 WEMTC Law and Narrative
• Full module description for OT2.2 Wesley Law and Narrative
• Sample class timetables
• Sample book lists
• Sample WEMTC assignment titles
• Sample Wesley assignment titles

Books

• Bar Efrat, Narrative Art in the Bible Sheffield, Almond Press, 1989
• Eslinger R, The Web of Preaching: New Options in Homiletic Method Nashville, Abingdon 2002
• Fokkelman J.P. Reading Biblical Narrative, Louisville, John Knox 1999
• Lowry E. The Homiletical Plot, expanded edition Louisville, John Knox 2001
• Powell M. What is Narrative Criticism London, SPCK, 1993.
• Brueggemann W. Theology of the Old Testament Minneapolis, Fortress 1997
• Dale P. Old Testament Law London, SCM, 1996.
• Firmage et al, Religion and Law: Biblical-Judaic and Islamic Perspectives Winona Lake, Eisenbrauns, 1990
• Janzen W. Old Testament Ethics: A Paradigmatic Approach Kentucky, John Knox Press, 1994
• Wright C. Walking in the Ways of the Lord Illinois, IVP, 1995.

TM204 Law and Narrative Web Resources

The Internet is not 100% reliable and documents move, disappear and change their names. If you find a link does not work, try again in an hour, a day, or a week. But do feel free to email us to report a link doesn't work. Don't forget to tell us the name of the link!

Introductory Articles General Articles on FT Law

Napier's 'OT Legal Codes'

A general introduction from Religion Online

The Ancient World Works on law and life in the Ancient World

Ancient Near Eastern resources and pictures

Many links to Ancient Near Eastern resources, photos and web sites, see e.g. Ancient documents from Mesopotamian, Hittite and Egyptian cultures or Chronologies of the Ancient Near East

Law in the Ancient Orient

From the detailed Gateways to Babylon site. A good overview of ANE Law plus other information on Babylonian law and life including Hammurabi's law code.

Hammurabi's Law Code

This is available from several sites. You could try: Exploring Ancient World Cultures from the University of Evansville. Or The Avalon Project from Yale Law School which also has the 1910 Encyclopedia Britannica Article available.. You can see a photo at the Louvre (search for Hammurabi)

Mesopotamian Laws c2250-550BCE

Some Mesopotamian laws from Halsall's Ancient History Sourcebook. Worth exploring the rest of the site too.

A Hittite Law Code c. 1650-1500 BCE

The Code of the Nesilim from Halsall's Ancient History Sourcebook. Worth exploring the rest of the site too.

An Assyrian Law Code c. 1075 BCE

The Code of the Assura from Halsall's Ancient History Sourcebook. Worth exploring the rest of the site too.

A Neo-Babylonian Law Code c. 555-427 BCE

Some Neo-Babylonian law codes from Halsall's Ancient History Sourcebook. Worth exploring the rest of the site too.

An Ancient Treaty

See a sample Akkadian/ Hittite Treaty between Mursilis And Duppi-Tessub Of Amurru .

Attitudes to the Law

The Westminster Confession

See Article XIX for a reformed Christian attitude to the law

Philo

The Law of God and the Laws of the Cities in Philo of Alexandria - an analysis

The Torah/Pentateuch
See more generally the bible commentary sites listed below.

Leviticus

'The Sacred and the Mundane: The Message of Leviticus' by Peter J Haas

Torah as Holiness

Torah As Holiness: Old Testament "Law" as Response to Divine Grace by Dennis R. Bratcher

NT endorsement of the Law

New Testament Endorsement For The Old Testament Law by Greg L. Bahnsen, Th.M., Ph.D. (A Theonomist Viewpoint)

On Holiness

'Conversations among Exiles' by W Brueggemann - on holiness then and now

The 10 Commandments

Clines on the Commandments

A pdf file of Clines' article 'The 10 Commandments: Reading from Left to Right' from Interested Parties

Theonomy
Theonomy is the idea that all judicial laws still apply to Christians. There is much web published. Here are some that are for and against this theology

Christian Reconstructionism critiqued

A site by the Religious Tolerance Org critiquing 'reconstructionism' - a view that goes together with and informs theonomy

What is Reconstructionism?

Thibodeau's explanation and critique

Theonomy Online

A New Zealand site seeking to justify theonomy.

Theonomy - A defence

'What is Theonomy?' by Jay Rogers - a key figure

The Law in Judaism Today

Tracy Rich's JewFAQ site

A general information site about Judaism. Se for instance the pages on Torah, Kosher food, Halakhah/Jewish Law, 10 Commandments, Sacrifices, Sabbath

Everything Jewish

A site explaining Judaism with some good comments on the Sabbath

Narrative Criticism
Narrative Criticism is the chief method of study used for narratives in this course

Study Notes on Narrative and on Poetics

Tim Bulkeley's 'Introduction to Narrative and Poetics' study notes including definitions for his class on the narratives of Jonah and Ruth. A good starting point. The poetics page is particularly worth reading. Tim teaches at the Baptist College of NZ and is responsible for the online Postmodern Bible Project.

Probing Scripture

C Newsome's article from Christian Century on literary approaches to interpreting the bible.

Narrative Criticism and the Hebrew Scriptures

J Christopher Heard's conservative critique of Narrative Criticisms from Restoration Quarterly.

Reader Response Theory

A brief outline of Reader Response Criticism by B McManus of College of New Rochelle.

Narrative Criticism defined and explored

A brief outline of Narrative Criticism from C. Murphy Santa-Clara University.

Sternberg's Poetics of Biblical Narrative

A useful Book Review of Meir Sternberg's The Poetics of Biblical Narrative

Specific Biblical Narratives
See more generally the bible commentary sites listed below.

• Noah

  Noah's Ark and Mrs Monkey

  by F Landy, a leading academic, this work looks at how the Noah story is treated in children's literature.

  Genesis 7-9

  From the Textweek site a range of articles from popular to scholarly.

  Noah in Art

  From the Textweek site

• Jonah

  Narrative Study Notes on Jonah

  Tim Bulkeley's study notes for his class on the narratives of Jonah and Ruth. A good basic starting point it looks at plot, characters, genre, structure, speed - although I would like you to be more open to other interpretations. Tim teaches at the Baptist College of NZ and is responsible for the online Postmodern Bible Project.

  Calvin's Commentary

  Calvin's Commentary on Jonah from the CCEL site

  Wesley on Jonah

  John Wesley's Sermon notes on Jonah from the Wesley Centre Online

  Spurgeon

  Spurgeon's writings on Jonah from the Spurgeon Archive

  The Shaping of Jonah

  by MK Deeley - a literary editor considers Jonah - fun but thought provoking

  A Jonah for Today

  by P E Luthman an imaginative retelling of Jonah

  Conversation Analysis and the Book of Jonah: A Conversation

  A conversation analysis of Jonah especially Jonah 4 with responses. Don't worry about the linguistics but skim the later part of the article for the impact of this study and responses to it. From the SBL Socio-Linguistics Group

  Jonah in Art

  From the Textweek site

Using Narratives in Ministry

Preaching OT Narrative

An article by Holbert of Perkins School of Theology.

Narrative Theology

Narrative Theology and the Dogmatic Use of the Bible

An article by M Wisse Utrecht University. A comment on the strengths of Narrative Theology.

Gateways to First Testament sites (Sites of links for your own searching)

Old Testament Gateway

Set up by Australians Roy and Sue Nicholson to mirror Mark Goodacre's New Testament Gateway it looks set to be an excellent starting point for all FT studies.

iTanakh

Another excellent Gateway to academic sites relating to the Hebrew Bible for undergraduate to doctoral level by C Heard of Pepperdine University.

Rutger's Virtual Religion Index

Links to all matters relating to the First Testament most of a good academic standard. See also their Bible Page

Torrey Seland, Norway

Lots of good links to English material of reasonable quality from a Professor at Volda University Norway.

Online Bibles and Commentaries (usually older versions of Bibles and Commentaries out of copyright but there is some web specific material)

Crosswire's Bible Tool

Crosswire together with the American Bible Society and SBL has set up this online Bible resource which has innumerable foreign language versions as well as the classic English texts including all Bible Society texts

CCEL Worldwide Study Bible

Gives links to bible versions and commentaries (again usually older and copyright free)for each book and chapter of the bible

Crosswalk's Bible Study Tools

Similar to the above, you can see various bibles, commentaries, concordances, dictionaries but also includes Hebrew and Greek.

Internet Christian Library

Articles and links to online bibles, commentaries, bible study materials and other christian books.

Bible.org's commentaries and articles

Contains a growing set of online commentaries on the OT books by a variety of authors. Fairly conservative but engaging with academic subjects and the major scholars. Look around the home page for other useful articles.

Introductions to Literary Criticism of the First Testament

Historical and Newer Criticism Explained

An easy to follow explanation of the different types of historical criticisms - source, form, redaction and more recent literary and post-modern criticisms from Goshen University. Less detailed than the explanations from Santa Clara below.

Another Explanation of the Biblical Criticisms

Another fairly easy to follow explanation of the different types of historical literary and post-modern criticisms from Santa Clara University. More detailed than the explanations at Goshen University above.

The Documentary Hypothesis EJDP

An easy to follow explanation of the Documentary Hypothesis and the differences between EJD and P. Not a literary criticism but nevertheless understanding the basics of historical criticism is a necessity to embarking on literary criticism.

Online Biblical Journals Bible Studies Journals that appear online

BSW Journal

A site aimed at encouraging biblical studies journals to go online. It gives links to those that are online such as Biblica and American Journal of Biblical Theology. Also has links to commentaries and other bible study tools.

Bibliographic Resources

The Pittsburg Bibliography

A useful bibliography on biblical law from BJ Hibbitts of the University of Pittsburg School of Law

Philo

The Law of God and the Laws of the Cities in Philo of Alexandria - an analysis

University of Toronto

A useful bibliography from the University of Toronto on Hebrew Narrative - scroll down for best resources

Vanderbilt English Department

Bibliography on studying the bible as literature

Jonah

Bible Org's bibliography on Jonah

See also our General First Testament Links
And there are always the General Religion Links as a starting point.

Why not tell us of some sites you have found useful? If the webmaster agrees we'll list them here.

Documents for this module online include:

• Class timetable and schedule
• Book list
• TM204 assignment titles (if not yet available you will see sample assignment titles.)
• Handouts submitted for circulation This subject is taught by set reading which is then discussed in class. The set reading will be given as handouts and are also available here. For £2 students may purchase a CD with the material on it and additional information.

Documents for this module online include:

• Class timetable and schedule
• Book list
• TM204 assignment titles (if not yet available you will see sample assignment titles.)
• Handouts submitted for circulation This subject is taught by set reading which is then discussed in class. The set reading will be given as handouts and are also available here. For £2 students may purchase a CD with the material on it and additional information.

Go ahead - be the first to submit something

Module Description for Wesley's OT2.2

Code and title

Unit Director

Credit Points

Prerequisites

Rationale for and Description of this Unit

Unit Content

The part played by narrative in determining the structure of the Canon as a whole is registered. The course moves on to catalogue the diversity of kinds of individual narratives and the implications of diversity for our approach to their interpretation. The contribution of form criticism and the study of tradition history are noted. The main substance of the course is the study of selected individual biblical narratives including narratives apparently complete in themselves (such as the books of Ruth and Jonah) and narratives which are episodes in larger wholes. Particular attention is paid to the way in which biblical narratives relate to each other and to the occurances of allusions, echoes and shared themes, structures and images.

Key Reading and References

• Vaux R. Ancient Israel, its Life and Institutions p143ff London DLT 1961
• Harrelson W. J. "Law in the OT" Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, vol 3 pp77-89 New York Abingdon Press 1962
• De Greengus S. "Law in the OT" Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Supplementary Volume pp525-537 New York Abingdon Press 1976
• Berlin A. Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative, Sheffield Almond Press 1983
• Brichto H.C. Towards a Grammar of Biblical Poetics Oxford OUP 1992
• Brueggemann W The Creative Word Philadelphia Fortress Press 1982

Statement of Unit Objectives

1. To examine OT law in its historical and its canonical context and to explore how law functioned in the social life of the communities which produced it
2. To consider how biblical law has been made use of by Christians in the past and to ask in what respects biblical laws might be regarded as authroitative for Christians today
3. To examine the ways in which biblical narratives relate to each other and combine to make up the larger structures of canon.
4. To explore the range of methods by which biblical narratives can be interpreted and understood.

Statement of learning outcomes

Methods of teaching and number of contact hours

Methods of Assessment

Criteria for the award of Credit Points

Summary Description of the Unit

Module Description for WEMTC's TM204

Code and title

Tutor

Brief description

Level and Credits

Status

Type

Prerequisites

Recommended prior study*

Restrictions*

Content summary

• Narrative critical interests in the interpretation of biblical narratives (e.g. plot, characterisation, style, time and place, point of view) and their application to selected First Testament texts such as Jonah, Ruth or portions of Genesis
• Narrative Homiletics as exemplified by Lowry and its relationship to Narrative Criticism, with a critique of sample sermons
• The Jewish understanding of Torah as law and narrative and the implications of this juxtaposition of narrative and command.
• The scope and content of First Testament legal commands against their Ancient Near Eastern background with special attention to understanding those laws that are alien to modern readers
• Different interpretations and treatments of the Law through Jewish and Christian history and suitable methods of interpretation for today.
• Torah as a model for preaching

Learning outcomes

1. Knowledge and Understanding
   • Have an appreciation for the richness and multifaceted nature of biblical narrative and law.
   • Be aware of the issues involved in interpreting biblical law and narrative in contexts other than the ones they were generated in.
   • Be aware of the areas were narrative theory has influenced biblical interpretation and homiletics
   • Be aware of the main elements in Jewish and Christian interpretation of First Testament Law and the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to interpretation today
2. Skills
   • Be able to explore a narrative passage using the tools of Narrative Criticism.
   • Be able to write and explain a narrative sermon using the insights of the New Homiletic.
   • Have reflected on different styles and aims in preaching using insights from the study of First Testament law and narrative.
   • Be better able to explain and preach biblical law and narrative

Teaching and learning

Assessment

Indicative resources

• Bar Efrat, Narrative Art in the Bible Sheffield, Almond Press, 1989
• Eslinger R, The Web of Preaching: New Options in Homiletic Method Nashville, Abingdon 2002
• Fokkelman J.P. Reading Biblical Narrative, Louisville, John Knox 1999
• Lowry E. The Homiletical Plot, expanded edition Louisville, John Knox 2001
• Powell M. What is Narrative Criticism London, SPCK, 1993.
• Brueggemann W. Theology of the Old Testament Minneapolis, Fortress 1997
• Dale P. Old Testament Law London, SCM, 1996.
• Firmage et al, Religion and Law: Biblical-Judaic and Islamic Perspectives Winona Lake, Eisenbrauns, 1990
• Janzen W. Old Testament Ethics: A Paradigmatic Approach Kentucky, John Knox Press, 1994
• Wright C. Walking in the Ways of the Lord Illinois, IVP, 1995.

Resources Addition Form

Contribution to the TM204 Page