COURSE
SYLLABUS
Advanced Greek Exegesis
GREK 496C----RELI
620----DSGK 205
The Letter to the Colossians
Last revised: 1/04/08
Course
Objectives:
The student demonstrates
understanding of the historical, literary and theological meaning of the
Greek text of Paul's Letter to the Colossians.
DSGK205
is "an exegetical and
theological study of the Epistle in Greek, focusing primarily on the writing's
cultural setting, literary features, and distinctive contributions to New
Testament theology. Attention will also be given to the development of
hermeneutical tools necessary for the interpretation and exposition of
the writing."
Greek 496
is an exegetical study of Paul's letter to the Colossians, based on the
Greek text. The student will be expected to master the Greek text
of the book, including the textual and punctuation apparatus of the United
Bible Societies revised FOURTH EDITION Greek text.
Religion 620 is
"an
intensive study of selected documents in the Greek New Testament."
The demonstration of this understanding
will be evidenced by regular class recitation in which the students orally
read and translate a designated text, and by weekly written
assignments submitted to the professor. The additional requirement
for each student will be the preparation and presentation of a research
paper to the class at a designated time during the semester.
Texts:
-
The Greek New Testament. Edited by Kurt Aland et al.
4th ed. United Bible Societies. This edition without
the dictionary is recommended.
Requirements:
Attendance:
Students are
expected to attend all class periods. University policy
will allow no more than 25% absences from this course. This means a maximum
of 11 absences for classes meeting three times each week; 7
absences for one meeting twice; and 3 for
one meeting once weekly. For the summer term with two class periods
each for five days each week, a total of 11 absences from the 48 total
class periods is the limit. Note also: absences due to officially sponsored
activities, such as athletic contest will count toward the maximum allowable
number of absences but will not be factored into the grade adjustment.
Each
student is responsible to notify the professor of the reason for each absence
to determine whether it is an excused absence. Attendance and tardies will
10% toward the final semester grade. See Semester
Grade below for explanation and chart. For undergraduate Religion Majors,
each attendance at the C.M.A. meetings during the semester earns five bonus
points on the Participation Grade.
-
Exams:
No major exams
or quizzes will be given in the seminar.
-
Make-up Tests:
Make-up exams
for the exams which are missed will be taken within two weeks of the regular
exam. One time for makeups will be scheduled, and a different, more
difficult test will be administered. Permission to take make-ups
shall be given ONLY to those with justifiable reason for missing the regular
exam (by university policy, only: athletic contests, emergencies, illness
or bereavement).
Each student needing a make-up exam must secure permission
from the professor in advance of the scheduled make-up exam by completing
the Request for
Make-up Test form. The form must be approved by the professor before
the make-up can be scheduled; approval will be sent to the student via
his/her e-mail address.
-
Weekly Assignments:
Prior to the beginning of the class
on the following week, each student will submit, electronically
in MS Word doc format, an exegetical brief of the passage covered in Colossians
during the previous week's study. The assignment will be no less than four
pages single spaced in length.
They shall include treatment of the
following:
-
Any issues of parsing of the words of the
text that reflect interpretive concerns for the passage.
-
An appraisal of the English translations
of the passage
-
Addressing any Critical Apparatus issues
present in the text.
-
Response to the Rhetorical Issues presented
in the Lesson for that passage.
-
Response to the Exegetical Issues presented
in the Lesson for that passage.
-
Response to the Applicational Issues presented
in the Lesson for that passage.
They should reflect independent
study of the Greek text and relevant secondary sources such as commentaries
etc.
Submission of the Weekly Assignments:
-
File Name: R620Lesson??LastName.docx
-
The file name will vary according to the
lesson. For example, lesson one would be R620Lesson01Cranford.docx
-
For those weeks where a single lesson covers
more than one week, add an alphabetical letter to the lesson number, e.g.,
R620Lesson03bCranford.docx.
-
It is absolutely essential that these guidelines
be followed in order for your assignment to be tracked properly.
-
Submit the assignment at the Online Forms
page of Cranfordville under the Assignments menu---
-
Each assignment MUST be submitted through
this channel; otherwise the assignment cannot be accepted.
Assignment Format
Name:
Religion 620
Date:
Weekly Assignment for Lesson #
Colossians ?:??-??
1. Parsing Issues
Using
the materials provided in each Lesson, address the analysis of any interpretatively
signficant word(s) in the passage.
2. An appraisal of the English translations
of the passage
Critique
briefly a minimum of three translations representing the three basic translation
methodology used.
3. Critical Apparatus issues present in
the text.
Give
your summary of the external and internal evidence for the adopted reading
of the text. When no textual variant issue is discussed in the Lesson,
simply indicate that nothing on this topic was discussed in the class.
4. Response to the Rhetorical Issues
Copy
the questions from the given Lesson and provide a brief response to each.
5. Response to the Exegetical Issues
Copy
the questions from the given Lesson and provide a brief response to each.
6. Response to the Applicational Issues.
Copy
the questions from the given Lesson and provide a brief response to each.
Only a single level expositional outline is expected. A full sermon brief
is not required. Rather, you can summary your anticipated homiletical approach
to the passage.
|
Grading of Weekly Assignments: Failure
to record name on paper is minus 10 points.
-
Paper Presentations:
A requirement
of each student enrolled in the class, this assignment will consist of
a research paper based on Colossians from one of the paper topics listed
below.
Possible Paper
Topics:
-
Having to do with
the Greek text of Colossians
-
The Style of the
Greek Text in comparison to other Pauline Letters
-
The Transmission
of the Greek Text during the First Five Centuries of Text Copying
-
How Colossians compares
as a Letter to the other Pauline documents and to ancient letter writing
in general.
-
Having to do with
the contents of the Greek text of Colossians
-
The Christology of
Colossians
-
Paul's Concept of
Mystery in Colossians
-
Soteriology in Colossians
-
Ecclesiology in Colossians
-
The Concept of the
Family in Colossians
-
Having to do with
the history of interpretation of Colossians (die Wirkungsgeschichte)
-
The Relation of Colossians
to the other Prison Letters
-
The Questions about
Pauline Authorship of Colossians
Guidelines for the Paper and the
Presentation
-
Paper Selection
-
Each student will
request one of the above Paper Topics for assignment at the beginning of
the semester.
-
Paper Format:
-
The paper will be
written following the guidelines of the above Turabian
7th ed.
-
Where Turabian doesn't
address an issue, the Chicago Manual of Style will be mandated.
-
See Religion 600
Topic
06 for details.
-
The length of the
paper will average between 25 and 45 pages
-
Electronic copies
of the paper will be made available to each seminar member one
week in advance of the scheduled presentation
date
-
Late papers
will be counted off 5 points for each day after due date! Due date is midnight
for electronic submission.
-
Paper presentation:
-
The paper presentation
will consist of the formal presentation of a research paper (30 minutes
each), followed by oral discussion and critique of the paper by the other
members of the seminar.
-
The presentor will
prepare a MS Powerpoint Presentation to assist in the presentation. This
will be submitted electronically as a part of the presentation grade. It
must be on the day of the presentation.
-
Each seminar presentor
will receive two grades:
-
(1) the evaluation
of the written paper submitted one week in
advance of presentation, and
-
(2) the evaluation
of their oral presentation.
The grading of
the oral presentation will follow the guidelines developed in the topic:
Religion 600 Using research data.
See Semester
Grade below for details on how this impacts the semester grade.
-
See the Schedule
page for the dates of the presentations at the end of the semester.
Semester
Grade:
The semester grade will be determined
from an average of the following sources: Average of Weekly Assignments,
Paper, Presentation, and the average of class recitation, counting a 90
per of the semester grade. Additionally, class attendance, participation,
and attitude will count for 10 percent of the semester grade.
The adjusted average of the above numerical
grade will then be converted into a letter grade according one of the following
curves. Both the GWU Graduate School and the School of Divinity have mandated
grading curves, but they are not the same. Note very carefully these differences.
The applicable curve will apply to each student depending on how the student
is enrolled in the seminar.
GWU University undergraduate Curve |
GWU University MA Curve |
GWU Divinity School Curve |
A: 90-100
B: 80-89
C: 70-79
D: 60-69
F: below 60 |
A: 90-100
B: 80-89
C: 70-79
F: below 70 |
A: 94 -
100
B: 85 -
93
C: 70 -
84
D: 60 -
69
F: Below
60 |
Note the following illustration of
the above:
Grade Sources: |
|
Avg. of Weekly Assignments |
25% |
Paper |
25% |
Presentation |
25% |
Class Recitation |
15% |
Class Participation: |
10% |
Sem Avg: |
100% |
Semester Grade: |
. |
An internet based, continuously updated
grade book, WebGrade, will be made
available to each student so that his/her individual grades will be accessible
24/7 through secure access with a provided USER ID and PASSWORD that is
distinct from those provided by Gardner-Webb University.
Honor
Code. Students are expected to adhere
to the university Honor Code that is a condition of enrollment at Gardner-Webb
University. See the current
Student
Handbook under the section Student Guidelines,
Expectations, and Rights for the details of this policy.
Special
Needs. If you require accommodations
for a special need, please contact the professor. Your request will then
be processed through the NOEL Program for the Disabled.
Career
Opportunities. The Career Services
Office has marvelous services available to GWU students and alumni for
job assistance. You need to get your resume posted with them and take advantage
of the services Holly Sweat and her assistants provide. Career Servies
is proud to announce that the majority of their resources can now be accessed
via their website: www.careers.gardner-webb.edu. Upcoming events,
career fairs, campus employer recruitment and the Jobs Bulleting are just
a few of the resources available on the site. Be sure to take advantage
of all Career Services has to offerContact the office at 704 406-4562,
their web site at http://www.careers.gardner-webb.edu,
or go by their office at Suite 204 in the Dover Campus Center.
A new service
now provided is the Bulldog Network, which helps find both jobs and internships.
Click on here for information:
Class
Cancelation Notices.When classes are
canceled due to bad weather, you can find this information posted on GWU's
web site or call 1- 877-GWU-SNOW. Additionally,
area radio -- especially the university's radio station WGWG at 88.3 FM
-- and TV stations will be notified of the closing. Very rarely will classes
on the Boiling Springs campus be closed for bad weather.
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