Content

This unit offers an introduction to the Bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament. It introduces students to the principles of scriptural interpretation within the Catholic tradition and provides a foundation for understanding Scripture in the context of Religious Education and the life of the Church. Through the study of selected biblical passages, students engage with various methods of interpretation and learn about how the Bible is understood in the Catholic tradition.

Unit code: BS8602C

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 16.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Foundational

Unit discipline: Biblical Studies

Delivery Mode: Intensive

Proposing College: Catholic Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Demonstrate a basic knowledge of ways to interpret the Bible within the Catholic tradition;

2.

Describe and examine central concepts and types of literature in the Bible

3.

Interpret passages from the Old and New Testament within their social and religious contexts

4.

Show how these skills of interpretation may be used and adapted in a classroom setting;

5.

Develop a specific topic of research related to the unit content in a critically rigorous, sustained and self-directed manner.

Unit sequence

This is the first unit in CTC’s program of units for the Graduate Certificate in Teaching Religious Education.

Pedagogy

Classes consist of interactive lectures, reading and analysing biblical texts, as well as discussions (in each case, presented in a manner appropriate for intensive, online, or blended delivery modes).

Indicative Bibliography

  • The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha. Edited by Michael D. Coogan et al. 5th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.
  • Beavis, Mary Ann, and Michael J. Gilmour. Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2012.
  • Collins, John J. Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. 2nd ed. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014.
  • Ehrman, Bart D. The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
  • Fitzmyer, Joseph A. The Biblical Commission’s Document “The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church”: Text and Commentary. Subsidia Biblica 18. Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1995.
  • Moloney, Francis J. A Friendly Guide to the New Testament. Friendly Guides. Mulgrave: John Garratt Publishing, 2010.
  • Perkins, Pheme. Reading the New Testament: An Introduction. 3rd ed. New York: Paulist, 2012.
  • Sakenfeld, Katharine D., ed. The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. 5 volumes. Nashville: Abingdon, 2006–2009.
  • Senior, Donald, Paul J. Achtemeier, and Robert J. Karris. Invitation to the Gospels. Rev. ed. Mahwah: Paulist, 2002.
  • Sumney, Jerry L. The Bible: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Essay

2000 word essay on Old Testament topic, including consideration of principles of Catholic interpretation of Scripture, and related to classroom situation.

2000 50.0
Essay

2000 word essay on New Testament topic, including consideration of principles of Catholic interpretation of Scripture, and related to classroom situation.

2000 50.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Maggie Kappelhoff on 19 Jul, 2021

Unit record last updated: 2021-07-19 13:06:17 +1000