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THEO 228 Apocalyptic Literature
Fall
2008
Course
Description and Schedule
Email:
andrei.orlov@mu.edu
Phones: 414-288-7649 (office); 414-962-3460 (home)
Office: Coughlin Hall, 209
GOALS FOR THIS COURSE:
The main objective of
this course is investigation of the conceptual world of Jewish
apocalypticism and its formative value for early Christian theology.
Jewish apocalyptic thought, a major theological paradigm of the Second
Temple period, exercised arguably an unmatched influence on early
Christian authors and thus became, in the words of Ernst Käsemann, “the
mother of all Christian theology.”
FORMAT:
Seminar - a mixture
of introductory lectures, discussions, and student led presentations.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Two short seminar
papers/presentations (3-5 pages each); one longer course paper (15-20
pages).
- The first short paper/presentation
will be a status quaestionis (“state of the question” – “S.Q.”)
report on an apocalyptic document discussed in this course. (Please
announce your choices by Tuesday, September 2. I would prefer
no duplication, so please discuss your preferences among
yourselves). The report should attempt to address the following
questions: What are the hypothetical date and the provenance of the
text? In what languages has the text survived? State of
preservation, critical editions, original language, structure,
historical and theological importance, possible social groups behind
the text, relation to other apocalyptic texts, the best secondary
literature. You can start your preparation for the paper by reading
introductions to the texts in Charlesworth’s The Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha. However, since Charlesworth’s volume was published
more than twenty years ago you will need to supplement it with a
newer scholarship. If you are “at sea” about what sort of resources
to use, you are welcome to confer with your instructor and may also
wish to consult these bibliographical guides: J. H. Charlesworth
with J. A. Mueller, The New Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha:
A Guide to Publications, with Excursuses on Apocalypses (American
Theological Library Association Bibliography Series. Metuchen,
NJ/London: American Theological Library Association and Scarecrow
Press, 1987); J.-C. Haelewyck, Clavis Apocryphorum Veteris
Testamenti (Brepols: Turnhout, 1998); A. Lehnhardt, Bibliographie zu
den jüdischen Schriften aus hellenistisch-romischer Zeit (Gütersloh,
1999); L. diTommazo, A Bibliography of Pseudepigrapha Research
1850-1999 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001).
- For bibliographies on the Jewish
pseudepigrapha and apocalyptic literature see:
https://www.marquette.edu/maqom/
http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~nt/asp/biblio.htm
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_sd/bibliog.html
For the complete searchable bibliography of the studies in the Dead
Sea Scrolls see:
http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/resources/bib/bibliosearch.shtml
- The second short
paper/presentation will deal with the theological content of an
apocalyptic document discussed during the course. Students cannot
choose the same document they chose for their status quaestionis
presentation. It will be ideal if a student can concentrate on one
or two major themes in the document (such as the temple and priestly
traditions; the mediatorial figures; the mythologies of evil,
protological or eschatological realities, etc) and explore their
backgrounds in other texts. Students are encouraged to select a
different major theme for each study so that we will have a chance
to discuss as many theological themes as possible. So please talk
among yourselves and announce your choices by Tuesday, September
2. I will supply a preliminary bibliography that will introduce
you to the literature related to some of the major themes.
The short papers/presentations should contain 3-4 pages of single
spaced prose or outline format and a page of bibliography, to be
passed out to all class-members on the session previous to class
discussion. Please don’t send your papers via e-mail. Hardcopies
only!
Your presentation in the class should not exceed 5 minutes. It is
absolutely crucial for the success of the class. A presenter should
not read the whole paper - but rather prepare a short summary of it,
highlighting major points. Then all class-members will be asked to
offer a short reflection on the paper that they already read at home
and ask questions to the presenter.
- The major assignment will be a
seminar paper of 15-20 pages, focusing on a literary, theological,
social, or historical question pertaining to apocalyptic texts and
traditions. The paper is due December 4 (the last day of the
class). The topic of the final paper will be chosen by student. It
can be based on student’s short papers/presentations. Your final
paper should conform to the style sheet presented in the SBL
Handbook of Style (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1999).
The Handbook can be found in the library (CALL NUMBER: PN 147.S26)
and on the Internet in
this
location.
The initial paper proposal should be one or two pages of single
space prose describing your topic and the aims of your project plus
another page of preliminary bibliography. The paper proposal with
bibliography is due to instructor on Thursday, October 2.
The student will present a preliminary draft of the paper during the
last weeks of the class. The preliminary draft will be passed out to
all class-members one week before class discussion.
Attendance, assigned reading and active participation in seminar
discussions are of primary importance. Note that assigned readings
are to be completed before each session. Evaluation of the student’s
performance will be based on class participation, paper-proposal,
two short presentations/papers, preliminary paper-presentation and
especially the final paper.
LANGUAGE PREREQUISITES:
Hebrew, Aramaic,
Ethiopic, Greek, Latin, Georgian, Armenian and Slavonic will be useful
to our study. Students will be encouraged to utilize relevant sources in
French, Spanish, Italian and German in preparation of their longer
papers.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
-
The Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha (vol. 1): Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments
(ed.
J. H. Charlesworth; New York: Doubleday, 1985 [1983]). ISBN:
0385096305.
-
J. J. Collins,
The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic
Literature (Eerdmans, 1998). ISBN: 0802843719.
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Reserve
Materials. (on the class webpage at https://www.marquette.edu/maqom/theo-2282008.html
)
-
All electronic documents listed in the
schedule are available for download only as *.
pdf
files. These files require
free Adobe Acrobat Reader
in order to be viewed.
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