RELIGION 216 -- The Life and Teachings of Jesus AA 255

Fall Semester, 2002

Beth Harrison COURSE SYLLABUS

Texts: H. B. Sharman, Records of the Life of Jesus (parallel text of the gospels)

John Sanford. The Kingdom Within: the Inner Meaning of Jesus' Sayings

Marcus Borg. Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time

OR John Dominic Crossan. Jesus.

Office: Room 253. Tel: 845-6242 Fax: (703) 845-6186

E-mail: nvharre@nvcc.edu

Office hours: Mon. -- 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Tues. -- 2:30-4:30 p.m. (unless there is a Campus Council or Senate mtg.)

Thurs. – 6:30 -7:30 p.m.

Other hours by appointment.

Course Requirements:

Journals--------------------------------------------------------------------25%

Sanford paper------------------------------------------------------------20%

Borg/Crossan paper----------------------------------------------------20%

Final examination-------------------------------------------------------35%

General comments: Each week you are expected to spend an hour working in your journal, along with your reading assignments. The assignments which follow refer to the sections ($) in Sharman, not page numbers.

Attendance Policy: This course requires your active and participatory attendance. Please plan to be present for every class, if possible. It is difficult, sometimes impossible, to make up what happens in class. At the end of the first three weeks of class, students who have not attended will be administratively dropped from the class. After that time, if you find that you must drop the course, you are responsible for taking care of the required paperwork. You may drop the course without grade penalty until October 29. Missing more than three classes will result in your being withdrawn from the course. So, please plan accordingly. It is important that you be here.

If you are late to class, after the roll has been taken, it is your responsibility to make sure that your attendance is noted, so that you will not be inadvertently withdrawn from the course.

Assignments:

8/29 Introductory comments. Methodology and assumptions. Assignments.

$83A The lawyer’s question; loving God with all…

9/5 Textual issues, authorship, dates and composition of gospels. Historical context,

sources. What attitudes and aptitudes do we bring to help us in this work?

Manuscript issues (Stefan Barnhardt, guest speaker)

9/12 $17 Activity of John the Baptist.

$18 The baptism of Jesus by John

$20 Withdrawal of Jesus to the Wilderness. (Sanford, Ch. 1)

9/19 $ 21-33 Overview of early public activity of Jesus. Nazareth. (Sanford, 2)

Calling of disciples, exorcisms. (Sanford, 3)

9/26 $ 29-32 Son of Man. (Sanford, 4)

$ 36-38 Overview of the Sermon on the Mount (Sanford, 5) Beatitudes.

10/3 $ 37 Jesus relationship to laws of his Judaic tradition. Anger, lust, divorce.

(Sanford, 6) Turning the other cheek. Resist not evil. (Sanford, 7)

10/10 $38 Jesus' teaching about interpersonal relationships --judgment, projection,

and the Golden rule. (Sanford, 8)

10/17 $ 41 A-E, $42 John the Baptist. Sinner woman. (Sanford, 9)

$ 47-48 Overview on the Kingdom of God. (Sanford, 10)

Parables of the Kingdom.

10/24 SANFORD paper due. $48 Parables of the Kingdom.

$44,45,46,104B Opinion of friends of Jesus, & religious leaders

$50 Have you no faith? $54 Because of their unbelief…

10/31 $60-70 Teaching and feeding the multitude; Luke's "Great Omission"

$68,88 Pharisees demand signs from Jesus

$71,72,78S,T,U Opinion of disciples. Discourse on standards of

greatness. $74A-E Transfiguration. 73A Taking up one's cross $73B Losing one's life to save it

11/7 $83C Good Samaritan

$85C Parable of importunity $129A Parable of Yes/No brothers

$105 Parable of Lost sheep, lost coins, prodigal son

11/14 $136H-O Parable of the Talents; $103E-H Parable of the Great Feast

$136E-F Parable of the wise and foolish virgins $112 Teaching

when and where to find the kingdom of God

11/21 $79,101A-B, 95,96A-B Jesus sets forth for Jerusalem

$124 Entry into Jerusalem

$130A-D Render unto Caesar… $126 Jesus casts commerce from the

temple BORG Paper due.

11/28 Thanksgiving Holiday. No Class.

12/5 $138 Passover with disciples $140-141 Gethsemene, betrayal, and arrest

$142,143,144 Trials, crucifixion

$145,146,147 Burial, guard for sepulchre, visits to the sepulchre.

JOURNALS DUE.

12/12 $149-151 With the disciples. Thomas 91,82,77,13.

Paul: I Cor 15:3-19; Acts 1-2. The resurrected life.

$74,50,220,144H

The Lord's Prayer.

12/19 FINAL EXAMINATIONS DUE.