I. How to Contact the Professor

My contact information is located above, just below the instructions for printing this syllabus. You may send me email at any time regarding your participation in this class. I check my email every night at about 10:00pm, so you may not get a response to your email till the following day.

Feel free to contact me by telephone at home any time before 10:00pm any day except Sunday. My home phone may be a long-distance call for some students. Still, it is the surest way to contact me in a hurry outside of office hours. Leaving messages for me at my office after 3:00pm is not a good idea. Use my home number or email instead.
 

II. Nature of the Course

Religion 266 examines the life and letters of the Apostle Paul. You will learn about the historical setting as well as the literary characteristics of Paul's letters. You will also learn about some of the difficulties associated with establishing the chronology of Paul's ministry.
 

III. Goals

I have two types of goals for this class. First, there are goals concerning the information you will learn and the skills you will gain or sharpen (content goals). Second, there are goals concerning the way in which you will learn that information and sharpen those skills (process goals).

A.    Content Goals

1. Define the major critical issues facing the interpretation of Paul's letters including, but not limited to
• The meaning of pistis
  
• The pistis christou debate
• The nature and fuction of Paul's experience of the risen Christ
• Paul's relationship to his Hellenistic Jewish context
2. Outline several major currents of Paul's theology including, but not limited to
• God's providence and the issue of "election"
• Justification
• Weakness and the problem of sin
• The principle of love
• The uniqueness of Christ
  
3. Identify the major themes which dominate Paul's writing
4. Discuss the problems associated with attempting to establish the social setting of each of Paul's letters
5. Discuss the major social controversies associated with Paul's letters such as 
• slavery
• women's roles in the early Christian movement
• homosexuality

B.    Process Goals

1. refrain from making comments that could offend or intimidate anyone else in the class
2. feel free to express opinions that seem relevant to the class material even if those opinions may seem unpopular
3. support our views with appropriate arguments.

At the same time, if our discussions are to be productive, they must go beyond simply stating our opinions (as though all opinions have the same value). For this reason I may sometimes challenge a view expressed in class and ask that the proponent of that view offer appropriate support for her reasoning.
 

IV.    Required Textbooks

You will use four books in this class. First, you will need a copy of the Bible in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). (Click here for an online edition of the NRSV.) While I encourage you to also look at other translations, the NRSV will form the basis of our class discussions. You will sometimes be asked to read aloud from the Bible in class, and I will expect you to have a copy of the NRSV.

You will also need a copy of each of the following three books:
 

Calvin J. Roetzel. The Letters of Paul: Conversations in Context. 4th Ed. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991.

Krister Stendahl. 'Paul Among Jews and Gentiles' and other Essays. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1976.

A scripture index to Stendahl's book is available on this website at http://greek-language.com/paul/readingresources/missingindex.pdf.
A partial subject index is also available here at
http://greek-language.com/paul/readingresources/missingsubjectindex.pdf.

Victor Paul Furnish. The Moral Teaching of Paul. 2nd Ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1985.

While most of the assigned readings will come from these books, some readings are available online and other reading materials are available at the reserve desk in the library. Some of these may be put online later in the semester.

V. Course Requirements

A. Attendance and Preparation(0 to -54 points)

1.    Attendance

An excused absence is defined as one for which you have provided documentation showing that it was not within your power to avoid the absence. A few examples are

• documentation showing that you visited a doctor or were told by your doctor not to attend class
• documentation showing that the college required you to attend an event which conflicts with this class
• documentation showing that you have had a death in the family

2.    Daily  Preparation

You will sometimes participate in group discussions that will require you to draw conclusions based on one of the assigned readings. If you are unprepared, your classmates will know it. From time to time you will be asked to write in class about what you have read at home. The questions will be very general, allowing you a great deal of freedom to mention the things that interested you most from the assigned readings.  If in the judgment of the professor you are unprepared for class, you will receive a negative preparation mark which will affect your grade in the same way as an unexcused absence.

B.    One-hour Exams (200 points)

The dates for these exams are listed in the tentative course schedule. Under special circumstances you may schedule a make-up exam. Arrangements for a make-up exam must be made before the date of the scheduled exam (or within twenty-four hours after the exam if an emergency on the day of the exam prevents you from contacting the professor before the exam).
 

C.    Final Exam (100 points)

D.    Semester Projects (100 points)

• Exegetical essay (20 points)
• Essay on Paul's experience of the risen Christ (Part of Exam Two)
• Book Review (80 points)

E.    Use of Computers

This is a computer assisted class. It will be impossible for you to successfully complete the course requirements without using a computer. You must be able to use a web browser. (Netscape, Internet Explorer, or any other browser will suffice.) Many of the assigned readings are availible only on the internet.

If you do not own a computer, you may use the ones in the computer labs on campus. You will need to schedule time for computer use two to three times per week.

VI. Calculation of Grades

The credit available in this class is distributed as follows:
 
 

Graded Assignment	Total Possible Score
Exam One	100 points
Exam Two (including essay on Paul's experience of the risen Christ)	100 points
Final Exam	100 points
Essay on pistis	20 points
Book Review	80 points
Possible Deductions for Attendance and Preparation	(-54 points)
Total	400 points

The total number of points earned for the semester may be adjusted downward by as much as 70 points on the basis of  attendance and preparation for class (two points per unexcused absence after the first four or per day of failure to prepare for class).

At the end of the term, your grade will be calculated using the following scale:
 
 

Points Earned	% of Points Possible	Letter Grade
360-400	90-100%	A
320-360	80-89.9%	B
280-320	70-79.9%	C
240-280	60-69.9%	D
Less than 240	Less than 60%	F

VII.    Statement of Honor

If you are a student at Meredith College, you must take the pledge associated with the Meredith College Statement of Honor in order to participate in this class. All users of this site, whether affiliated with Meredith College or not, are expected to abide by the general guidelines of that same statement of honor. If you have not read the Statement of Honor, please take the time to do so now. Click here to get information on the Honor System.
 
 

VIII.    Inclement Weather

IX.    Students with Disabilities

Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with documented disabilities.  In order to receive accommodations, students must go through the Counseling Center/Disability Services office. Disability Services is located in 106 Carroll Hall and can be reached at 760-8427 or disabilityservices@meredith.edu. For additional information see the website at http://www.meredith.edu/students/counsel/disability."  

X.     Tentative Course Schedule (Course Outline)