1. The student will be able to summarize the history of restorationist hermeneutics from the Reformation through the American Restoration Movement.

Transcription

1 THEOLOGICAL HERMENEUTICS LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY DR. JOHN MARK HICKS SUMMER 2009 COURSE DESCRIPTION: The course surveys the historical development and application of a Restorationist hermeneutic by the Campbell-Stone Movement in light of its philosophical and theological origins. The historic Restorationist hermeneutic is then discussed in the light of modern hermeneutical concerns and contemporary criticisms. Against this total background, a hermeneutical model is proposed and applied to some specific contemporary and biblical concerns. PROFESSOR: John Mark Hicks, Ph.D. (Westminster Theological Seminary) Office Phone: johnmark.hicks@lipscomb.edu Website: COURSE OBJECTIVES: 1. The student will be able to summarize the history of restorationist hermeneutics from the Reformation through the American Restoration Movement. 2. The student will be able to articulate and evaluate the contemporary problems which are the focus of both evangelical and restorationist hermeneutics. 3. The student will be able to understand and apply a particular biblicaltheological hermeneutical method to the text of Scripture. 4. The student will be equipped to engage in hermeneutical discussions at both the theoretical and practical level. REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS: Boring, Eugene. Disciples and the Bible: A History of Disciples Biblical Interpretation of Scripture. St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, ISBN-10: ISBN-13: Franke, John R. The Character of Theology: A Postconservative Evangelical Approach. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, ISBN-10: ISBN-13: Hicks, John Mark. Come to the Table: Revisioning the Lord s Supper. Orange, CA: Leafwood Publishers, 2002.

2 2 Hicks, John Mark, Johnny Melton, and Bobby Valentine. A Gathered People: Revisioning the Assembly as Transforming Encounter. Abilene, TX: Leafwood Publishers, ISBN-10: ISBN-13: McKnight, Scott. The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, ISBN-10: ISBN-13: Smith, James K. A. The Fall of Interpretation: Philosophical Foundations for a Philosophical Hermeneutic. InterVarsity Press, ISBN-10: ISBN-13: All additional readings will be provided online at Blackboard or a web link will be provided in the schedule below. COURSE PROCEDURE AND REQUIREMENTS: 1. The design of this class is discussion-focused. The amount of reading will provide a background for discussion in class. Please complete all the reading for the class period before arriving as that will help our discussion. No research is required for this class. Reading the assigned materials is sufficient preparation for all discussion, papers and exams. 2. There are assignments to complete on Blackboard. Please complete those assignments by the assigned date. This will constitute 10% of your grade. a. The first assignment in preparation for the first weekend will be posted on or before May 1. b. The second assignment in preparation for the second weekend will be posted on or before June 3. c. The third assignment in preparation for the third weekend will be posted on or before July There is one comprehensive exam in the last week of the course. a. This will constitute 30% of your grade for the course. b. The final exam will ask you to integrate the material of the course in a comprehensive manner. c. It will be an open-book test and you may use whatever resources you find helpful to complete the exam. d. The exam will be administered in this way: i. On May 28, I will post three questions concerning the first weekend of the course, and you must answer one question by midnight June 3. ii. On July 1, I will post three questions concerning the second weekend of the course, and you must answer one question by midnight July 8. iii. On July 25, I will post three questions concerning the third weekend of

3 3 the course, and you must answer one question by midnight July The student is required to write three reflection papers based on the assigned readings. Each paper will constitute 20% of your grade. a. Paper #1 Stone-Campbell Hermeneutics This paper must interact with some aspect of the assigned reading in the first weekend of the course. You may choose a particular topic or writer to engage. The paper must be coherent, probe with some depth and demonstrate a thorough knowledge the topic chosen. The paper must be between words: no more and no less! The paper is due by midnight on May 27. b. Paper #2 A Hermeneutical Method This paper must interact with some aspect of the assigned reading in the second weekend of the course. You may choose a particular topic or writer to engage. The paper must be coherent, probe with some depth and demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the topic chosen. The paper must be between words: no more and no less! The paper is due by midnight on June 29, c. Paper #3 Hermeneutical Application This paper must choose between (1) Assembly; (2) Lord s Supper; (3) Gender or (4) Homosexuality as the topic based on the readings assigned for the third weekend of the course. Within your chosen topic, address a specific hermeneutical question that focuses the issue in your mind. The paper must be coherent, probe with some depth and demonstrate a thorough understanding of the hermeneutical issue at stake. The paper is due by midnight on July 24. COURSE SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNED READINGS Weekend One: May Scripture, Hermeneutics and Tradition Paul Blowers, The Regula Fidei and the Narrative Character of Early Christian Faith, Pro Ecclesia 6 (Spring 1997) The Reformed Context of Stone-Campbell Hermeneutics. Casey, Michael. "The Origins of the Hermeneutics of the Churches of Christ, Part One: The Reformed Tradition." Restoration Quarterly

4 (1989): John Mark Hicks, Stone-Campbell Hermeneutics, 2. Hicks, A Gathered People, chapter 4. The Hermeneutics of Alexander Campbell Boring, Disciples and the Bible, John Mark Hicks, Stone-Campbell Hermeneutics, 1. Campbell, Alexander, The Foundation of Christian Union, in Christian System; available at Campbell, Alexander, Principles of Biblical Interpretation, in Christianity Restored: The Principal Extras of the Millennial Harbinger, Revised and Corrected (1835), pp. 3-27, 64-69, 94-99, Campbell, Alexander, Bible Reading, Millennial Harbinger 10 (January 1839), 35-38; available at Hermeneutics in the Stone-Campbell Movement (19 th Century) Boring, Disciples and the Bible, John Mark Hicks, Stone-Campbell Hermeneutics, 3. Hicks, A Gathered People, chapter five. Casey, Michael. "The Origins of the Hermeneutics of the Churches of Christ, Part Two: The Philosophical Background." Restoration Quarterly 31.4 (1989): , Broyles, Stephen E. "James Sanford Lamar and the Substructure of Biblical Interpretation in the Restoration Movement." Restoration Quarterly 29.3 (1987): , Hermeneutics in the Stone-Campbell Movement (20 th Century) Boring, Disciples and the Bible, , , John Mark Hicks, Stone-Campbell Hermeneutics, 4, 5. Olbricht, Thomas H. "Hermeneutics in the Churches of Christ." Restoration Quarterly 37.1 (1995): 1-24; available at m. Collier, Gary. "Bringing the Word to Life: Biblical Hermeneutics in Churches of Christ." Christian Studies 11.1 (1990): Recent Critique of the Stone-Campbell Hermeneutic. John Mark Hicks, Stone-Campbell Hermeneutic, 6. Ward, Roy E. "'The Restoration Principle': A Critical Analysis." Restoration Quarterly 8.4 (1965): ; available at

5 5 Dudrey, Russ. "Restorationist Hermeneutics Among the Churches of Christ: Why Are We at an Impasse." Restoration Quarterly 30.1 (1988): Woodrow, Woody. "The Silence of Scripture and the Restoration Movement." Restoration Quarterly 28.1 (1985/86): Weekend Two: June Postmodernism and Hermeneutics James K. A. Smith, The Fall of Interpretation. John Mark Hicks, Created for Hermeneutics series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Kevin J. VanHoozer, Pilgrim s Digress: Christian Thinking on and about the Post/Modern Way, , in Christianity and the Postmodern Turn, ed. Myron B. Penner (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2005). John Mark Hicks, Contemplative Bible Reading and Hermeneutics, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The Nature of Scripture Kevin J. VanHoozer, The Voice and the Actor: A Dramatic Proposal about the Ministry and Minstrelsy of Theology, , in Evangelical Futures: A Conversation on Theological Method, ed. John G. Stackhouse (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000). John Mark Hicks, Theological Hermeneutics, 1, 2, 3. A Proposed Hermeneutical Method Donald Bloesch, A Christological Hermeneutic: Crisis and Conflict in Hermeneutics, in The Use of the Bible in Theology, ed. Robert K. Johnston, available at (and then search by author). Elmer Dyck, Canon as Context for Interpretation, 33-65, in The Act of Bible Reading, ed. Elmer Dyck (Downer s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996). John Mark Hicks, Theological Hermeneutics, 4, 5, 6, 6b. McKnight, The Blue Parakeet, Theological Task Stanley J. Grenz, Articulating the Christian Belief-Mosaic: Theological Method after the Demise of Foundationalism, , in Evangelical Futures: A Conversation on Theological Method, ed. John G. Stackhouse (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000). Kevin J. VanHoozer, What is Everyday Theology? How and Why Christians Should Read Culture, 15-62, in Everyday Theology:

6 6 How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007). John Mark Hicks, Theological Hermeneutics, 8, 9, 10. Franke, The Character of Theology, pp Boring, pp Weekend Three: July A Gospel Hermeneutic. Hicks, A Gathered People, chapters 6 & 7. John Mark Hicks, It Ain t That Complicated, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Applied Hermeneutics: Lord s Supper McNicol, Allan J. "The Lord's Supper as Hermeneutical Clue: A Proposal on Theological Methodology for Churches of Christ." Christian Studies 11.1 (1990): 41-54, Hicks, Come to the Table. Campbell, Alexander, Breaking Bread, in Christian System available at Ferguson, Everett. "The Lord's Supper and Biblical Hermeneutics." Mission Journal 10 (September, 1976): Thomas, J. D. We Be Brethren. Abilene: Biblical Research Press, Pages Applied Hermeneutics: Women Serving God John Mark Hicks, Women Serving God: Four Lesson Series William J. Webb, A Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic: The Slave Analogy, in Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy, edited by Ronald Pierce, Rebecca Merrill Groothuis and Gordon D. Fee (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004). William J. Webb, The Limits of a Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic: A Focused Response to T. R. Schreiner, Evangelical Quarterly 75.4 (2003), William J. Webb, Questions and Answers. Schreiner, Thomas R., Review of Slaves, Women & Homosexuals, Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 7.1 (Spring 2002), 41-51, available at Clay Daniel, As Easy as X-Y-Z: A Review of William Webb s Slaves, Women and Homosexuals, available at Gary T. Meadors, Probing the Redemptive Movement Hermeneutic Model.

7 7 Applied Hermeneutics: Homosexuality Hicks, John Mark, Homosexuality and the Biblical Witness. Interview with N.T. Wright on homosexuality available at William Webb, "Gender Equality and Homosexuality" in Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy, edited by Ronald Pierce, Rebecca Merrill Groothuis and Gordon D. Fee (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004) Wink-Gagnon exchange on homosexuality, available at Gagnon, Robert, No Universally Valid Sex Standards?, available at Gagnon, Robert, Slavery, Homosexuality and the Bible, available at Gagnon, Robert, Slaver, Homosexuality and the Bible. Part II, available at