Module THEO43530: The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and the New Testament

Department: Theology and Religion

THEO43530: The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and the New Testament

Prerequisites

• Hebrew and Greek at elementary undergraduate level

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• • To equip students with the skills and experience to engage directly with the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha with confidence, and to be able to draw on them as a theological source.
• • To familiarize students with the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha as Sources for Early Judaism and New Testament studies.

Content

• »Old Testament Pseudepigrapha« is a term often used in order to designate texts belonging to the narrative world of the Old Testament but written later by Jews or Christians (I prefer the term »Old Testament Parabiblica«). Well known examples are the First Book of Enoch, a collection of narratives, visions and prophecies associated with Enoch, or the Fourth Book of Ezra, a book that comprises visions of Ezra formulating a pessimistic worldview typical of Jewish Apocalypticism in the first century after Christ and that has been of enormous importance for research on New Testament Theology in the last decades. The module consists of two parts, one in the Michaelmas term and one in the Epiphany term. In the first term, an overview on the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha will be given: We will read extracts from the Books of Henoch, the Book of Jubilees, parabiblical texts from Qumran, the Fourth Book of Ezra and pseudepigrapha belonging to later periods, also texts that might be of Christian origin – in order to demonstrate one of the most challenging problems of this field of research: It is very often not clear if these texts really are Jewish. In the second term a special text will be discussed, namely the Testament of Abraham (a well written narrative which is marked by something which does not very often encounter in religious literature: humour). We will discuss the question of how its original text can be reconstructed and how its provenance and date can be determined. Above that, its relevance for New Testament research will be discussed.

Learning Outcomes

• • Understanding Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
• • Understanding the importance of OT Pseudepigrapha as sources for the history of religion.

• • Ability to interpret texts of the OT Pseudepigrapha in Original language and translation
• • Ability to engage intellectually with a historically distant theological source
• • Abillity to understand and evaluate secondary literature on OT Pseudepigrapha.

• • Skills in the acquisition and interpretation of information through close, nuanced reading of primary and secondary sources.
• • Skills in the structured presentation of information in written form.
• • Skills in the conducting of research.
• • Skills in thinking theologically and historically.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• • Seminars enhance subject-specific knowledge and understanding both through preparation and through interaction with students and staff, promoting awareness of different viewpoints and approaches.
• • Formative essays develop subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with student skills in the acquisition of information through reading and research, and in the structured presentation of information in written form.
• • Summative essays develop subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with student skills in the acquisition of information through reading and research, and in the structured presentation of information in written form.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One 5000-word essay

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University