New Testament Exegesis I (Gospels and Acts)

ltheo2111  2024-2025  Louvain-la-Neuve

New Testament Exegesis I (Gospels and Acts)
4.00 credits
30.0 h
Q1

  This biannual learning unit is not being organized in 2024-2025 !

Teacher(s)
Language
French
Content
"God" in Mark's Gospel
The course is an encounter with a character in Mark's Gospel who has long been "neglected": God. It is also an encounter with the narratological method, more specifically with characterization. In terms of didactics, the course is an attempt to apply the flipped classroom. The teacher asks students to prepare, step by step, a small dossier or summary based on their personal reading of a few articles. These summaries will be uploaded to Moodle before the face-to-face meetings (see course description for precise instructions) and will form the basis of the debate for the meeting in class.Depending on the number of students enrolled, the teacher will organize forums on the texts to be read. Assignments must be submitted on Moodle before the date specified in the course program, otherwise they will not be validated.
Before presenting the specific content of the various assignments, let's take a look at a few stepping stones to gain a clearer idea of the logical sequence of course construction.
Course springboards
The course is divided into four parts.
- The first is a reading of Mark with a particular focus: what does the Gospel say about God? The result is a personal dossier on God in Mark's Gospel.
- The second is an in-depth look at four articles. The first two articles (Donahue, Danove) gave impetus to research on God. In this course, their function is to analyze in greater detail the dossier the student has prepared. After this reading, the student will compare two more articles, this time in French (Nicolet Anderson, Bourquin).
- The third is a methodological springboard based on a reflection on characterization, a fundamental aspect of narratology. The big question is whether we can apply the theory of characterization to the character of God.
- Finally, we return to some specific interpretations of "God", especially in relation to the character of Jesus.
At the end of the course, students will write an essay of between 6,000 and 8,000 words (including notes) on the character of God in the Gospel according to Mark. This is primarily an exegetical study with references to Mark's Gospel. If the student wishes to draw conclusions for pastoral theology or systematic theology, he may do so, but only minimally. The student must refer to the literature mentioned in the course (compulsory readings or articles in the bibliography).
The structure of the essay should be clear: after an introduction in which the student explains the question or problem he/she wants to address, he/she develops his/her thoughts (in several points) to end with a conclusion that answers the original question. This question can take various forms: an exegetical problem on a single passage in Mark, a debate between two contemporary authors on the interpretation of one or more passages on God, a general problem concerning God in the Gospel according to Mark, etc.
Evaluation methods
The course evaluation contains several elements:
- personal summaries of articles to be read within the specified time (50%)
- active participation in face-to-face sessions (10%)
- final assignment (see content) (40%)
Online resources
All scanned articles are available on Moodle.
Faculty or entity


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Learning outcomes
Master [60] in Theology

Certificat universitaire en théologie (approfondissement)

Master [120] in Theology

Master [120] in Biblical Studies