Paulinsk litteratur

Paul and His Letters

Förkunskapskrav

Innehåll

The course contains the study of the life and theology of the apostle Paul through his letters. It is naturally divided in three parts, namely, Paul and his literature, Pauline thinking and theology, and independent writing of paper. The goas is to deepen the understanding of Paul’s letters by making the student more familiar with scholarly literature and recent research concerning the historical setting och Paul’s letters, and enable the student to use up to date scientific methods in analyzing ancient letters.

Utbildningsmål

As a result of successfully completing this course, the student should be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding
-be familiar with the political, religious and socioeconomic background of Paul as person, and the recipients of his letters
-have a good knowledge of the historical criticisms such as rhetorical criticism, canon criticism, sociology, archaeology, and comparative religion
-account for the basic structure and outline of each Gospel
-be familiar with the criteria of authenticity
-account for the chronology of the life of Paul, his development in Judaism and apostle och Christ
-geographically identify on a map significant places in Paul’s ministry
-reflection on re-addressing the content in Paul’s letters to western as well as other cultures in our contemporary world.

Skills and Abilities
-use and make reference to commentaries on Paul’s letters
-write a well-structured and well-argued paper on a topic in Paul’s letters, using various sources, such as monographs, journals, commentaries and dictionary articles
-write book reports, identifying key points and formulate a reasoned and pertinent assessment of the work in question
-analysing and summarise articles.

Assessment and Approach
-understand in depth the historical and cultural background of the person and letters of one of the most influential personalities in earliest Christianity
-be familiar with and ability to evaluate various methods in analyzing ancient letters
-have knowledge and insights of the first century Judaism
-be able to discuss contemporary scholarly issues and problems
-develop an ability to express exegetical discussion in writing
-be able to compare the ancient world with our own as well to reflect on how we can learn from that.