Fuller’s new term has begun. My class starts tomorrow night at 6:30. One thing I have learned is that the first week cannot be too filled. For one, it always takes longer to go over the syllabus and other preliminary matters than one expects. In addition, Fuller allows students to register for classes even in the first week. There is always the chance that I will have a few later registrants. I will use the first week to do two things: 1) Introduce the whole idea of exegesis; and 2) Set the tone and tenor for the rest of the quarter. I hope to introduce exegesis in a somewhat Socratic way. I want to use the first two classes to think out loud with the students about the working concepts we all have of Scripture, meaning, the purpose of exegesis, and in some ways the purpose of a seminary education. In other words, I want to ask, “Why are we here?” “What are your expectations for this course? for seminary?” “What are your convictions about this set of texts we call the New Testament? How do these convictions prevent you or invite you to explore the texts in certain ways? How do these convictions prevent you or invite you to listen to the conclusions of others who approach the texts from a different place?” I hope to set the tone by having the first two classes be a bit more conversational and reflective. I am hoping this will set precedence for subsequent classes where the topic might not seem like a conversational topic. In other words I hope to give the impression that the class is more than, even different from the open-head-insert-information sort of course. I also want to suggest to the students that the healthiest forms of exegesis are community-driven. We will need to operate as a dynamic, dialogging, diverse community in the classroom itself. For sure, subsequent weeks will become more mundane and methodical, but I am hoping with the proper initial class meeting we can set the stage for some interesting and enjoyable conversations.
If you are interested, I have linked to the final form of my syllabi and schedule in the course information section of my Resources page (click here). For links to the PDF files click… Basic Syllabus or Schedule or Extended Syllabus.
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