Santa Clara University
Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministries, SCU
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There are three assignments for this course that require work outside of class. They are weekly theological reflections, a single in-class exegetical exercise (oral presentation), and an exegetical research paper. Directions for all three follow.

Theological Reflection Exegetical Exercise Exegetical Paper

Theological Reflection

 
Seven 3-5 page theological reflection papers will be required during the quarter.  The method of reflection that you will be asked to use will be one of those proposed by Patricia O'Connell Killen and John DeBeer in their book, The Art of Theological Reflection (required text).

After reading the scriptural texts for a given class, choose one of those texts on which to reflect.  Then select either one of the following methods outlined in Killen and DeBeer:

Clicking on either one of these here will take you to an abbreviated online summary of the method.  These summaries are also available from the "Theological Reflection" tab to the left.  While Killen and DeBeer provide several steps and suggestions, do not try to answer all of these as if doing an academic assignment (with evaluations, judgments, summaries, and footnotes).  The method at its core should simply be a conversation between the text, an image it suggests, a situation in your life to which it leads you, and some insight or ethical commitment that the reflection yields.  This is a spiritual exercise, not an academic one, and after an initial try or two can easily be done without the book.

The paper you produce out of this reflection should be typed and double-spaced.  Further directions for written work can be found online through the course web site at the Style Sheet, available here and from the Research tab to the left.   Please be prepared to discuss the process (not the content, necessarily) of your reflection in class, and to submit your paper at the end of each class session.  35% of grade.

Exegetical Exercise

Exegesis refers to a critical reading of scripture. One chooses a particular method of interpretation, with its own range of questions, and applies these questions to the text. For example, questions can be about the literary shape and role of the passage in its context, the rhetorical function of it, or the socio-historical conditions behind it.  This critical reading requires research, using tools such as concordances, biblical dictionaries, Bible encyclopedias, and commentaries.
 
Since you will later be required to do one major exegetical paper for the course, this short and partnered exercise affords you the opportunity to practice and receive feedback during one of our regular class sessions. We will learn this skill from each other, and you will be better prepared to do an extended exegesis of your own.  Your exegesis will be delivered orally in class; you will not have to turn anything in (though if you would like to receive feedback, you are most welcome).
 
To prepare for your presentation, first choose a partner and one of the scripture passages assigned for the class/topic you would like to present.  Then, in consulation with the professor, determine which exegetical method you would like to explore.  Several methods are outlined at the "Exegesis" tab to the left (n.b., the same Exegesis link appears at the top of all the research pages).  Each page introduces the goals and steps of the method, and provides bibliography for both the method itself and for some books and articles which apply the method to specific scriptural texts. You will also find the Research tab to the left extremely helpful; it provides research tips for locating sources and a Scripture Tools link for further research aids, as well as writing and formatting guidelines.
 
During the week you present your exegesis on one of that week's assigned readings, you are not required to turn in a theological reflection paper.  5% of grade.

Exegetical Paper
 
After practicing exegesis with a partner for your in-class exegetical exercise, you will research and write a 10-15 page exegetical paper of your own for the course, due a week after the last day of class.  The purpose of this paper is to reinforce the following insights:
  • that every reading of scripture is an interpretation;

  • that the questions you pose to a text shape what you discover, and so you should be aware of them; and

  • that the religious experiences of scripture's original authors and audiences are worthy of respect and disciplined inquiry, and serve as a kind of control on our own independent interpretations.

The emphasis in this exercise, unlike the theological reflections, is on the ancient experience and culture that generated the text rather than your own contemporary experience and culture which interprets the text-though of course your paper is the interpretation.  Unlike the theological reflections, this is an academic paper, which means that you will apply a method, develop an argument, and render some judgments and evaluations about the passage you are studying.

The only restriction on the passage and method is that one or both must differ from those examined in your paired in-class exegetical exercise.

Once again, use the outlines of different exegetical methods found at the "Exegesis" tab to the left, and the Research tools available from the Research tab to the left.   30% of grade.
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