Postgraduate Course: Method and Hermeneutics in Biblical Studies (DIVI11073)
Course Outline
| School | School of Divinity |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course introduces the toolkit of methodologies and hermeneutical stances employed in biblical studies, including both traditional and contemporary approaches. Students will appraise and evaluate these methods, and learn to use them for themselves in their engagement with biblical texts. |
| Course description |
Academic description
While earlier generations of biblical scholars largely had an accepted methodological toolkit to work with (primarily historical-critical methods), contemporary scholars employ a vast array of methodologies and interpretive stances. This course introduces this range of approaches. The methods explored are both traditional (such as text- and redaction-criticism) and contemporary (such as reception-criticism and feminist and decolonial hermeneutics). Students will appraise and evaluate the underlying assumptions, rationales, and aims of these methods, considering their value and weaknesses, and learn to use them for themselves in their engagement with biblical texts.
Outline content
After an introductory session in week 1, each week of the course explores a different method, approach, or hermeneutical stance. The general trajectory moves from more traditional approaches in earlier weeks to more contemporary approaches in later weeks. It begins with historical-critical methods for exploring 'the world behind the text' (such as textual criticism, source- and redaction- criticism, and comparative approaches). It then moves to literary studies of 'the world of the text' (such as stylistic, poetic, and narratological analysis, and insights from literary theory). It ends with explorations of 'the world in front of the text', i.e., the world of the text's readers (such as feminist and queer approaches, decolonial hermeneutics, reception criticism, and theological appraisals).
Student learning experience
Students are taught in weekly seminars of 2 hours, in which they learn about a method or approach, discuss its strengths and weaknesses, and practice applying it to a biblical text. Between classes, students develop their knowledge through wider reading, and reflect on their learning in their weekly journal. In their final essay, students employ their newly-acquired toolkit through a methodologically-informed analysis of a biblical text.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
20% weekly journal (student submit selective portfolio) 1500 words
80% final essay, 3000 words |
| Feedback |
Students will receive regular feedback on their journal. They will also have the
opportunity to submit an essay plan for formative feedback prior to their final
essay. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand the range of methodologies and hermeneutical stances that are employed in contemporary biblical studies
- Critically reflect the underlying rationales, assumptions, and aims of these approaches, as well as their strengths and weaknesses
- Evaluate and critique scholars working with different methodologies and approaches
- Analyse biblical texts using methods or hermeneutical stances that are appropriately chosen and critically applied.
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Reading List
Blomberg, Craig, and Jennifer Foutz Markley. A Handbook of New Testament
Exegesis. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010.
Brown, William. A Handbook to Old Testament Exegesis. Louisville, KY:
Westminster John Knox Press, 2017.
Dell, Katharine J., and Paul M. Joyce, Biblical Interpretation and Method: Essays in
Honour of John Barton. Oxford, OUP, 2013.
Dinkler, Michal Beth, Literary Theory and the New Testament. New Haven: Yale
University Press, 2019.
Gossai, Hemchand, Postcolonial Commentary and the Old Testament. London:
Bloomsbury, 2018.
LeMon, Joel M. and Kent Harold Richards. Method Matters: Essays on the
Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Honor of David L. Peterson. Atlanta, GA:
SBL Press, 2009.
Scholz, Susanne, The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Approaches to the Hebrew
Bible. New York: OUP, 2021.
Vender Stichele, Caroline and Todd C. Penner: Her Master's Tools? Feminist and Postcolonial Engagements of Historical-Critical Discourse. Leiden, BO: Brill,
2005.
Virkler, Herry A., and Karelynne Gerber Ayayo, Hermeneutics: Principles and
Processes of Biblical Interpretation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will develop attributes and skills such as:
- Curiosity for learning
- Innovative ways of thinking
- Self-confidence and self-reflectivity
- Respectful engagement with diverse viewpoints
- Creative problem-solving
- Intellectual autonomy
- Abilities of communication |
| Keywords | Biblical studies,method,methodology,hermeneutics,interpretive approach |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Suzanna Millar
Tel: (0131 6)50 8904
Email: Suzanna.Millar@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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