Year
2024Credit points
10Campus offering
Prerequisites
NilTeaching organisation
The unit involves 150 hours of focused learning, or the equivalent of 10 hours per week for 15 weeks. The total includes formally structured learning activities such as lectures, tutorials, and online learning. The remaining hours typically involve reading, research, and the preparation and submission of tasks for assessment.Unit rationale, description and aim
The Bible is the world's most published book, and one with an incalculable, and ongoing, impact on human society. It is also a central carrier of divine revelation for Christianity. It is a book made up of many books from different times, contexts and authors. These books are united by a unique narrative in which God reveals Godself to the Israelite people and enters into covenantal relationship with them. This relationship comes to its climax when God becomes human in Jesus, who teaches and heals, dies and rises, to enable God's life of love to be fully shared with humanity and creation. Study of the Bible is therefore imperative to understanding Christian perspectives.
THBS100 is an introduction to the Bible, setting it within the context of its continuing significance for Christians. It explores the historical background, literary character and theology of the texts, in order to provide a sound basis for their contemporary interpretation and application. The unit will involve study of selected biblical texts and approaches to interpretation.
The aim of this unit is for students to acquire knowledge of the scriptures and begin to interpret them using scholarly methods and perspectives.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
| Learning Outcome Number | Learning Outcome Description | Relevant Graduate Capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| LO1 | Identify literary features of biblical texts using modern biblical scholarship | GC1 |
| LO2 | Analyse biblical texts by considering their historical, geographical, social, and cultural contexts | GC2 |
| LO3 | Interpret biblical texts for contemporary audiences, especially in a Catholic Christian context, by drawing on modern biblical scholarship and theology | GC3 |
Content
Topics will include:
- An overview of the biblical canon and its representative narratives and theological aspects;
- Canonical approaches to interpreting scripture;
- The major geographical and historical frameworks for the study of ancient Israel and first-century Christianity;
- An introductory study of significant themes and traditions in the Pentateuch and other selected biblical writings (e.g. exodus, creation, election, covenant, and land);
- The emergence and development of the gospel traditions within the historical, social, and cultural contexts of late Second Temple Judaism and the eastern Mediterranean;
- The person and work of Jesus Christ;
- An introductory study of representative texts (e.g. Gospel of Mark).
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning, or the equivalent of 10 hours per week for 15 weeks. The total includes formally structured learning activities such as lectures, tutorials and online learning. The remaining hours typically involve reading, research, and the preparation and submission of tasks for assessment.
The unit is normally offered in attendance mode. Students learn through formally structured and sequenced learning activities that support the achievement of the learning outcomes. Students are asked to critically reflect, analyse, and integrate new information with existing knowledge, draw meaningful new connections, and then apply what they have learned. Collaborative and peer learning is also emphasized.
These face-to-face activities enable students to acquire and assimilate knowledge of the Bible, particularly through modern interpretative approaches, and identify the importance of the Bible to the life of believers, especially through the presence and articulation of the lecturer and tutors. Students will be guided in beginning to develop the academic skills needed for biblical study. Students will be provided with opportunities for the development of practical skills, technologies and strategies needed for successful academic theological study, including in one or more of the following: flexible learning, academic writing, and academic honesty.
THBS100 emphasises students as active, adult learners. Students are recognised as adult learners who engage best when what they are learning is relevant to them and gives them the opportunity to be responsible for their own learning. In many ways, the student is the one who drives the learning forward. Active participation in this unit is essential. Learning is designed to be an engaging and supportive experience, which helps students to develop critical thinking and reflection skills.
Assessment strategy and rationale
In order to pass this unit, students are required to attempt all assessment tasks and achieve an overall mark of 50% or higher and a minimum grade of 50% for Task 3.
The assessment tasks for this unit are designed for students to demonstrate their achievement of each learning outcome.
Given the alignment of learning outcomes to the assessment tasks, in order to pass this unit, students are required to attempt all assessment tasks and achieve an mark of 50% or higher.
Task 1 asks students to identify and describe literary features in a biblical text or texts. This task is designed to allow them to display achievement of Learning Outcome 1. This task allows them a low-risk piece of assessment to test their interpretative skills, as well as academic writing techniques. Feedback provided from Task 1 will help them with the other two assessment tasks.
Task 2 invites students to analyse key contexts and ideas of biblical passages in order to navigate the Bible. The principle focus of this task is to allow them to display achievement of Learning Outcome 2.
Task 3 asks students to critically analyse the meaning of a biblical passage using scholarly methods and apply such understanding to interpret a biblical passage for a contemporary audience. The principle focus of this task is to allow students to display achievement of Learning Outcome 3.
Overview of assessments
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
Short introductory written task: Require students to identify the literary features of a biblical book or passage. | 20% | LO1 |
Critical analysis task: Require students to analyse the contexts and ideas of key biblical texts. | 30% | LO1, LO2 |
Application Task: Require students to demonstrate exegetical skills by analysing a selected biblical passage or passages and apply such skills to assist a contemporary audience to understand the Bible. | 50% | LO1, LO2, LO3 |
Representative texts and references
Byrne, Brendan. Paul and the Economy of Salvation: Reading from the Perspective of the Last Judgement. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2021.
Havea, Jione, Monica Jyotsna Melanchthon, Bible Blindspots: Dispersion and Othering. Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2021.
Magnum, Douglas and Douglas Estes. Literary Approaches to the Bible. Lexham, 2018.
Marlow, Hilary, and Mark Harris. The Oxford Handbook of The Bible and Ecology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
Moloney, Francis. Beginning of the Good News: A Narrative Approach. Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2006.
Moloney, Francis. Gospel Interpretation and Christian Life. Hindmarsh: ATF, 2017.
Sawyer, John, F. A., Blackwell Companion to the Bible and Culture. Malden: Wiley-Backwell, 2012.
Senior, Donald, John J. Collins, Barbara Reid, and Gina Hens-Piazza. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. Third edition. London: T&T Clark, 2021.
Scholz, Suzanne, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Approaches to the Hebrew Bible. Oxford: Oxfrod University Press, 2020.
Steed, Vernyl Davidson. Writing/Reading the Bible in Postcolonial Perspective, Leiden: Brill, 2017.
Tov, Emanuel. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible: Revised and Expanded. Fortress, 2022.