THMM502 - Interpreting the Bible for Leadership and Mission

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Nil

Incompatible

THBS501 Biblical Studies , THBS502 Interpreting the Bible for Leadership and Mission , THBS562 Introducing the Scriptures

Teaching organisation

This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning. The total involves formally structured on-line modules and seminars comprising input from the lecturer and collaborative activity among participants, as well as two days of intensive learning, either online, or on campus. During the intensive, participants will be engaged in an active learning environment that consists of input, reading, and discussion. You will learn with and from the lecturer and each other through critical analysis, discussion, dialogue and reflection. The remaining hours typically involve reading, research, and the required pre-reading for the intensive and online seminars, as well as preparation for and completion of assessment tasks.

Unit rationale, description and aim

In the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis challenges Catholics to proclaim the vision of the gospel in light of the challenges of contemporary times (EG, 92, 114, 127-129, 220, 175). For those undertaking leadership in the Church, a process of theological reflection is a fundamental ability in reading the signs of the times and engaging in a mission that paves the way for individual and communal transformation. The capacity to use the Bible critically in the process of theological reflection is vital for those who undertake leadership for mission today and in the future.

In this unit, participants will have the opportunity to bring the experiences and questions of their own contexts into dialogue with texts concerning figures of leadership within the biblical tradition. Learning is structured to support participants approach an encounter with the Bible as a key dimension of theological reflection. Participants will be given opportunities to acquire and employ the dispositions, skills, tools and resources of critical biblical interpretation to evaluate issues in the context of their current situations and to identify the subsequent implications for action.

This unit is aimed at supporting participants to understand the function of a critical and reflexive approach to Biblical interpretation in the process of theological reflection for leadership and mission. 

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.

Content

Topics will include:

• An introduction to the Bible;
• The Bible in the Catholic tradition;
• Contemporary approaches to the Bible: historical criticism, literary criticism, narrative criticism, forms of contextual, liberationist and future-oriented interpretation;
• Leadership and mission from a biblical perspective;
• Critical readings of figures of leadership and mission in the biblical tradition;
• Engaging with the Bible in the process of theological reflection. 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning. The total involves formally structured on-line modules and seminars comprising input from the lecturer and collaborative activity among participants, as well as two intensive days of learning online. During the intensive, participants will be engaged in an active learning environment that consists of input, reading, and discussion. You will learn with and from the lecturer and each other through critical analysis, discussion, dialogue and reflection. The remaining hours typically involve reading, research, and the required pre-reading for the online sessions and the intensive, as well as preparation for and completion of assessment tasks. The list of pre-reading tasks is available on Canvas.

Assessment strategy and rationale

The assessment strategies for this unit are designed to align with the learning outcomes. The cumulative aim of all tasks is to build your capacity for critical examination and reflexive interpretation of the Bible within a process of theological reflection. Each assessment task provides opportunities for you to expand the knowledge and skills you are developing through your own reading and research as well as during the online seminars and the intensive. They require you to extrapolate on the understandings you have developed in the course to consider the significance of specific biblical texts for your own current context and specific leadership/ministry role. Each task will also enable you to monitor how well you are engaging with the content of the unit and how you relate it to your context. 

To pass this unit, you are required to to complete and submit all assessment tasks and to attain a minimum overall grade of 50%.

The assessment tasks for this unit are designed for you to demonstrate your achievement of each learning outcome.

Task 1 asks you to describe current approaches to biblical interpretation. This formative task is designed to enable you to articulate the major methods and approaches used in contemporary biblical studies;

Task 2 asks you to undertake a critical analysis of a selected biblical passage. This assignment allows you to demonstrate skills in critically interpreting a biblical text utilising contemporary approaches to and resources for biblical interpretation;

Task 3 invites you to compose a theological reflection that utilizes the portraits of leadership in the biblical tradition as the primary religious resource. You are required to undertake a social analysis of an issue, which is then further evaluated in dialogue with a depiction of leadership in the Bible, employing the skills, tools and resources of critical biblical analysis developed in this unit. You are asked to outline possible leadership actions that may be taken as result of insights that emerge in the analysis.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Bach, Alice. Women in the Hebrew Bible : A Reader. Edited by Alice Bach. First edition. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor and Francis, 2013.

Bevans, Stephen B. Prophetic Dialogue : Reflections on Christian Mission Today . Edited by Roger Schroeder. Maryknoll, NY :Orbis Books, 2011.

Bieringer, R. (Reimund), Mary Elsbernd, and Susan M. Garthwaite. Normativity of the Future : Reading Biblical and Other Authoritative Texts in an Eschatological Perspective. Leuven    :Peeters, 2010.

Brock, Rita Nakashima, and Tat-siong Benny Liew. Theologies of the Multitude for the Multitudes : The Legacy of Kwok Pui-Lan. Edited by Rita Nakashima Brock and Tat-siong Benny Liew. Claremont, CA: Claremont Press, 2021.

Connolly, Michele A. Disorderly Women and the Order of God An Australian Feminist Reading of the Gospel of Mark New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark , 2018.

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception Online. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2009.

Monaghan, Christopher J., and Mark O’Brian. God’s Word and the Church’s Council : Vatican II and Divine Revelation. Edited by Christopher J. Monaghan and Mark O’Brian. Adelaide: ATF Theology, 2014.

Perkins, Pheme. Peter: Apostle for the Whole Church 1st Fortress Press ed. Edinburgh : T&T Clark, 2000.

Skinner, Christopher W., ed. Character Studies and the Gospel of Mark First edition. London New York; London New York: Bloomsbury , 2014.

Taylor, Joan E., ed. Patterns of Women’s Leadership in Early Christianity First edition. New York, New York State : Oxford University Press, 2021.