This course will explore the combination of literary and conceptual elements of the most intriguing of Gospels. The gospel displays a wide variety of literary techniques, many associated with ancient drama, and it engages the reader with complex theological issues about how God is known, about what God has done in the life and death …
View course details “Salvific Drama in the Gospel of John”

Don’t we just pick up the Bible and read it? What are various ways of interpreting the text and why do these methods matter? With attention to texts of the Hebrew Bible, this class offers an introductory sampling of different approaches in biblical studies, reading with feminist, disability, African, queer, and childist lenses. Course elements …
View course details “The Joy of Text: Reading the Bible with Liberating Lenses”

The Song of Songs, or “Song of Solomon,” is among the strangest books of the Bible. It is difficult to translate, hard to understand, and impossible to reconcile with moralistic styles of religious belief. The title of the course, “Locksmithing,” alludes to a famous Jewish saying that sums up both the enigma and attraction of …
View course details “Locksmithing: Unlocking the Song of Songs”

This course explores the person of Jesus and how he has been understood through the ages. We begin with the representations of Jesus in the Gospels, study how the early church made sense of Jesus as a God-man, and look at how people see Jesus today. We will also see how the doctrine of Christ …
View course details “Christology Ancient and Modern”

In this course, we will embark on a journey through the Gospel of Mark, unraveling the narrative portrayal of Jesus (Christology) and the profound implications of following him (discipleship). Our primary focus will be on Mark’s interpretation and application of the Servant motif from the book of Isaiah. This pervasive motif serves as a powerful …
View course details “Christology & Discipleship in Mark’s Gospel”

The church has too often lost its way in reading the Old Testament for lack of sound principles of interpretation. When careless habits get us off track, we can lose sight of what the Bible is really saying, derailing our own spiritual growth and even risking discredit to God’s word. We need a consistent approach …
View course details “Becoming Faithful Readers of the Old Testament”

Go deep into the exegetical, theological, and pastoral aspects of 1 Peter—one of the few, if not the only, New Testament texts to focus on the marginalization of first-century Christians in the Roman Empire. Explore non-Pauline writings and Christian theology, and come away with a deeper understanding of how the early Christians demonstrated faith under …
View course details “1 Peter”

Who are we? Why are we here? How did we get in such a mess, and what should we do about it? These questions are the perennial questions of humanity in writing, philosophy, song… And they are the questions that underlying much of the Old Testament. In the wonderful, colourful stories and teaching of the …
View course details “Being Human in God’s World: How the Old Testament Helps Us Understand Our Humanity in a Complex and Broken World”

Dive into Scripture and explore its rich poetic depths. Develop comfort and insight around biblical poetry, familiarizing yourself with its conventions, common idioms, and literary devices. Deepen your confidence in drawing on biblical poetry for ministry, learning to effectively incorporate it into your preaching. Together we will explore biblical metaphor, imagery, and other forms of …
View course details “Reading & Preaching Biblical Poetry”

The Gospel of John is one of most distinguished books in the Bible. It has unique literary and theological dimensions that we will explore together in details. The book is divided into the book of signs (John 1-12) and the book of the hour (13-21). In the book of signs we discover how the coming …
View course details “Reading the Gospel of John through Palestinian Eyes”