What is the Bible? Is it a guidebook, a legal text, a book of poetry? The simple answer is that the Bible, in its entirety, is none of these. Perhaps, then, the better question is what can the Bible do? In this sense, while it's not a guidebook, it can guide us. That is, the Bible can help us reflect on our lives—our personal lives, our work lives, our church lives, etc.—and rouse a productive surprise. Such a productive surprise causes us to rethink our practices, opening up the possibility of doing things differently instead of unthinkingly pushing on ahead.
This course will explore the Bible by examining selections from across the canon, reading thought-provoking secondary sources and learning hermeneutical strategies along the way. We will read these selections with two competing emphases: consonance and dissonance. In terms of consonance, we will examine how the Bible is the story of God's presence in the world for and through his creatures. In terms of dissonance, we will examine how we cannot distill the Bible down to one single narrative. In this way, when we read Scripture, we must be open to being surprised. When we find ourselves surprised, we can respond to the call of surprise: to rethink our assumptions and think differently. Accordingly, our approach to reading Scripture, we will find, is the same as our approach to relating to Scripture in our various practices; responding to Scriptural surprise prompts us to follow the implications of that surprise into all aspects of our lives.
Dr. Nik Ansell, and Mark Standish
ICSD 1108AC/2108AC S22*
Blended (Online Asynchronous/Synchronous)
ICSD 1108AC/2108AC S22*
Blended (Online Asynchronous/Synchronous)
(MWS, MA-EL)
Syllabus
Enrolment Notes:
To register for this course, email academic-registrar@icscanada.edu. Last date to register April 19, 2022. Maximum enrolment of nine (9) students. ICS reserves the right to decline registrations.
*Approved for Area 1 of the CSTC
