Courses

A thorough study of the history of Israel with attention to modern historical reconstructions and questions of historiography and historical method. This course will focus on a variety of evidences relevant for critical modern historical reconstructions such as, textual evidence, epigraphic evidence, and archaeological evidence. Areas to be explored include: the role of material evidence; dating archeological evidence, debate over the ‘low chronology’; the role of memory in history writing; methods of ancient historiography; the question of verification, and the role of the biblical text in historical reconstruction.

Knowing

• To have a thorough knowledge of the various stages of ancient Israel within the context of ancient Near Eastern culture and context.
• To gain familiarity with the state of the field of research on the historiography of ancient Israel
• To gain an awareness of the various perspectives on Israel’s history present in the OT guild today

Being

• To embrace the contemporary relevance of OT historical texts for the Church
• To grow closer to God through closer study of Old Testament texts

Doing

• To be able to discuss the relation of biblical historiography to history
• To be able to interpret the OT in its historical context
• To be able to apply knowledge of historical issues in the OT to contemporary audiences