Goal and Outline of the Course

I am offering an 8-10 week course on Biblical interpretation that aims to welcome laity back into the community conversation in (not merely "of" or "about") the scriptures, validating the many ways we  read, experience, and interpret the texts in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit as well as expanding our repertoire of reading and interpretive methods as a way of appreciating the vast treasure of scripture in our faith.

We will accomplish this validation and expansion by:

1. Exploring various methods/practices of reading scripture (as well as other forms of literature) in order to appreciate and evaluate the interpretive theory and process, and
2. "Christianly" evaluating the readings that result from these various reading and interpretive strategies in terms of their fruitfulness and faithfulness in our life together as well as the ethical/doctrinal implications of each particular method. We will use as a model for this kind of evaluation the Wesleyan "Quadrilateral" (scripture, tradition, reason and experience).

The methods and practices of reading scripture we will survey include:

1. the ways scriptural writers and characters interpret scripture
2. examples of ancient/pre-modern interpetation in sermons
3. examples of Wesleyan interpetation (Enlightenment) in his sermons
4. the practice of Lectio Divina
5. examples of literary criticism (from Alan Culpepper's Anatomy of the New Testament: A Study in Literary Design)
6. evaluating modern and post-modern sermons and the ways preachers interpret and incorporate scripture to buttress an argument
   
7. devotional reflections and readings in order to make explicit their interpretive methods
   
8. examine some of the ways scripture is used in art - including movies, paintings, poems, songs, dramas, novels, and works of non-fiction
9. introduce the various methods of historical criticism, including archaeology, history, anthropology, sociology and linguistics and textual study
10. experience Biblical storytelling (dramatic reading of scripture) as a method of interpretation

Throughout this survey, we will also experience a variety of ways of experiencing scripture:

1. reading aloud and to ourselves
2. dramatic reading - Biblical storytelling
3. dramatizations
4. Lectio Divina - praying the scriptures
   
5. singing (and dancing) the scriptures
6. hearing the scriptures in their original language
7. scriptural commentary/reference and following a topical "chain"
8. liturgical reading 

It is my hope that by the end of this course, participants will incorporate a new way of appreciating and understanding scripture and the many ways we interpret it - not as a mysterious (magical) monolithic Word of God, but as a catalyst for communion with God and the Body of Christ throughout human history. I pray that this new way of understanding what these sacred texts are and our role in engaging and interpreting them will foster a deeper love of scripture and will equip and encourage all of us to take our place in the ongoing community conversation with God and each other through the sacrament of the scriptures at Skyline Church.