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This web page was last updated on 13 July 2009
Deadline for this Assignment
Please complete this assignment and EMail your answers to the instructor, Susan Jeffers, no later than Friday, July 3. If you are not able to finish by then, or if you have any questions or concerns with the assignment (technical or otherwise), be sure to email the instructor, Susan Jeffers, at jeffesu@earlham.edu.
Purpose
The purpose of this course is to provide every incoming TRIM student
with:
(1) the experience of successfully completing an online course, and
(2) some exposure to the academic field known as Biblical Studies
The purpose of this pre-Orientation assignment is to get you off to
a good start, by making sure each student:
(1) has both of the required books when the course begins
(2) knows how to and has facilities available to use EMail, access the Internet,
and log into the online course (using "Moodle")
(3) is well prepared to begin discussing the course content with your fellow
students at Orientation
(4) has set aside sufficient time to complete the 8 weeks of the course (8-10
hourse per week of quality time)
You might be able to find the books on the shelf at a local commercial bookstore. You can also order the books from online booksellers such as Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble. If you call local bookstores, be sure the books are the editions listed (same ISBN). Do NOT buy a different edition of the same book, as we will be referring to them by page number and this will only work if everyone is "on the same page." Beware of special ordering the books from your local Christian bookstore unless they can guarantee prompt delivery. Most students have had quicker results ordering off the Internet or from a large-volume commercial bookstore.
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(1) Bible Dictionary. You must have this specific edition - check the ISBN! Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, David Noel Freedman, ed., 2000, ISBN 0-8028-2400-5 Read "Biblical Criticism" (pp. 183-186), "Nazareth" (p. 951), "Sepphoris" (pp. 1184-1185) and "Sheep" (p. 1203). Study the "Transliteration and Pronunciation" tables for Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek in the inside front cover. Use the tables with the transliterated names at the beginning of the Nazareth and Sepphoris articles to write out "Nazareth" and "Sepphoris" by hand, in Greek and Hebrew letters respectively. Note and try to look up any unfamiliar words in the Bible Dictionary itself, in the Glossary at the back of the Study Bible (below) or on the instructor's on-line Biblical Studies Glossary. |
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(2) NRSV Study Bible. You must have this specific edition - check the ISBN, and make sure the cover says "Augmented" The New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha, Augmented 3rd edition, ISBN 978-0195288834 or 9780195288810. Read "To the Reader" (pp. xvii-xxi), "The Canons of the Bible" (Essays pp. 453-460) and "Translation of the Bible into English" (Essays pp. 466-471). Again, note and/or look up unfamiliar words. And be sure to check out the Glossary at the back! |
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If you're new to the Internet, you should enlist the help of a friend or perhaps your local librarian to help you learn what buttons to push when, how to use the mouse, and other such basic Internet skills. Better yet, see if you can find a free "Introduction to the Internet" course and get a complete overview! If you need help getting started, feel free to EMail Susan Jeffers, the course instructor, jeffesu@earlham.edu.
(1) Read the Christian Century article "Probing Scripture: The New Biblical Critics" by Candler School of Theology professor Carol Newsom. Look up the Bible references and make sure you're following what's being said about each one, and make note of questions and terms you don't understand.
(2) Study the content of the following two web pages:
Tips for Online Success and Glossary of Online Learning Terms
At Orientation you'll learn to use the online "courseware" called Moodle, and during the "computer lab" time you'll take a short quiz over the content of these two web pages.
(3) Print and study the first two pages of this document: Sounding Out Hebrew and Greek Words. If your computer is able to play audio files, you can also use these 4 to help you read along: Hebrew Alphabet ("Aleph-Bet"), Hebrew Names, Greek Alphabet, Greek Diphthongs. Then see whether you can sound out and understand any of the names on the third page. Bring these pages to Orientation with you and we'll have time to answer questions about them in the computer lab. Don't worry if you have difficulty with this part of the assignment; just give it a shot. Also: Compare these Greek and Hebrew reference sheets with the transliteration table in the front inside cover of the Eerdmans Bible Dictionary.
EMail and Writing
EMail the instructor the answers to the following 8 questions, NO LATER THAN FRIDAY JULY 3. Send your answers as plain EMail, NOT as an attachment. You can send them all in one EMail or send several separate EMails as you go along. Again, if you need help figuring out what you're doing, feel free to call or email the instructor. Also, you can send a test EMail before typing in your answers if you're not sure how it all works.
(1) Do you have the specified NRSV Study Bible? Just to be sure, look up Psalm 23, Judith 1:1-7 and John 3:16, and the entry "Josephus" in the glossary, and tell me what page each is on.
(2) Do you have the specified Bible Dictionary? Just to be sure, look up "Josephus" and tell me what page it's on.
(3) Did you complete the assigned reading in your NRSV Study Bible and Eerdmans Bible Dictionary? What questions or comments do you have? Are there any words or concepts in the reading that you'd like help with? Be specific - questions and comments will be very important in this class. If you're wondering, probably someone else is too!
(4) Did you read the online article by Newsom? What questions or comments do you have?
(5) Did you study the two web pages, "Tips for Online Success" and "Glossary of Online Learning Terms"? What questions or comments do you have?
(6) Bible dictionaries and other such resources typically state assertions or claims that pastors may accept at face value simply because they are "facts" from a respected source. In this course we'll be looking more closely at what sorts of evidence may lie behind such claims. We'll be especially interested in whether the evidence supporting an assertion is from within the Bible itself, as opposed to coming from extrabiblical sources such as other ancient documents or archaeological remains. Often we won't be able to tell, because the article will simply assert without stating the evidence.
Consider the three Eerdmans articles on Nazareth, Sepphoris, and sheep.
(a) Name at least 2 assertions from any of these 3 articles that are explicitly
supported by reference to the Bible itself. Example: The "Sheep" article
lists 1 Samuel 25 in support of its assertion in the last sentence (p. 1203)
that "Shearing was an event that brought together many people engaged in
caring for the animals, and ... was an occasion for great celebration."
1 Samuel 25 describes such a celebration, at the shearing of the sheep belonging
to Nabal and Abigail.
(b) Name at least 2 assertions from any of these 3 articles that are explicitly
supported by reference to extrabiblical evidence, either archaeological remains
or ancient texts outside the Bible. Example: The "Sheep" article at
the beginning of the last paragraph in the left column on p. 1203 refers to
"Artistic representations from Ur (Uruk III), Assyria, Arabia, and Israel"
that "suggest that the sheep raised in antiquity were closely related to
the fat-tail Awassi sheep, the most numerous and wide-spread breed in the Near
East today."
(7) Look at the beginning of the two Eerdmans articles "Nazareth"
and "Sepphoris." Using the transliteration table in the front of Eerdmans,
and the "Sounding out Hebrew and Greek words" document (above) to
tell me how to spell the Greek word for Nazareth and the Hebrew word for Sepphoris.
In Hebrew, SKIP THE VOWELS - you don't have their names. For example, Nazareth
starts nu-alpha...; Sepphoris starts zayin-peh....
(8) When you get home after Orientation, you will need to work on this course about 8-10 hours per week for the next 8 weeks, including an hour or two online several times during each week. Logging on daily is best, if you can manage it. What arrangements have you made to have adequate "quality time" and computer access to complete the 8 week online portion of this course after Orientation? Do you anticipate any problems with time and computer access? If you expect to need help using the Internet, what arrangements have you made to get such help?
(9) In your Orientation packet you should have received a letter from the Seminary Computing Services folks at Bethany, with instructions on how to log into our online "Moodle" course. Please log into our course at http://moodle.bethanyseminary.edu. You'll know you're at our course when you see a message that says "Welcome to our online Introduction to Biblical Studies course!" and a blue link to "The Break Room" just below. If you have trouble logging in, please contact the Help Desk at Bethany (765-983-1568) directly for assistance.
Once you're into our Moodle course, have a look around, edit your profile, make sure your email address is correct in your profile, and post a short introduction in the Break Room, but don't do any other posting until you're all together in the computer lab at Orientation.
Questions or concerns? Feel free to EMail Susan Jeffers at jeffesu@earlham.edu.