Alastair's Adversaria - Bible Reading Skills for Narrative Texts

Starting point is 00:00:00 My next Avenant Hall course is entitled Bible reading skills for narrative texts. Going through Holy Scripture, much of the material within it is narrative. And yet many readers today can struggle to approach such narrative with understanding, and they also find many of the readings of such narratives from the tradition to be bizarre and strange. Scripture is filled with symbolism, with typology, stories are interlaced and interwoven and interconnected, with citations, illusions, echoes, they play off each other, they engage in puns, they engage in literary plays, they're structured in literary ways. And students within this course will be introduced to some of these features of scripture, equipped to handle them when reading various texts.

Starting point is 00:00:49 We'll be thinking about the way that the authors of Holy Scripture use literary artistry, plotting, structuring, and how they word their narratives, with skill and care. Fine details in the biblical narratives routinely reward closer careful examination. As Christians reading the Bible, we want to read it for its full worth. We want to read it as Holy Scripture, which is what it is. Much of the course will be concerned with learning how to read scripture as ethical guidance, as theological instruction, as Christological revelation, and as a text that we live within as the people of God. And along the way, we'll be engaging with a host of different figures,

Starting point is 00:01:35 biblical scholars of many different backgrounds, figures from church history, and, of course, with the Bible itself, reading some of its difficult narrative texts and learning what treasures they contain. Holy Scripture is its own most brilliant reader, and so we'll also be thinking about the way that Scripture helps us to read itself. This course is available for those who want to take it for credit and also for auditors, people who want to get a degree from Davenant, but also those who just want to take this individual course and to get into reading the Bible in more depth.

Starting point is 00:02:10 It's accessible for laypeople. You don't have to have a deep background in biblical theology or theology to understand it. There will be 20 hours of lectures and seminar discussions spread over 10 weeks with a further office hour on most weeks. The term begins on April the 7th and it ends June the 14th. The ordinary period of registration is very almost over. After March the 24th, registration will be late and there will be an additional $25 fee. All of the classes and the office hours are recorded exclusively for students. If you are not taking this course, you'll have no access to these recordings.

Starting point is 00:02:51 It is unlikely that I'll be offering this course again within the next two years as well. so now is your opportunity. Sign up in the next couple of days to make the most of this opportunity and to avoid the late registration fee. If you look at the notes connected with this, you'll find a link to the registration page and also a link to the Davenant Hall website where there are several other superb courses that you can sign up for.

Starting point is 00:03:15 Thank you very much for listening and I hope to see some of you in the next few weeks. God bless.

Alastair's Adversaria - Bible Reading Skills for Narrative Texts

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