Gordon College Dr. Ted Hildebrandt
BCM101 Old Testament Office: MacD 111
Spring, 2020 ted.hildebrandt@gordon.edu
Office hours: T R usually 8:00-12:00; Phone: ext 4412
MWF usually in 8:00-10:00
1. Course Description: Old Testament History, Literature and Theology
examines Old Testament history and teaching against the cultural, geographical,
historical and literary backgrounds of the Ancient Near East. Archaeology,
comparative history and literature as well as key theological themes underlying
the
New Testament and Western culture are explored as well as the application of
these texts as a foundation of personal spirituality.
2. Course Goals: When you have successfully completed this course you will:
G1: Recall the basic content of the Old Testament (OT)
G2: Comprehend the origin and transmission of the OT text
G3: Comprehend OT cultural issues and their relevance to post-modern
culture
G4: Analyze, interpret and apply the meaning of OT texts from multiple
perspectives
G5: Critically evaluate and integrate your thinking with current OT
research and discoveries
G6: Distill, formulate and integrate your view of God and His kingdom
based on the insights derived from the OT
G7: Comprehend
and discern OT culture and moral constructs being
able to separate between descriptive and prescriptive
aspects of the
OT
G8:
Share a commitment to caring for the creation, environment and
see connections with the liberal arts disciplines as
part of your
religious heritage and commitment
3. OBJECTIVES of OT History and Literature class:
Cognitive Objectives: You will understand
CO1. the basic historical framework
CO2. the factual details and stories
CO3. the process of how the Old Testament came to us
CO4. the customs and cultural issues manifested in the OT
CO5. the meaning and implications of the Old Testament stories
CO6. God's character (mercy, justice, love, anger) and actions
(covenant, war, shalom, forgiveness, retribution,
redemption, et al.)
CO7. theological reasons for the care of creation and human life
CO8. the different stages of faith and spiritual formation
Affective Objectives: You will appreciate
AO1. the value of the Old Testament
AO2. the greatness of God and human responsibility in response
in terms of holiness, pursuit of personal justice and mercy
AO3. God's
use of and interaction with human culture
AO4. the value of the various disciplines of the liberal arts as supported
by the OT
Skill Objectives: You will be able to
SO1. identify major themes, genres and styles
SO2. apply
the meaning and significance of the Old Testament
stories to life within postmodern culture
SO3. critically evaluate interpretive options of some of the major
“difficult” passages in the Old Testament
SO4. ask big questions (the meaning of life, death, suffering, happiness, choice, etc.) of the text and then pursue answers
SO5. express
OT concepts in new media formats
4. Textbooks
One item to purchase:
1) Bible in an accurate translation (NIV, NLT, NRSV, NASB, KJV, ESV,
NKJV,
NAB, Net Bible are all good choices; I have prepared a
DASV Digital American Standard Version which is
available in text
and audio on the web site; the mp3 audio is useful;
there is also a
format there that has the text and audio together where
the audio will
reinforce your text reading). The “Wave Bible” and
“Your Bible”
(by Hobby Lobby) are interesting free phone apps that
might be of
interest. If you find others that are decent let me know.
For
the Old Testament in Chinese, Korean or Portuguese, Spanish,
etc. I recommend:
http://www.wordproject.org/bibles/parallel/chinese/index.htm
Your Bible also
has multiple languages and audio reading options
2) Digital
resources: The Online Syllabus may have some changes
as we work through this semester. The
Online is always
the one to follow over this printed
beginning-of-the-year
hardcopy.
1) All of the resources will be made available online
course PowerPoints, full video/audio and text
from this
semester in Blackboard. The professor is seeking to limit the cost
for textbooks by constructing a web site that will make substantial
OT resources available to students online. The point is to harness
Internet technology for the benefit of our learning environment.
Some of the benefits are that these resources are
available to anyone,
at any time from anywhere in the world. The online course materials
cost you $20 saving you each over $50 for textbooks (compare how
much you pay for textbooks in other courses).
2) There is an online series of “Getting Started
with [Gen.
Exod. Lev. Etc.] that will work like a textbook for this class
[text/audio].
3) I have developed multiple choice quiz questions for all of
the lectures and they are available for review in the Interactive
Video/Quiz Combo Online resource (Flash Video formats; sorry
Mac ipad/iphone folks). Since the lectures are being reformatted
this semester new questions on Quizlet.com to replace the
old
interactive video questions. These will be developed as we go
through the course lectures. The questions will be built in
Quizlet.com as we with links to them for the weeks of the exams as
we progress through the semester.
4) OT Lit Multiple Choice Bible Quizzer online:
Practice sets of
questions over the material you will be reading in the Bible. This
will be very helpful in preparing for the quizzes. These questions
are available on the OT Bible Quizzer (on our sight) and also
on Quizlet.com.
5) Get Lost in Jerusalem Virtual Reality by Ted
Hildebrandt
originally published by Zondervan (is available online
at the web
site;
Zondervan sold this for $29.95).
6) www.Quizlet.com
houses both weekly quiz questions and also
lecture questions for exams. Many find this format
very effective
for learning.
Web Site URL:
For this course you need to consult the web
[just Google "Ted Hildebrandt" look for Gordon College or
use this
URL [bookmark it]:
http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/index.cfm
and now more recently and updated: http://biblicalelearning.org/
The web site will also facilitate your exploration of topics
beyond this course and beyond the walls of Gordon after you
graduate. The online materials are also available to
your friends
and family if others want to see what you are learning.
The readings including the DASV [Digital American
Standard
Version] of OT itself are available in multiple formats (*.doc,
*.html, *.pdf) as well as audio for virtually all the readings
(*.mp3).
There are audio and text/audio combinations so you can download it
and listen to the text on your iPods, iPads or mobile devices.
Blackboard will only be used for posting grades the
bulk of the
course with weekly assignments will be on the course
web site
on the Internet:
http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/index.cfm
All students taking the course are required to purchase these online course materials for $20 cash. Please pay for them during the first week or so. If payment is received after Friday Jan. 31 the price goes up to $40. No quizzes or exams will be accepted or make-ups allowed after Friday Jan 31 is passed if payment has not been received. In short, get your $20 in before Jan. 31 as I don’t want to have to chase you down especially when I’m trying to save each of you well over $50 per student [compare how much it is for textbooks in your other classes].
I do not make anything personally from this as the funds are used to develop the more supplemental materials for the OT/NT courses.
4. Grade Points:
A. Attendance
policy: Students are expected to attend class sessions.
B. Quizzes:
The quizzes focus on the actual content of the Bible
reading, memory verses and supplemental reading (exams
will be
over the lectures—Use the OT Lit Bible Quizzer or
Quizlet.com
as much of the quiz will be pulled from the questions
found in that
quizzer). All quizzes should be taken on time.
Missed quizzes will be assessed as to whether
they are excused or
unexcused. Unexcused absences will result in an
automatic
deduction of 20% for that quiz. Both excused and
unexcused
absences must be made up within one week from when
the quiz
was originally given. If a student gets to class
late after the quiz has
begun, the quiz must be made up within the next week as
either
excused or unexcused. You are not allowed to use
electronic
devices of any sort for the quizzes. Open head closed
phone, pod,
pad, tablet, or laptop etc.
C. EXAMS: All exams must be taken on
time. Exams will be over the lecture material. Exams are not like
quizzes. The exams will be built off the questions in the interactive
video/quiz combos. I am also have loaded these questions on “Quizlet.com”
which will offer
an alternative way of learning them.
For exams no electronic devices will be permitted in the room
so leave your cell phones, smart watches, ipads, iphones whatever at
home for the time of the exam.
Cheating
Policy: Cheating in any form will
result in an automatic failure of that quiz or
exam or possibly the entire course. This is a Bible
class, cheating is taken
very seriously as a violation of the whole course and
the integrity this
course is trying to teach.
Gordon’s Academic Dishonesty Statement (Plagiarism Policy):
“Academic dishonesty is regarded as a major violation of both the
academic and spiritual principles of this community and may result
in a failing grade or suspension. Academic dishonesty includes
plagiarism, (see Plagiarism in Student Handbook), cheating
(whether in or out of the classroom), and abuse or misuse of
library
materials when such abuse or misuse can be related to course
requirements.”
5. Integrity and Classroom Etiquette
It has been shown
that students who take hand written notes in class
actually learn better. Computers/phones have a tendency to
distract both
the user and those sitting around them. This kills me as I am
really into the
digital mediums
but it just hasn’t worked out with students in live classes
over the last couple years. My apologies. If you must have use of
these
devices for academic purposes the front two rows will be reserved
for those
special exceptions.
This is a class
in biblical studies. Integrity is at the heart of what is being
learned. Thus any cheating or plagiarism will result in an automatic failure of the whole course. If you are unclear what falls into the category of plagiarism check in the Student Handbook pp 8f. Gaming, surfing, texting, email reading/sending, tweeting, IM, YouTube, Facebook, etc. in the classroom are rude, distracting to others and unacceptable. Be wise. Here are a few comments on classroom etiquette. Class times are learning times for discussion, taking notes and interacting. The following activities are inappropriate inside the classroom context: talking to others outside of the class discussion flow, whispering, sleeping, hand-holding, touching and massaging another, un-civil comments or behaviors not conducive to the learning environment. Basically anything that is disruptive to the classroom instructional environment is not kosher. Students engaged in these activities will be asked to leave the classroom and must talk to the professor in person before being readmitted.
Gordon workload statement: For each semester hour of credit, students should expect to spend a minimum of 2-3 hours per week outside of class in engaged academic time. This time includes reading, writing, studying, completing assignments, lab work, or group projects, among other activities.
6. Extra Credit may be received (up to 5 points) by:
Extra credit
projects may be earned: (up to 5%) email or talk with me to
set this up. [Due by May 3]. The filling of new requests for such
extra
credit will cease on April 27th. Contact
the professor via email or in
person to set up your extra credit option.
1) This semester we will be working on outlining lecture series that
are found on biblicalelearning.org or finishing the transcribing
the
The Bible Project presentations series. What
this amounts to is
transcribing those lectures (2 presentations = 5%
[usually takes 5-7
hours]. There are also full lectures on Psalms and
Ezekiel that will
go at about 1 hour lecture to transcribe (5%).
Talk to me as I’ll need to set it up online for you.
These will need to be
word perfect and sign at the end affirming their accuracy.
Once the transcription process is completed we can work
on
putting section titles and timings (10-18
per lecture) for the various
lectures online (talk to the prof. about which
ones need doing).
If you are into graphic design and would like to
do something along
the lines of crafting a psalm visually, etc.
(reformatting our website to
make it look more visually and useable) please talk to me early in
the
semester.
If you’re a Computer Sci. person and want to play with fly
thru’s of
Israel using Google Earth Pro tells talk. I’m also interested in
developing games that teach OT content if you have any ideas and
want to pursue development. If you want to explore Unity 3D [C#
programming] and VR or Kolor PanoTour Pro (GoPro) or Engage
VR by Immersive VR Education. Let me know as there are
several things we can explore in that realm.
Another path would be to develop your own
fill-in-the-blank
questions for Gen. Ex., Numbers, Deut. or Joshua,
Judges/Ruth.
Talk to me if you’d like to pursue this option.
If you speak a foreign language fluently (Chinese, Portuguese,
Spanish, Korean, Japanese) you could work on translation
projects
translating the class PowerPoints or some of the transcriptions.
If you get in trouble grade-wise in this course use extra to
bail yourself out. If you’re willing to work you can get the
grade.
Extra
credit is due by mid-night Tues May 1—plan ahead –
late work on this will not be accepted. Hard
deadline. No
EC requests will be accepted after April 26.
7. Students with Disabilities: Students with disabilities who need academic
accommodations must speak to professor and also inform him in writing
regarding the nature of the disability and the request for specific
accommodations within the first two weeks of class. Ann Seavey from the
Academic Support Center must be made aware of and approve in writing the
accommodations requested. Students are also responsible for making sure
documentation of the disability is on file in the Academic Support Center.
See Ann Seavey, Jenks 412 Ext 4746. Failure to register in time with the
Professor and have the ASC approve the desired accommodations will
compromise our ability to provide the desired accommodations.
8. Honors option: If a student receives over a 94 on the first exam and has
maintained a 90 or better quiz average, s/he may request the honors option.
The student will work on a project with the prof. related to the OT Web site,
fitted
to their interests, skills and possible options. This project will
replace the final exam hereby easing your finals week preparations.
Your
final exam score will be an average of your first and second exam. Talk
to
me if you’d like to do this option after you’ve taken the first
exam. We also
may be developing a series of fill-in the blank question sets for
Gen. – Deut.
As another option. This option must be requested no later than one
week
following the second exam.
9. Tentative Evaluation
Percentages: generally I begin my curve with the
following and then curve from there.
100-90 [A/A-]
89-80 [B+-B-]
79-70 [C+-C-]
69-65 [D]
65-0 [F]
Quizzes 30% [Generally quizzes every Thurs.]
3 Exams 70%
The weekly schedule for the course is found online. We will follow that schedule exactly as the course goes from week to week.
Vid. https://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/
Course Requirements Summary:
Weekly Quizzes: will be over the stories from the biblical text, the
reading of the various online articles and memory
work. Use
the OT Lit quizzer to prepare on the Bible content.
Exams:
will be over the class discussions/notes
and memory verses.
Use the interactive video/quiz combo to pick up the questions
which will appear on the exams.
Class attendance + Participation
Tentative Assignment
Schedule is available online: Class instructions may
modify these as we proceed through the material.
Final Exam Schedule:
For
BCM101A: 3:00 class final will be on May 12 Tues. 2:30-4:30.
BCM101B: 1:15 class on May 13 Weds. 12:00-2:00.
You must take it with your designated class.
All Finals must be taken at the time scheduled by the registrar—no exceptions. Make your flight plans accordingly.
The weekly assignments and course materials can be found updated on our class web site:
https://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/
Genesis Bible-robics
Creation days,
Adam and Eve-n
Garden of Eden,
but just for a season
Serpent and Sin
Cain kills him
Noah and the Flood
Drunk and no bud
Babel’s tower
Languages flower
Abram leaves Ur
Sarah lies for sir
God’s promise,
land, seed and blessing
Abram’s faith,
he’s now confessing
Sodom and Gomorrah
are no more-ah
Hagar’s the surrogate
Ishmael barely gets
Isaac’s offered up
God’s ram’s fired up
Jacob’s birthright
Jacob’s ladder
Jacob’s chosen
that’s all that matters
Jacob wrestles God at Peniel
Gets 12 tribes -- Israel
Joseph’s coated
Sold to Egypt,
then promoted
Joseph’s in prison
Interprets dreams,
To royalty he’s risen
Brothers to Egypt begging
Evil to good
– God’s blessing
Exodus Bible-robics
Moses floats
to Pharaoh’s side
Kills and flees
to Sinai-ide
Yahweh’s bush
burns with fire
Moses claims
he can’t inspire
Stick to snake
Nile to blood
Firstborn die
no Passover blood
Red Sea splits
shows God's glory
Chariots sink,
Sing that story!
Water from rock
Manna on the lands
10 commandments
BIG LC SPAMS
Israel to Sinai
Golden calf’s busted
Glory cloud to desert
Tabernacle’s constructed
BIG LC SPAMS—Ten Commandments
No Blasphemy, Idols, other gods;
[BIG]
No Lying, Coveting [LC]
No Stealing;
Honor Parents, Adultery, Murder,
Sabbath [SPAMS]
Framework of the Old Testament (10+1)
P-PEW C-JU D-ERA
Primeval History: Adam and Eve, Noah and
the flood, Babel
Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph
Exodus: Pharaoh and the Plagues, Moses
and the Sea
Wilderness: Covenant at Sinai, Tabernacle,
manna
Conquest: Joshua Jericho, divides the tribes
Judges: Deborah/Barah, Gideon, Jephthah
and Samson
United monarchy: Kings Saul, David, Solomon, 40, 40, 40
Divided Monarchy: Kings of the north all bad (Ahab); kings
of the south
few good (Uzziah, Hezekiah, Josiah),
North to
Assyria; Prophets versus kings
Exile: Judah goes to Babylon for 70
years, temple destroyed
586
BC, Daniel, Ezekiel
Return: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Jerusalem
walls and temple
rebuilt
Apocrypha: Maccabees and Antiochus Epiphanes
5 Dates to know for the
OT:
Abraham: 2000
B.C.
David: 1000 B.C.
Israel to Assyria: 722 B.C.
Judah to Babylon: 586 B.C. –temple destroyed
Malachi ends it: 400 B.C.