Module Level
9/10
Time Allowance
Introductory seminar + 6 2-hour seminars (3 per semester) in which assigned readings will be discussed and student presentations given. Reading load is equivalent of 4 books.
Assessment
Two 3 000 word essays due in January and June.
Module Aims
This module explores aspects of creation in biblical theology and anthropology by focusing on the poles of creation/chaos and contingency/freedom, and the interplay between them. Subjects covered include: tohu wabohu and the created order; divine and human freedom; human fallibility and agency; and the monstrous.
Learning Outcomes
- — Trace themes of human/creaturely fallibility, darkness and potential in key biblical text across a range of genres.
- — Reflect on the role of monsters/ the monstrous within a theology of creation.
- — Analyse the relationship between human and divine freedom against the backdrop of creation in priestly, sapiential, prophetic and apocalyptic traditions.
Bibliography
- — Doak, Brian R. Consider Leviathan. Narratives of Nature and the Self in Job. Minneapolis MN: Fortress Press. 2014.
- — Fretheim, Terence E. God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation. Nashville: Abingdon. 2005.
- — Interpretation. A Journal of Bible and Theology 74/2 (2020).
- — Pontifical Biblical Commission. What is Man? A Journey through Biblical Anthropology, translated by Fearghus O’Fearghail and Adrian Graffy. London: Darton, Longman and Todd. 2021.