NEW TESTAMENT BODIES Duke Divinity School Spring Semester 2016 NT 771 Professor: Brittany E. Wilson Class Schedule: M 2:30-5:00 (0015 Westbrook) Office Hours: By appointment Office: 059E Langford; (919) 660-3559 Email:
[email protected] Preceptor: Mandy Rodgers-Gates Office Hours: By appointment Email:
[email protected] Course Description: This course explores the embodied nature of the Christian life by focusing on representations of the body in the New Testament. It focuses on passages from the Gospels, the book of Acts, and Paul’s letters and exegetes these passages in conversation with ancient constructions of the body and recent body theory. In doing so, the course examines bodies as they relate to how we experience the world, how we construct our identities as Christians, and how we conceive of classic Christian doctrines and practices. Topics include divine embodiment, revelation and the senses, disability and illness, Cartesian dualism and the concept of a “soul,” the emotions and cognition, gender and difference, ethnicity and intersectionality, ecclesial praxis and identity as “the Body of Christ,” crucifixion and persecution, and the bodily resurrection. Class itself will comprise a mixture of lecture and discussion. NT Exegesis Limited Elective. Fulfills TMC or GTM Certificate Elective. Course Objectives: • To develop exegetical skills by practicing close readings of selected passages from the New Testament • To explore New Testament passages that relate to the body and embodiedness with respect to their historical context, theological aims, interpretative possibilities, and practical implications • To engage a variety of issues related to the body that arise today in a ministry or teaching context Required Texts: • Kate Cregan, Key Concepts in Body and Society (Los Angeles: Sage, 2012) • Joel B. Green, Body, Soul, and Human Life: The Nature of Humanity in the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008) • Dale B. Martin, The Corinthian Body (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995) • Wayne A. Meeks, ed., The HarperCollins Study Bible (NRSV). Also permitted are The New Interpreter’s Study Bible and The New Oxford Annotated Study Bible. Other Bibles may be used as a supplement, but one of the three Bibles listed above is required.
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Amos Yong, The Bible, Disability, and the Church: A New Vision of the People of God (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011)
Course Requirements: • Participation. Each week, students should be prepared to discuss both the assigned primary and secondary texts. With respect to the primary texts, students should always do their own exegesis and utilize a number of exegetical tools as outlined in the exegetical inquiry (see below). See also the attendance policy below (under “Course Policies”). • Reflections. Over the course of the semester, students will turn in a total of six reflection papers. The papers will first discuss exegetical issues that arise from the primary texts and then assess the secondary readings in relation to the primary texts. Reflections should be typed and brought to class in hardcopy on the day the readings are discussed. The reflections will help foster class discussion and also assist us in developing our exegetical skills. Each reflection paper should be approximately one page in length, single-spaced, and the professor will collect them at the end of each respective class. See Sakai for additional guidelines. • Exegetical Inquiry. Students will submit an exegetical inquiry in order to develop exegetical skills and prepare for the final paper. The inquiry will be an outline of focused observations and questions (approximately five pages single-spaced) that covers a passage listed on the syllabus. The inquiry is due Fri. April 1st at 5:00 PM (EST) on Sakai. See Sakai for additional guidelines. • Creative Project. Students will have the opportunity to explore more embodied, tactile forms of learning by doing a creative project that relates to the passage chosen for the exegetical inquiry and the content of the course. Students have three different options: First, students may develop a teaching curriculum that is geared toward children, youth, or adults. The curriculum can be for the purposes of Christian education and be tailored to your future or current ministry/teaching setting. See Sakai for additional guidelines. Second, students may record a 15-20 minute presentation in one of the divinity school’s preaching labs. Sermons are also allowed, but must be approved first by the professor. Students should focus both on the content and presentation of the material. Contact Reed Criswell (
[email protected]) to set up a time to record the presentation in the lab. Third, students may create an original artistic work accompanied by a 4-5 page paper. The original artistic work must be created during this semester (i.e., it should not be an artistic work you have previously created/collaborated on). Collaborative projects are permitted but must be approved by the professor. The short paper that accompanies the student’s artistic work should engage primary and secondary course readings and should explain how the artwork explores intersections between the Bible and the body/embodiment. The artistic work will be submitted for evaluation but will remain the property of the student. All three options are due Fri. April 15th at 5:00 PM (EST). The curriculum should be posted on Sakai. Presentations will automatically appear in the professor’s inbox. Artwork should be delivered outside of the professor’s office door (059E Langford) or
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delivered in person at a prearranged time. The short paper accompanying the artwork should be posted on Sakai. Exegesis Paper. At the end of the semester, students will turn in a 10-12 page exegesis paper that is due Wed. April 27th at 5:00 PM (EST) on Sakai. ThM, DMin, PhD, or ThD students, as well as students who need this course to be at the 800-level, will write a 20-page exegesis paper that is due on Sakai by the above date and time. The paper should grow out of the earlier exegetical inquiry and creative project (see above) and have a focused thesis and argument. Consultations with the professor or preceptor are welcome. See Sakai for additional guidelines.
Basis for Evaluation: • Participation • Reflections • Exegetical Inquiry • Creative Project • Exegesis Paper
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Course Policies: Absences: If at all possible, please alert the professor beforehand with respect to missing class. In order to make up for the missed class, students must write a reflection paper for that day and submit the reflection to the professor via email. Because this class only meets once a week, two or more unexcused absences will affect the final grade. Late Assignments: Late assignments will be penalized. No assignment submitted after the due date will be eligible for the grade “A,” and assignments will be deducted an entire letter grade for each day the assignment is late (a day counts as 24 hours from the due date). Exceptions are granted only in the case of a documented medical or family emergency. If an assignment is not submitted at all, a 0 will be assigned (making it difficult to pass the course). If you have questions or concerns about the deadlines, please contact the instructor as soon as possible. Writing Center: Duke Divinity School has an excellent Writing Center that is available for your use. The Writing Center can provide assistance on issues such as clarity, grammar, thesis statements, avoiding plagiarism, etc. Please consult the Writing Center’s website for further details: http://divinity.duke.edu/academics/center-theology-writing-media/writing-resources Grading Scale: Grades will be assigned according to the following scale (note that final grades will not necessarily be rounded up): 94-100 A (exceeds expectations) 74-76 C (satisfactory) 90-93 A70-73 C87-89 B+ 69-67 D+ 84-86 B (good) 64-66 D (passing) 80-83 B60-63 D-
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59 and below F (inadequate)
Integrity: In accordance with the Honor Code, students are expected to do their own work for each of the assignments. A violation of the Honor Code will result in a failing grade, and depending on the severity of the case could result in additional consequences. Guidelines for avoiding plagiarism can be found in Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams, The Craft of Research (3rd ed.; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008), pp. 191-97. Disability Statement: Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the Disability Management System/Student Access Office at (919) 6681267. If you have not contacted the office already, please do so as soon as possible to better ensure that necessary accommodations can be implemented in a timely fashion. Please also contact the Divinity Registrar, Ms. Kori Robins, at
[email protected] or at (919) 660-3428. Inclusive Language: In each assignment students are expected to follow the guidelines for inclusive language outlined in the Duke Divinity School Bulletin. Disclaimer: The instructor reserves the right to modify the course schedule based on the progress and/or needs of the class. Course Schedule: • Week 1 (1/25): Introduction: The History of “Body History” o Suggested readings: § Niall Richardson and Adam Locks, Body Studies: The Basics (New York: Routledge, 2014), viii-15 § Chris Schilling, The Body & Social Theory (3rd ed.; Los Angeles: Sage, 2012), 1-20 § Cregan, Key Concepts in Body and Society, 21-25 (Civilizing Processes), 64-68 (Discourse), 112-15 (Identity), 119-24 (Medicine and Science), 128-31 (Nature/Culture), 142-45 (Power), 180-83 (Technology) § Martin, Corinthian Body, 3-37 •
Week 2 (2/1): Divine Embodiment and Virgin Birth o Primary readings: Matt 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; 2:1-20; John 1:1-18 o Secondary readings: § Esther J. Hamori, “Divine Embodiment in the Hebrew Bible and Some Implications for Jewish and Christian Incarnational Theologies,” in Bodies, Embodiment, and Theology of the Hebrew Bible (ed. S. T. Kamionkowski and W. Kim; New York: T&T Clark, 2010), 161-83 § Cregan, Key Concepts in Body and Society, 5-10 (Ageing and Childhood), 94-98 (Genetics), 164-69 (Reproduction), 192-94 (Youth and Children) § Martin, Corinthian Body, 198-205, 219-28
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Mary F. Foskett, A Virgin Conceived: Mary and Classical Representations of Virginity (Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 2002), 59-73 Candida R. Moss and Joel S. Baden, Reconceiving Infertility: Biblical Perspectives on Procreation and Childlessness (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015), 140-70
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Week 3 (2/8): Revelation and the Senses o Primary readings: Luke 8:4-21; John 11:28-44; 12:1-8; Acts 9:1-19 o Secondary readings: § Anthony Synnott, “Puzzling over the Senses: From Plato to Marx,” in The Varieties of Sensory Experience: A Sourcebook in the Anthropology of the Senses (ed. D. Howes; Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991), 61-76 § Cregan, Key Concepts in Body and Society, 138-41 (Phenomenology) § David Chidester, Word and Light: Seeing, Hearing, and Religious Discourse (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992), 1-24 § John A. Darr, “‘Watch How You Listen” (Luke 8.18): Jesus and the Rhetoric of Perception in Luke-Acts,” in The New Literary Criticism and the New Testament (E. Struthers Malbon and E. V. McKnight; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994), 87–107 § Dorothy Lee, “The Gospel of John and the Five Senses,” JBL 129 (2010): 115-27 § Simon Horne, “‘Those Who are Blind See’: Some New Testament Uses of Impairment, Inability, and Paradox,” in Human Disability and the Service of God: Reassessing Religious Practice (ed. N. L. Eisland and D. E. Saliers; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), 88-101 o Suggested reading: § Louise J. Lawrence, Sense and Stigma in the Gospels: Depictions of Sensory-Disabled Characters (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 1-30
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Week 4 (2/15): Disability and Illness o Primary readings: Mark 10:46-52; Luke 19:1-10; John 9:1-41; 2 Cor 12:1-10 o Secondary readings: § Cregan, Key Concepts in Body and Society, 60-64 (Disability/Ability), 107-11 (Health and Illness) § Yong, Bible, Disability, and the Church, 1-16, 49-90 § Lawrence, Sense and Stigma in the Gospels, 31-56 § Martin, Corinthian Body, 139-62 o Suggested reading: § Colleen C. Grant, “Reinterpreting the Healing Narratives,” in Human Disability and the Service of God, 72-87
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Week 5 (2/22): Body and Soul o Primary readings: Acts 8:26-40; 9:1-19a; 10:1-11:18 o Secondary readings:
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Warren S. Brown and Brad D. Strawn, The Physical Nature of Christian Life: Neuroscience, Psychology, and the Church (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 1-9 Cregan, Key Concepts in Body and Society, 68-74 (Dualism), 149-52 (Psychoanalysis) Green, Body, Soul, and Human Life, 1-34, 42-61, 106-39
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Week 6: (2/29): Emotions and Cognition o Primary readings: Mark 1:40-45; tba o Secondary readings: § Cregan, Key Concepts in Body and Society, 74-79 (Emotion) § F. Scott Spencer, “Why Did the ‘Leper’ Get Under Jesus’ Skin? Emotion Theory and Angry Reaction in Mark 1:40-45,” HBT 36 (2014): 107-28 § Matthew A. Elliott, Faithful Feelings: Rethinking Emotion in the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2006), tba § Karl Allen Kuhn, The Heart of Biblical Narrative: Rediscovering Biblical Appeal to the Emotions (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009), tba
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Week 7 (3/7): Gender and Difference o Primary readings: Matt 19:3-12; Mark 5:21-43; 1 Cor 11:2-16; 2 Cor 11:16-33 o Secondary readings: § Cregan, Key Concepts in Body and Society, 56-60 (Difference), 79-84 (Feminism), 89-94 (Gender/Sex), 135-38 (Performativity), 152-56 (Queer) § Brittany E. Wilson, “Gender Disrupted: Jesus as a ‘Man’ in the Fourfold Gospel,” Word & World 36 (2016): 24-35 § Halvor Moxnes, Putting Jesus in His Place: A Radical Vision of Household and Kingdom (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2003), 7290 § Candida Moss, “The Man with the Flow of Power: Porous Bodies in Mark 5:25-34,” JBL 129 (2010): 507-19 § Jennifer Larson, “Paul’s Masculinity,” JBL 123 (2004): 85-97 § Martin, Corinthian Body, 229-49 o Suggested readings: § Graham Ward, “Bodies: The Displaced Body of Jesus Christ,” in Men and Masculinities in Christianity and Judaism: A Critical Reader (ed. B. Krondorfer; London: SCM Press, 2009), 96-112 § Gillian Townsley, “The Straight Mind in Corinth: Problematizing Categories and Ideologies of Gender in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16,” in Bible Trouble: Queer Readings at the Boundaries of Biblical Scholarship (ed. T. Hornsby and K. Stone; Atlanta: SBL Press, 2011), 247-80
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Week 8 (3/14): NO CLASS: Reading Week
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Week 9 (3/21): Ethnicity and Intersectionality o Primary readings: Acts 8:26-40; 16:1-5; Rom 11:13-24; Gal 3:23-29 o Secondary readings:
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Cregan, Key Concepts in Body and Society, 25-29 (Class/Caste), 34-39 (Colonialism/Post-colonialism), 156-59 (Race/Ethnicity) Marianne B. Kartzow and Halvor Moxnes, “Complex Identities: Ethnicity, Gender and Religion in the Story of the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:2640),” R&T 17 (2010): 184-204 Eric D. Barreto, “Negotiating Difference: Theology and Ethnicity in the Acts of the Apostles,” Word and World 31 (2011): 129-37 Denise Kimber Buell and Caroline Johnson Hodge, “The Politics of Interpretation: The Rhetoric of Race and Ethnicity in Paul,” JBL 123 (2004): 235-51 Davina C. Lopez, “Before Your Very Eyes: Roman Imperial Ideology, Gender Constructs, and Paul’s Inter-Nationalism,” in Mapping Gender in Ancient Religious Discourse (ed. T. Penner and C. Vander Stichele; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007), 115-62
Week 10 (3/28): The Body of Christ and Ecclesial Praxis o Primary reading: Rom 6:1-11; 1 Cor 12:1-31; Gal 3:23-29 (again) o Secondary readings: § Cregan, Key Concepts in Body and Society, 29-34 (Clothing), 39-43 (Consumption), 98-102 (Gesture and Habits), 102-107 (Habitus), 159-64 (Religion), 187-91 (Work) § Brown and Strawn, Physical Nature of Christian Life, 105-39 § Carol Troupe, “One Body, Many Parts: A Reading of 1 Corinthians 12:1227,” Black Theology 6 (2008): 32-45 § Yong, Bible, Disability, and the Church, 90-117 § Martin, Corinthian Body, 38-47, 87-103 ***** Exegetical Inquiry DUE Fri. April 1st at 5:00 PM (EST) on Sakai *****
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Week 11 (4/4): Food and Ingesting Jesus o Primary readings: Luke 4:1-13; 22:14-23; John 6:25-71; 1 Cor 11:17-34 o Secondary readings: § Cregan, Key Concepts in Body and Society, 10-16 (Anorexia/Bulimia/Obesity), 84-89 (Food and Eating) § Norman Wirzba, Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 1-4, 144-78 § Lisa Isherwood, Fat Jesus: Feminist Explorations in Boundaries and Transgressions (London: Darton Longman & Todd, 2007), 47-59 § Martin, Corinthian Body, 69-86, 163-97
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Week 12 (4/11): Crucifixion and Persecution o Primary readings: Luke 23:26-49; Acts 7:54-8:3; 19:23-41 o Secondary readings: § Cregan, Key Concepts in Body and Society, 48-55 (Death and Dying), 131-35 (Pain), 183-87 (Violence)
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Sally A. Brown, Cross Talk: Preaching Redemption Here and Now (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2008), 71-88 § Joel Marcus, “Crucifixion as Parodic Exaltation,” JBL 125 (2006): 73-87 § Brittany E. Wilson, Unmanly Men: Refigurations of Masculinity in LukeActs (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 201-211, 227-42 § Brittany E. Wilson, “Sight and Spectacle: ‘Seeing’ Paul in the Book of Acts,” in Characters and Characterization in Luke-Acts (ed. F. E. Dicken and J. A. Snyder; London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark), forthcoming o Suggested reading: § Brown, Cross Talk, 89-107 ***** Creative Project DUE Fri. April 15th at 5:00 PM (EST) ***** •
Week 13: (4/18): Resurrection and the End Times o Primary readings: Luke 24:36-49; John 20:19-29; 1 Cor 15:35-58 o Secondary readings: § Cregan, Key Concepts in Body and Society, 16-20 (Appearance and Beauty), 44-48 (Cyborgs) § Green, Body, Soul, and Human Life, 140-80 § Yong, Bible, Disability, and the Church, 118-147 § Martin, Corinthian Body, 104-36 o Suggested reading: § Moss and Baden, Reconceiving Infertility, 200-28 ***** Exegesis Paper DUE Wed. April 27th at 5:00 PM (EST) on Sakai *****
“[the one] who sees the church looks directly at Christ . . but it is only in the union of all the particular members that the beauty of [Christ’s] Body is complete.” Gregory of Nyssa (Comm. On the Cant., 13.1049B-1052A)
