History 288 Home | Schedule of Readings and Assignments
Introduction to History 288
Central questions of the course
What did it mean to be a Christian?
What was Christianity?
Basic tutorial questions
History 288 Requirements
Attendance and class preparation: Check syllabus and web pages regularly.
Quizzes and test
Reading assignments
Written assignments: First essay, Second essay
Navigating the Bible
English translations
Key terms:
Old Testament (at least 39 books)
New Testament (27 books)
canon from a Greek word = a straight rod or bar, a carpenter’s rule, a rule or standard; canonical, canonicity
apocrypha / deuterocanonical books
Citation by book, chapter, verse(s) not by page number
Interpreting the Bible
the Bible as a library
authorship of the Bible, revelation
historical or literal sense
spiritual senses: moral, allegorical, anagogical
uses of Bible: for determining what Christians believe and how they should worship, for preaching, for moral and spiritual guidance,
for prayer and devotion
the Bible as an historical source