TEOL4102 – Old Testament Theology
Course content
Despite the prominent place of Old Testament theology in higher theological education throughout Christianity, there is presently no consensus on how an Old Testament theology is best written. The aim of this course is to present and discuss various concepts of Old Testament theology – classical as well as post-classical ones. Also we shall study how different concepts of the discipline contributes to highlighting different kinds of theologically relevant materials in biblical Hebrew literature.
A note on instructional language: Teaching and course material will be in English, as is the course literature. There might be alternative course literature available in Norwegian, German, etc. Students may address the class in any language for which there is someone present that is able to translate into English!
Learning outcome
Upon completion of this course, students should have
- obtained knowledge of theologically relevant material in the Old Testament
- be familiar with various ways of interpreting this material theologically (i.e. of various models for OT Theology).
- achieve an ability to make a critical evaluation both of models for OT theology and of theologically relevant material in the Old Testament.
Admission
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If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Bachelor egree with an emphasis in theology, Christian/religious studies, 80 credits or equivalent.
Prerequisites
Formal prerequisite knowledge
Students are required to have a background of studies in Biblical Hebrew TEOL1002 – Bibelhebraisk (discontinued). Students without such background may pursue the parallel course CONT4105 – Old Testament Theology (discontinued).
Teaching
This course is offered every autumn, normally with English as instructional language.
Obligatory requirements:
Around mid term each student will complete and present to the professor one small essay (some 1000 words) on a theme from within the syllabus literature. The topic for the paper must be approved by the professor. Papers may be written in English or Norwegian.
Examination
Term paper of some 4000 words.
The topic for the term paper must be approved by the professor within the given deadline. The term paper should
- present a selection of theologically relevant OT material
- present a theological interpretation of this material, and
- relate this interpretation to predominant models of doing Old Testament theology.
Language of examination
Term papers may be written in English or Norwegian.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.