Resources

TM102.5 Class Notes

Contents: TM102.5 Introduction to the First Testament

TM102.5 Introduction to the First Testament

This module gives an overview of the biblical First Testament narrative and an introduction to current methods and issues in biblical studies. Selected books and themes will be introduced and set in their historical and literary contexts with attention to their potential application today.

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Introduction to the First Testament at Bristol and Cheltenham

These documents are (c)Elizabeth Harper 2006. They may be freely used for private study and for small group church bible studies. Under no circumstances may they be used for commercial purposes.

Preparation for Class 1 Preliminaries and Genesis

Class Schedule(.pdf 55kb): The Class Schedule, Module Description and introductory letter
Booklist(.pdf 38kb): The Class Book list
Session 1 preparation (.pdf 25kb): The preparation for Session 1 Class 1 'In the Beginning' including world view and genre, and Class 2 'Blessed to be a Blessing' on Genesis
Preparatory Reading for Session 1(.pdf 408kb Large!): The main reading material for class 1 and 2.
FT Knowledge Quiz(.pdf 114kb - fairly large): A short quiz to check what you know about the FT at the start of the course.
2006 Assignments(.pdf 38kb): The Bristol and Cheltenham Assignments from last year.
2006 Assignments(.pdf 37kb): The Ludlow Assignments from 2006.

Preparation for Class 2 Exodus - Kings

Session 2 preparation (.pdf 31kb): The preparation for Session 2 class 3 'Now in Those Days'including Exodus, Judges and Kings, and class 4 'Doing Exegesis' on Historical Criticisms and Exegesis
Preparatory Reading for Session 2 class 3(.pdf 104kb - fairly large!): The main reading material for class 3. It looks at the historicity of the biblical stories and gives an overview of Exodus - Kings.
Preparatory Reading for Session 2 class 4 (.pdf 100kb fairly large!): The main reading material for class 4. It looks at how to do an exegesis
Exegesis of Exodus 3(.pdf 41kb): A sample Exegesis in WEMTC format for Exodus 3.
The Hebrew Bible Story Line (.gif 42Kb): The OT Biblical Story time line with approximate dates and matched to the books of the bible.
A brief First Testament Chronology (.pdf 39kb): A text based depiction of the biblical time line giving in particular the order of the Kings of Judah and Israel. Dates are provisional and follow fairly conservative, traditional datings. They are only claimed to be approximate
Biblical Criticisms Explained (.pdf 45kb): A brief summary of the methods of Historical and Literary Criticism that have been prominent in the twentieth century

Preparation for Class 3 Wisdom, Psalms and Prophets

Session 3 preparation (.pdf 31kb): The preparation for Session 3 class 5 'The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom' including Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job, and class 6 'The Word of the Lord Came' on the prophets
Preparatory Reading for Session 3 class 5(.pdf 96kb): The main reading material for class 5. It looks briefly at the Wisdom literature and the Psalms.
Preparatory Reading for Session 3 class 4 (.pdf 95kb): The main reading material for class 4. It looks at themes in the Prophets(more is done in the Isaiah module)
The Prophets Time Line (.pdf 23kb): The biblical prophets set against their narrative setting as far as we can ascertain it
WEMTC's Proverbial Wisdom (.pdf 17kb): WEMTC proverbs for your amusement - written by classes studying the form of proverbs

Preparation for Session 4 Law, Covenant and Land

Session 4 preparation (.pdf 23kb): The preparation for Session 4 class 7 'Give Heed to the Ordinances that you may Live Long in the Land' concerning the place of the Law in FT and NT thinking, and class 8 'Pentateuchal Themes' on key FT themes
Preparatory Reading for Session 4 class 7(.pdf 153kb fairly large!): The main reading material for class 7. It explores how the FT and NT understand the Laws and in what way the FT Laws might be relevant to Christians today.
Preparatory Reading for Session 4 class 8 (.pdf 75kb): The main reading material for class 8. It looks at themes to be found in the Pentateuch such as holiness, sacrifice, land
Hebrew Festivals (.pdf 29kb): A brief description of the Hebrew Festivals

Preparation for Class 5 Exile and Restoration and Difficult Texts

Session 5 preparation (.pdf 23kb): The preparation for Session 5 class 9 'A Remnant shall Return' concerning the remainder of the FT story and its themes, and class 10 'That You May Live' and 'Handling Difficult Passages' on how to deal with difficult FT texts
Preparatory Reading for Session 5 class 9(.pdf 153kb fairly large!): The main reading material for class 9. It explores the story of the Exile and Restoration and the prophets of this period
Preparatory Reading for Session 5 class 10 (.pdf 130kb fairly large!): The main reading material for class 10. It looks firstly at the issue of unity and diversity and the possiblity of a FT theology. It then looks at how we might handle difficult passages.

If you have found any of these helpful then do let me know and I may be encouraged to add to the list.

Copyright Issues

On this page you will find sample handouts and notes. For copyright reasons and didactic purposes staff are often not prepared to put notes on the web so you will not find everything here.

The material here is copyright to the author shown but may be freely used for private study. Under no circumstances may it be used for commercial purposes. The source should be acknowledged as follows
The source should be acknowledged as follows:
Authors Name, "Title of document", http://www.eharper.nildram.co.uk/wemtc/TM1025hand.html, date downloaded.

These documents have not been checked for accuracy nor subjected to any editorial process, they should not be relied on to be anything more than sample class notes for teaching within WEMTC. The views expressed in these documents are not necessarily the views of WEMTC and the authors of this website. If you believe there are factual errors rather than differences of scholarly opinion in these documents then let us know.

Downloading instructions

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Resources Last updated: 18 May 2008 at 11:58pm Copyright 2008 E. Harper and W. McDougall
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