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Canyon College

COURSE SYLLABUS: Hermeneutics

Course Title:	RL550 - Hermeneutics
Department:	Religious Studies
Instructor:	Don E. Peavy, Sr., Ph.D. E-Mail Vita
Prerequisites:	None

PURPOSE OF THE COURSE

Welcome to RL 550, Hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is “a useful technical term to describe our understanding of the nature of texts and how we interpret and use them, especially with respect to” sacred texts such as the Bible. Understanding a sacred text “is not simply a matter of looking at how it was written, but also the history of how it has been read and accepted as authoritative.” (Jasper 1-2) This course explores the process of hermeneutics and how that process has changed throughout history and what those changes have meant for how we understand texts. This course will not make students biblical scholars. It will, however, if students apply themselves, assist students in acquiring the rudimentary tools needed to understand texts, especially sacred texts.

INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE

Students should strive to use inclusive language in their writings. By inclusive language is meant language that is not gender specific and which attempts to include as many people as possible. For instance, instead of writing that "God wills that every man obeys His will," inclusive language would require us to write, "God wills that everyone obeys Gods will."

REQUIREMENTS

1. Readings. The required texts are: Online Bookstore
   
   Thou Are That: Transforming Religious Metaphor by Joseph Campbell. New World Library (2001). ISBN13: 9781577312024 ISBN: 1577312023
   
   A Short Introduction to Hermeneutics by David Jasper. Westminster John Knox Press (2004). ISBN13: 9780664227517 ISBN: 0664227511
   
   

2. Conferences. Students may schedule no more than two Internet conferences between the student and the professor. These should be scheduled as necessary by the student. Of course, students may ask questions of the professor at any time by sending an E-mail to the address at the link above or by posting them to the message board.

3. Exams. There will be no exams in this course.

4. Papers.There will be a short paper of at least two single-spaced pages or 1,250 words (not counting end-notes and bibliography), due at the end of each week=s readings in which students will answer the discussion questions and give a reaction to their readings. There is a mid-term paper due of between 1500 and 2500 words. These papers are to be e-mailed to the professor. Those who do not feel comfortable with e-mailing the papers can contact the professor for a mailing address. Papers should conform to the form and style outlined in Kate L. Turabian=s "A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations," 6th ed. Students should use end notes instead of footnotes. Finally, the papers are intended to be reflection papers and not research or the "author said" papers. Students should indicate their understanding of the texts and this cannot be done merely by quoting the authors.

5. Grades. Course work will be weighted as follows:
   
   

   Papers	60%
   Midterm Paper	40%

6. Grading Scale
   
   

   90 - 100%	A - Excellent
   80 - 89%	B - Above Average
   70 - 79%	C - Average
   60 - 69%	D - Below Average
   59% or below	F - Failing Grade

   
   
   A = Clearly stands out as excellent performance. Has unusually sharp insight into material and initiates thoughtful questions. Sees many sides of an issue. Articulates well and writes logically and clearly. Integrates ideas previously learned from this and other disciplines. Anticipates next steps in progression of ideas.
   
   B = Grasps subject matter at a level considered to be good to very good. Is an active listener and participant in chats, message boards, e-mails and conferences. Speaks and writes well. Accomplishes more than the minimum requirements. Work is of high quality.
   
   C = Demonstrates a satisfactory comprehension of the subject matter. Accomplishes only the minimum requirements, and displays little or no initiative. Communicates at an acceptable level for a college student. Has a generally acceptable understanding of all basic concepts.
   
   D = Quality and quantity of work is below average and barely acceptable.
   
   F = Quality and quantity of work is unacceptable.

WEEK ONE

Read Lecture One, “A Healthy Hermeneutics.” Read Jasper Introduction through the end of Chapter Five.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Prepare an outline of this week’s readings.
2. Do you think that it is possible to read the Bible “like any other book”? Think very carefully about this. Why should the Bible, written in human languages, be understood or treated differently than say, the writings of Shakespeare or Dante?

WEEK TWO

Read Jasper Chapter Six to the end of the book.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. “John Caputo now regards hermeneutics as merely an attempt to stick with the original difficulty and confusion of life without seeking resolution or meaning in the chaos.” (p. 99) Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain your answer.
2. What does “postmodern” mean in hermeneutics?
3. In what ways do you think that computers, the Internet, and information technology are affecting the hermeneutical questions we have been wrestling with in this book?” [Jasper p. 118]

WEEK THREE

Read Campbell Foreword through end of Chapter One.

Mid-Term Paper

You are to write a coherent essay of between 1500 and 2500 words in proper APA or Turabian format in which you answer the following questions:

1. Do you notice a difference between how Jasper approaches hermeneutics and how Campbell does? Please explain your answer.
2. Three sisters hear the call of the wild and began a trek from the West Indies that lands them in Dallas, Texas via Louisiana. All goes well until the elder sister begins to complain of demon possession. According to their religion, the only way to exorcize the elder sister is to pluck out her eyes. This is a ghastly task and the younger sisters are not physicians. However, to save their sister, they pluck out her eyes. Unfortunately, the sisters botch the job and the elder is taken to the hospital and a real physician calls the police. The Chief of Police knows you are taking a religion course so she calls you on the telephone seeking your professional advice as the lawyers can't help.
• a. You interview the sisters and tell them that Voodoo is not tolerated in Texas. One of the sisters respond, “We are not members of Voodoo, we are Christians! Matthew 5:29-30 command us to do what we did.”
• b. What kind, if any, of hermeneutics are the sisters employing?
• c. What advice would you give the Chief of Police (Try to treat this as a hermeneutical problem and not a question of ethics or law.)?
• d. What advice might you give the sisters on their hermeneutics?

WEEK FOUR

Read Campbell Chapter II through the end of Chapter IV.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Campbell writes on page 19 of his text, “That is why, to appreciate the language of religion, which is metaphorical, one must constantly distinguish the denotation, or concrete fact, from the connotation, or transcendent message.” What do you understand Campbell to mean by this statement? Do you agree/disagree? Explain.
2. According to Campbell, the “prime religious problem of the day” is that symbols “are chronically misread.” What do you understand Campbell to mean by this statement? Do you agree/disagree? Explain your answer.
3. What is a symbol that Campbell says is misread? What symbol do you think is “chronically misread”?

WEEK FIVE

Read Campbell Chapter V through the end.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What is the difference between a creedal and an ethnic religion? Give some examples of each.
2. What is the difference between a legend and a myth?
3. Campbell writes at page 97, there is “no place in our cosmology today for either Mary or Jesus to have gone when they ascended.” What do you understand Campbell to mean by this statement? What does it say about one’s system of hermeneutics?