Tasks

Class preparation. You must read or view material for class discussions (Bible Project videos, Bible reading, our NT survey, etc.) before class. Bring up misunderstandings in class. You should stay caught up on your chosen book. Assignments draw on lectures, readings, and discussions, so you are accountable soon anyway. Don't fall behind!

Reading: (BTW, I buy most of my books used on eBay, where they're often cheaper than used on Amazon)

• The Holy Bible. ESV, NIV, or NLT preferred. NASB, RSV, or NRSV just fine. KJV, NKJV, TNIV acceptable. Message, Passion not acceptable for class purposes even if they're fine in other contexts. Others and non-English translations okay by permission.
• Mark Allan Powell, Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey, Baker. Either edition is okay.
• Steve Addison, What Jesus Started: Joining the Movement Changing the World, InterVarsity.
• Either Lesslie Newbigin, A Walk through the Bible, Regent, or Bible Project overview videos for Old Testament (OT) and New (NT).
• Selected shorter readings, on Canvas or linked from schedule.
• Potentially, one of the following. Choose one that interests you:
  Neil Anderson with Hyatt Moore, In Search of the Source: A First Encounter with God’s Word, Multnomah.
  Richard Bauckham, ed., The Gospels for All Christians, Eerdmans.
  Holly Beers, A Week In the Life of a Greco-Roman Woman, IVP.
  Richard Hays, Reading Backwards, Baylor.
  Michael S. Heiser, The Bible Unfiltered: Approaching Scripture on Its Own Terms, Lexham.
  Craig R. Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things, Eerdmans.
  Esau McCaulley, Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope, IVP.
  J. Richard Middleton, A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology, Baker.
  Preston Sprinkle et al., Two Views on Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church, Zondervan.
  Andy Stanley, Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World, Zondervan.
  N.T. Wright, The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is, IVP.

Videos (uBlock Origin is a good ad blocker):

• The Bible Project's summaries of each biblical book (the old, longer black-and-white ones).
• Online Lectures (YouTube playlist here): surveys and analyses of the New Testament writings, for you to consider in light of the primary biblical sources you're discovering and other secondary sources.

Examinations (~35% total). We will have two midterms and one final exam covering mainly the last finished unit.

Active participation (~30%). Participation is qualitative as well as quantitative, and is not just awarded proportionately. The word 'attendance' is related to the word 'attention': If you're passive, off-topic, or checked out, you aren't participating or attending. IRL, if you miss a day of work every week, or just show up and sit at your desk doing nothing, you don't get 80% of your pay; you lose your job.

If you miss a class because of illness or an unavoidable conflict, look for students who also missed that class and find a time to have the discussion together. It's not the same as being there, but it's closer.

Read or watch assigned material before class in the order specified on the schedule. Assignments and tests draw on these sources as we have processed them in and out of class rather than just measuring your recall of the content.

Some students think they'll do fine coming to class unprepared to draft on fellow students or only reviewing the lecture outlines. In-class participation, test scores, written assignment scores, and final grades do not support that hypothesis. Capiche?

Mentoring. Our topic is intrinsically relational: "what you have heard ... entrust to faithful [people], who will be able to teach others also" (2 Tim 2:2 ESV). You will identify someone for whom you are an IRL influencer—a younger sibling, a peer, a teammate—to mentor, duckling-discipleship style. This primarily involves teaching them how to discover as well as mentor others. (David Watson: "mentors make mentors.") I do not set the agenda for your relationship; God and you do. You should also lean in to a mentor of your own—a parent, teacher, coach, older sibling, etc., preferably from outside college who already influences you—and seek to discover more truly and equip yourself as a duckling.

Multiplication. The New Testament is intrinsically missional: "freely you have received; freely give" (Matt 10:8 NIV). Begin a discovery Bible study (DBS) in a group of your own that includes people not in our class. You have four great options: (1) The 'creation to Christ' sequence (on the Waha app) is used among disciple-makers worldwide in introducing new audiences to the Bible's grand story. (2) Lists of six-week 'story sets' (relevant Bible passages) are here for you to use. (3) The '7 Journeys' story sets in Roy Moran's book Spent Matches are on Canvas. Your groups are of course welcome to continue with different topics, and I encourage you not to give up meeting together (Hebrews 10:24–25) after the semester. (4) Weekly, one of the DBS passages assigned on the schedule.

Group choice of a DBS passage from the Gospels. You will coalesce into groups of 3-5 students for in-class discussions and DBSs, and ask each group will get to choose one passage for everyone to DBS when we get to the Gospels at the end of the semester.

Do-and-tell or testimony. I'd love students to give three-minute updates sometime in the semester on what you are doing in outside discovery groups, duckling relationships, or learning through engaging the biblical texts.

Office hour appointment. I consider time spent with a student in person a much better investment for both of us than the same time spent writing comments on an assignment that may never be read. So I encourage (but do not require) you to meet with me one-on-one, or with the rest of your usual discussion group, at least once during the semester during my office hours. We can get to know each other better, address concerns, tailor the course to your particular interests and needs, and extend what you are learning. Make an appointment over Google Calendar. If you forget your appointment, just apologize and make a new one. If I cancel your appointment unilaterally, please accept my apologies, and make a new one.

I have no agenda for these appointments, but common questions you could think about beforehand include

How is the course going for you?
How are things in your DBS's, your duckling relationships, and so on?
Do you have comments, criticisms, objections, or questions about specific topics, texts, or class sessions?
How is your faith?
Have a question about interpretation of a particular Bible passage?
How is it here for you at Westmont right now?
Can I help you with any upcoming assignments?
Are there theological issues you would like to chase down on your own with additional reading or alternative assignments?
Do you have thoughts or questions about disciple-making, future work in ministry, theology, religious studies, or other majors?

I especially encourage office-hour visits if you are feeling discouraged by test results, committed to passing on what you are discovering and starting discovery groups, intimidated or overwhelmed by the material, or unsure in your faith.

Short written exercises (~35% of your grade total) (submitted on Canvas): These will help you reflect on course activities and material to increase their fruitfulness. You choose a number of these from the available options you will find linked from the schedule. Descriptions are on Canvas. Submit at least three of the following:

• either do-and-tell report or new discovery group report (they are similar)
• one of the following:
  • ducklings' (guidance/'mentoring') Bible report
  • NT in prayer, worship, reflection report
  • either Bible in life report or stereoscopic Bible log
• one of the following:
  • an exercise or report on the optional book you're reading
  • the Bible's character as scripture and canon
  • close reading of a passage in Revelation
  • culturally informed interpretation of 1/2 Corinthians
  • Old Testament in the New
  • tracing Paul's thinking
  • the powers in Colossians and Ephesians
  • reflection on 13 Letters
  • reflection on a synoptic gospel passage

They have no formal length requirements; if you insist, aim for roughly 1000 words. They of course require proper citation and quotation of any sources you draw on, the absence of which is academic dishonesty. Do not use any AI tools, which constitute academic dishonesty and will shortcut your learning process.

Let me anticipate the inevitable question: "What are you looking for?" I'm not looking for a command performance; I'm looking for you to have done what the assignment asks you to do. That will involve substantive engagement with the course material, primarily scripture and also both lectures and readings. I'm looking for signs you are really wrestling with and assimilating the course concepts.

Many of my assignments include practical aspects, especially applying/obeying and sharing. Here are two common ways many students miss:

• Academically proficient students who are locked into traditional academic writing don't do or share that well. They talk about what it would look like, because they have adapted well to the theoretical nature of so much school work. But I want to know what i did look like!
• Students who find academics a challenge often clutter up their answers trying to sound academically proficient, and then ignore the very clear questions they would rather avoid than answer. I just wanted to know what happened when you acted on what you learned, as clearly as you can tell me.

It's the earnest students who cut through playing or faking the academic game and just answer the questions that triumph, because they are motivated to learn and act on it. Whatever your academic aptitude or experience, be like them and you'll do better.

A follow-up question, less often stated, is "Why are you making us do this?" It's a good question; I've dropped a lot of questions where the answer wasn't compelling enough. Each assignment is crafted with an aspiration that's mentioned in its prompt. That's what I'm after.

I keep using the word exercise, to help counter the high-school baggage associated with 'essay,' 'assignment,' 'writing,' 'paper,' and the like. These exercises are like problem sets, meant to give you practice working with the stuff. So just exercise! Write them in sweats or yoga pants if it helps.

Assignments are due on the date listed in the schedule.

The following are guidelines to give you an idea of how I will be evaluating these. But please please bear in mind the 'college value paradox' I will describe, in which some of the highest-level performance, while good and fruitful and a proper part of a college education, can actually be much less fruitful in the long run than basics.

• Consistently excellent quality (something like "A"): all assignments complete, on time, full responses to question(s), uses sources broadly and appropriately, demonstrates unusually insightful or sophisticated grasp of the material, well written.
• High quality (like "B+"): complete, on time, full responses, uses sources broadly and appropriately, demonstrates sound and sophisticated knowledge of the material, well written.
• Consistently good quality (~"B-"): complete, generally on time, adequate responses, works with sources, demonstrates basic knowledge of the material, mediocre writing (some grammatical and spelling errors).
• Acceptable (~"C"): basic grasp and application of the material, but occasionally missing or late assignments, repeated failure to do what is assigned (e.g., not using sources well enough, tangential topics), poor understanding or misunderstanding of more complex concepts, or poor writing.
• Poor (~"D"): somewhat incomplete, generally late, consistent failure to do what is assigned, poor or no grasp of the concepts.
• Inadequate (~"F"): largely incomplete, failure to do what is assigned, or academic dishonesty.