Unit rationale, description and aim
In this unit participants will be provided with an opportunity to explore hermeneutical approaches to reading the Bible which enable the world of the modern reader to enter into the world of the biblical text. Participants will examine critical and reflexive forms of biblical interpretation that open up possibilities for meaning-making around the biblical message in and for our contemporary world. This unit supports participants to to interpret biblical texts in light of their own experience and their contemporary context.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Identify contemporary hermeneutical approaches to ...
Learning Outcome 01
Utilize hermeneutical approaches to interpret bibl...
Learning Outcome 02
Evaluate the impact of hermeneutical approaches to...
Learning Outcome 03
Content
Topics will include:
- The Bible in the Catholic tradition;
- The role of the reader in the interpretation of biblical texts;
- Theoretical and theological approaches to biblical hermeneutical interpretation;
- Processes for engaging hermeneutically with the Bible;
- The conditions for creating interpretive communities;
- Interpreting difficult biblical texts, ‘texts of terror’
Assessment strategy and rationale
In order to pass this unit, you are required to undertake all assessment tasks and achieve an overall grade of Pass (50% or higher).
Task 1 asks you to identify your social location and to explain its significance for how you read the Bible. This formative task is designed to build your self-awareness of the context through which you make meaning of the Bible in order to inform your interpretive lens for the rest of the unit.
Task 2 asks you to interpret a biblical passage using a defined hermeneutical approach. The task allows you to assess your capacity to interpret the Bible hermeneutically.
Task 3 invites you to investigate the significance and impact of approaching the Bible hermeneutically in your own context. The task is designed to allow you to integrate theory and practice through study, action, analysis and reflection.
Overview of assessments
Contextual analysis
Contextual analysis
10%
Hermeneutical analysis of a selected biblical pas...
Hermeneutical analysis of a selected biblical passage
40%
Written assignment, e.g. research essay, action r...
Written assignment, e.g. research essay, action research project, class learning design
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit is normally offered in two modes:
1) Attendance mode, undertaken over a sequence of two-day face-to-face intensives (4 days in total). During these face-to-face learning opportunities, participants will learn with and from the teaching team and each other through critical reading, analysis, discussion, dialogue, workshops and reflection.
2) Online scheduled mode that includes class activities are held online, at scheduled times, and will require some attendance to enable online interaction. Activities will appear in a student’s timetable.
Participants are asked to engage critically with current approaches to biblical hermeneutical interpretation, and to examine the significance of these approaches both theoretically and practically for the context in which they might lead learning in the study of the Bible. THBS606 positions the participants as active partners in the learning process. Participants in this unit are recognized as adult learners who develop deep understanding when their learning is relevant to them and connected to the context in which they lead others to learn. Participants are thus expected to accept responsibility for their own learning in this unit. Active engagement with, and contribution to, the learning of others is essential throughout the unit.