Exegesis New Testament: Acts of the Apostles

Course Objective 

After the completion of this module, you comply with the following course objectives, following the so-called Dublin-descriptors: 

• You have developed knowledge, understanding and competencies in the scholarly study of the New Testament writings, in particular the Acts of the Apostles (Dublin descriptor 1: knowledge and understanding); 
• You are thoroughly acquainted with the various scholarly tools, methods and interpretative strategies for the study of the Acts of the Apostles (Dublin descriptor 1: knowledge and understanding); 
• You are competent to conduct independent scholarly research on a passage from the Acts of the Apostles, with the aid of the relevant exegetical and scholarly tools and within a limited amount of time (Dublin 2: applying knowledge and understanding); 
• You are competent to analyze, evaluate and interact with recent developments in contemporary research know how to integrate these, where possible and relevant, into a larger (multidisciplinary) frame of reference (Dublin descriptor 3: making judgements); 
• You know to communicate your findings to the professional community and praxis (Dublin descriptor 4: communication); 
• You are aware of the complexities of “understanding” (or not-understanding) ancient texts such as the book of Acts [hermeneutic gap, text, author, reader, community, context, effective history (Wirkungsgeschichte), etc.] and you are able to deal with this professionally (Dublin descriptor 5: learning skills). 

Course Content 

This exegetical course is part of the Conflicting Identities in Early Christianity research group of our Faculty. The book of Acts (also called The Acts of the Apostles) is about tensions of an emerging religious movement – from an early group of Jesus followers in the early decades of first-century Palestine to more organized Christian communities all over the Roman empire later on. From a literary perspective, it is a story full of adventure. Acts includes travel narratives, riots and local conflicts, prison escapes, sea voyages and shipwrecks. Spectacular things happen: from a skyride into heaven (the Ascension), and a mass-happening with wind and fire (Pentecost) to supernatural healings, exorcisms, and many other miraculous events. It is a book about preaching, community-building, hospitality and above all, it is about identity, an identity-in-the-making and a contested identity. From a historical perspective, it is one of the few sources that tell us about the earliest stages of the early Christian movement. Narrated from a “Lukan” perspective, questions have been raised about the way the author portrays the early community (too idealistic?), and how he portrays Paul’s theology (a misrepresentation?). Theologically, it contains a universal message of salvation but also demonstrations of divine wrath (Judas, Annanias and Sapphira, Herod) and punishment (Simon Magus, Bar-Jesus, sons of Sceva), which to many contemporary readers raise theological and ethical questions. Finally, the book of Acts is about religious conflicts and social pressures, and defining, redefining and broadening social and religious boundaries. In this course, selected passages of Acts will be exegeted with the help of current scholarly research tools, with a view to academic, professional and societal questions. The focus will be on the exegesis of Acts 1 and 2, which set the tone for the entire book and in which a number of these issues play a role. 

Additional Information Teaching Methods 

Educational approach: Class instructions, exegetical assignments, independent research and literature study, presentations of work in progress, feedback sessions, guest lecture (provisional), paper. 

Classes are mandatory; meetings will not be recorded. Only in exceptional cases (e.g. students working from abroad) online participation will be allowed. 

Study load: This course has a study load of 168 hours (6 EC). The aim of the exercise is to get the job done within the limited number of hours available for this module (anticipating on the unruly professional practice, in which you will also have to plan your activities closely and you cannot delve endlessly into a certain subject). So keep a close eye on your schedule! The study load is calculated as follows: 

• Classroom lectures (12 x 2 hrs.) 24 hours 
• Classroom preparation (research stage) (12 x 4 hrs.) 48 hours 
• Reading of Acts in a modern translation (report) 6 hours 
• Presentation of work in progress (including preparation) 6 hours 
• Final assignment (productive stage) 84 hours