Church, Culture and Hermeneutics I - Identity and Belonging

Church, Culture and Hermeneutics I – Identity and Belonging

Semester 1

Day Class

This unit explores the role of culture as a hermeneutical tool and its impact upon the way we be the church. Students will be equiped with skills in reading and understanding culture, as well as understanding basic skills in biblical hermeneutics. Students will reflect upon their own hermeneutical practice and respond to questions of communal identity, belonging, and intercultural and intergenerational community life. This unit will invite guests from among church leaders to contribute to the conversation had in class.

Code

DP0161W

Level

Undergraduate Diploma

Discipline

Pastoral Theology and Ministry (DP)

Field

Theology: Mission and Ministry (D)

Prerequisites

Nil

Faculty

Siu Fung Wu, Andy Mitchell view profile >

Class Time

5-day intensive block

Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this unit, it is expected that students will be able to:
1. Utilise basic skills in hermeneutics.
2. Apply selected theories of culture into specific contexts.
3. Discuss a cultural hermeneutic at work in a personal faith based context.
Assessment
- Five 150-word journal entries on a specified theme (750 words) (25%)
- 15-minute class presentation (1,000 words) (30%)
- One reflection (1,500 words) (45%)
Recommended reading
Set texts recommended for purchase are highlighted in blue
- Chan, Simon. Grassroots Asian Theology: Thinking the Faith from the Ground Up. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2014.
- Foster, Tim. Suburban Captivity of the Church. Moreland, VIC: Acorn Press, 2014.
- Jeung, Russell. At Home in Exile: Finding Jesus among My Ancestors and Refugee Neighbors. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016.
- Lee, Hak Joon, ed. Intersecting Realities: Race, Identity, and Culture in the Spiritual-Moral Life of Young Asian Americans. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2018.
- Maggay, Melba Padilla. Global Kingdom, Global People: Living Faithfully in a Multicultural World. Cumbria, CA: Langham, 2017
- Mburu, Elizabeth. African Hermeneutics. Cumbria, CA: Langham, 2019.
- McCaulley, Esau. Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2020.
- Rah, Soong-Chan. Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church. Chicago: IL: Moody, 2010.
- Richards, E. Randolph and Brandon J. O’Brien. Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2012.
- Shin, Sarah. Beyond Colorblind: Redeeming Our Ethnic Journey. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2017.
- Woodley, Randy. Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012.
- Yoder, Laura S Meitzner, ed. Living Radical Discipleship. Cumbria, CA: Langham, 2021.

Church, Culture and Hermeneutics I – Identity and Belonging

Learning outcomes

Assessment

Recommended reading

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