Course Catalog

BL 610 · Biblical Textual Criticism and Manuscript Traditions
Examines the history, theory, and practice of biblical textual criticism across the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Students study textual transmission and scribal practices, critical editions and apparatuses, the Masoretic tradition, Dead Sea Scroll evidence, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint and other relevant ancient versions, New Testament manuscript traditions, and significant patterns of textual variation. Emphasis is placed on evaluating internal and external evidence, comparing competing readings, using critical tools responsibly, and developing reasoned textual judgments where variation materially affects interpretation. Prerequisite: HB 540 or GK 540, according to concentration; dual-concentration students complete both.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BRS 801 · Advanced Biblical Research Methodology
Introduces the methods and practices required for independent advanced research in biblical studies. Students learn to define significant research problems, formulate precise research questions and theses, establish the state of scholarship through critical literature review, identify and evaluate primary and secondary evidence, assess scholarly arguments, and design research appropriate to a defined problem. The course develops advanced use of bibliographic databases, research systems, and digital tools, including responsible and verifiable use of AI-assisted research technologies. Particular attention is given to source evaluation, citation integrity, argument construction, and the movement from research question to publishable scholarship. Students complete a substantial article-quality research paper.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BRS 803 · History of Biblical Scholarship and Interpretation
Examines the historical development of biblical interpretation and scholarship from ancient Jewish and Christian exegesis through medieval and Reformation interpretation, Renaissance philology, Enlightenment criticism, the rise of historical-critical scholarship, modern German biblical research, literary and social-scientific approaches, canonical interpretation, reception history, ideological criticism, and contemporary global and interdisciplinary developments. Particular attention is given to the intellectual, theological, cultural, and institutional assumptions that shaped major interpreters, methods, and scholarly debates. Students learn to trace the development of a research problem across periods of scholarship and to evaluate how earlier interpretive traditions continue to influence contemporary biblical research.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BRS 805 · Advanced Primary-Text Seminar I
Develops research-level competence in the linguistic and philological investigation of primary texts appropriate to the student's concentration. Hebrew Bible / Old Testament students undertake advanced analysis of Biblical Hebrew prose and poetry, lexical semantics, syntax, discourse, linguistic variation, inscriptions, and relevant comparative Semitic evidence. New Testament / Early Christianity students undertake advanced analysis of Koine Greek, lexical semantics, syntax, discourse, linguistic variation, Septuagintal and Jewish Greek, documentary papyri, inscriptions, and related Greco-Roman textual evidence. Emphasis is placed on evaluating linguistic evidence, using technical research resources critically, and developing defensible arguments from primary-text data. Students complete substantial primary-text analyses and a research project centered on linguistic or philological evidence.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BRS 810 · Textual Criticism and Manuscript Evidence
Examines the theory and practice of biblical textual criticism through the study of manuscript traditions, textual witnesses, scribal practices, transmission history, and critical editions. Hebrew Bible / Old Testament students engage the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint, Samaritan Pentateuch, and other relevant witnesses. New Testament / Early Christianity students engage papyri, majuscules, minuscules, lectionaries, early versions, patristic citations, the Editio Critica Maior, and principles of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method. Emphasis is placed on evaluating competing readings, weighing internal and external evidence, explaining the development of textual variation, and making defensible independent textual judgments. Students complete a textual-critical dossier on a selected passage.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BRS 812 · Hermeneutics and Critical Methods
Examines major hermeneutical and critical approaches used in biblical research, with particular attention to their methodological and epistemological assumptions, evidentiary requirements, interpretive capabilities, and limitations. Approaches considered include historical, source, form, redaction, narrative, rhetorical, discourse, social-scientific, canonical, reception-historical, feminist, postcolonial, ideological, and theological interpretation. Students critically adjudicate among competing methods, evaluate the compatibility and limits of methodological integration, and construct and defend methodological approaches appropriate to unresolved biblical research problems. Emphasis is placed on making explicit and defensible methodological decisions rather than applying methods mechanically. Students complete a comparative methodological study.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BRS 814 · Historical Worlds of the Bible
Examines the methods and evidence used to investigate and reconstruct the historical worlds of biblical texts. Students critically engage literary sources, archaeology and material culture, inscriptions, papyri and documentary evidence, geography, chronology, and relevant comparative ancient sources appropriate to their concentration. Particular attention is given to source provenance and dating, evidentiary weighting, conflicting evidence, analogy and comparison, arguments from silence, historiographical assumptions, and the limits of historical inference. Students learn to distinguish historical context used for interpretation from historical reconstruction as an independent research task and to construct defensible historical arguments from incomplete and uneven evidence. Students complete a substantial historical-reconstruction research project.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BRS 901 · Major Field Seminar
Examines a major field within the student's concentration through intensive engagement with its primary texts, history of scholarship, major research questions, current debates, methodological issues, and specialized secondary literature. Seminar topics vary by cohort and may include major corpora or research areas within Hebrew Bible / Old Testament or New Testament / Early Christianity. Emphasis is placed on developing broad bibliographic command, critically evaluating representative scholarship, locating unresolved problems within the field, and situating independent research within the larger scholarly conversation. Students complete a substantial research paper suitable for development toward publication.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BRS 903 · Cognate Language or Research Tool
Provides advanced training in an additional language or technical research tool selected according to the student's concentration, specialization, and anticipated dissertation needs. Approved areas may include Aramaic, Akkadian, Ugaritic, Syriac, Latin, Coptic, advanced Septuagint Greek, epigraphy, papyrology, corpus linguistics, digital textual analysis, or another research tool approved for the student's field. Emphasis is placed on developing sufficient competence to locate, interpret, evaluate, and employ evidence from the selected language or technical field in independent biblical research. The specific content and research product vary according to the approved area of study.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BRS 905 · Research Seminar in Specialization
Provides intensive research in a specialized area within the student's concentration, normally related to the student's developing research interests. Students engage the area's primary evidence, specialized bibliography, history of scholarship, major debates, methodological problems, and unresolved research questions at advanced research depth. Emphasis is placed on achieving command of a narrowly defined scholarly conversation, identifying opportunities for original contribution, and conducting independent research capable of advancing that conversation. The seminar may contribute to the development of the student's eventual dissertation area but does not require commitment to a dissertation topic. Students complete a substantial specialization research project.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BRS 910 · Interdisciplinary Research Elective
Provides advanced study in a cognate discipline outside the student's immediate biblical specialization. Approved areas may include linguistics, literary theory, archaeology, ancient historiography, classics, Jewish studies, anthropology, sociology of religion, philosophy of language, digital humanities, manuscript studies, reception history, or another field relevant to the student's research. Emphasis is placed on understanding the discipline's major concepts, methods, evidentiary practices, and scholarly debates and on evaluating how its approaches may be responsibly integrated into biblical research. The specific content and research product vary according to the approved field of study.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BRS 912 · Scholarly Publication, Teaching, and the Academic Profession
Prepares advanced research students for professional scholarly communication, publication, teaching, and participation in the academic community. Students examine the processes of selecting appropriate journals and conferences, preparing and submitting manuscripts and proposals, responding to peer review, revising scholarly work for publication, and observing research and publication ethics. The course also introduces principles of effective postsecondary teaching in biblical studies, including course design, learning outcomes, assessment, and responsible use of primary texts and scholarship in instruction. Attention is given to conference participation, professional societies, scholarly collaboration, academic service, and the development of a sustainable research and publication agenda. Students prepare scholarly and professional materials suitable for use beyond the course.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BRS 914 · Dissertation Colloquium: Prospectus Development
Guides students in the development and defense of the formal dissertation prospectus. Under faculty supervision, students refine a significant and feasible research problem, formulate the central research question and thesis or working hypothesis, establish the state of scholarship, define the primary-source corpus, justify the proposed methodology, articulate the anticipated original contribution, and develop the structure and timetable for the dissertation. Students prepare a formal prospectus including an annotated research bibliography, chapter outline, and feasibility assessment and defend the proposed project before faculty and peers.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BRS 950 · Dissertation Research I
Conducts the first sustained phase of dissertation research under faculty supervision. Students execute the approved research plan through concentrated investigation of relevant primary and secondary evidence, establish and maintain an organized research archive, refine the dissertation bibliography and chapter architecture as the evidence requires, and begin sustained dissertation writing. Regular dissertation workshops provide structured opportunities for research reporting, scholarly critique, problem solving, and revision. By the conclusion of the course, students complete a substantive dissertation chapter for faculty review.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 6

BRS 951 · Dissertation Research II
Continues sustained dissertation research and writing under faculty supervision. Students extend the dissertation argument through additional substantive chapters, revise previously completed work in response to scholarly critique, and evaluate the coherence of the developing dissertation across chapters, evidence, methodology, and conclusions. Students also adapt a significant portion of the dissertation research for journal publication and present work in progress in the research colloquium for critical discussion.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 6

BRS 960 · Dissertation Writing and Revision
Guides students through the completion and substantive revision of the full dissertation manuscript under faculty supervision. Emphasis is placed on strengthening the coherence of the central argument, chapter architecture, historiographical engagement, use of evidence, methodological consistency, citation and documentation, scholarly prose, and the relationship between individual chapters and the dissertation as a whole. Students participate in a structured writing group for critical review and revision and consider how portions of the completed research may be developed for future publication. By the conclusion of the course, a complete dissertation draft is submitted for Academic Board review.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BRS 961 · Dissertation Defense and Publication
Guides students through the final review, defense, revision, and scholarly dissemination of the dissertation. Students prepare to explain and defend the dissertation's research problem, methodology, evidence, argument, conclusions, limitations, and original contribution before the Academic Board. Following the defense, students complete any revisions required by the Board and submit the final approved dissertation. The course also guides students in developing a publication strategy for extending dissertation research into appropriate scholarly venues.

Program: Biblical Research & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BS 510 · Foundations of Biblical Exegesis and Hermeneutics
Introduces the principles and processes of disciplined biblical exegesis. Students examine the relationships among text, author, audience, language, historical setting, literary context, genre, canon, interpreter, and interpretation while developing a structured process for moving from textual observation and evidence to defensible conclusions. Topics include grammatical-historical interpretation, lexical analysis, literary structure, genre, intertextuality, interpretive assumptions and bias, and the distinction among observation, evidence, inference, interpretation, and application. Students apply these principles to representative biblical texts and learn to identify, document, and evaluate the evidence supporting interpretive claims.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BS 610 · Critical Methods in Biblical Interpretation
Examines major critical methods used in biblical interpretation and the assumptions, questions, evidence, strengths, and limitations associated with each. Students study historical, source, form, redaction, tradition, literary, narrative, rhetorical, canonical, intertextual, social-scientific, reader-oriented, reception-oriented, ideological, and representative contemporary approaches. Emphasis is placed on comparing methods through shared textual problems, determining which methods are appropriate to particular interpretive questions, recognizing the limits of the conclusions each method can support, and defending method selection on evidentiary rather than merely preferential grounds. Prerequisite: BS 510.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

BS 690 · Exegetical Thesis/Capstone
Culminates the program in a substantial independent original-language exegetical investigation. Students design and execute a focused research project integrating textual establishment, language analysis, historical and cultural contextualization, appropriate interpretive methodology, relevant primary sources, critical scholarship, competing interpretations, sustained argument, and conclusions proportionate to the evidence. An approved prospectus precedes full research. The completed project must demonstrate independent control of the exegetical process and is defended in an online oral examination. Prerequisite: OT 610 or NT 610, according to concentration; dual-concentration students complete both.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

EC 500 · Historical Method, Historiography, and Source Criticism
Governing question: How do we know what we claim to know about early Christianity? Establishes the methodological foundation for historical study of early Christianity. Students reconstruct the past from incomplete and uneven evidence by evaluating provenance, dating, authorship, genre, transmission, dependence and independence, corroboration, bias, polemic, silence, probability, retrospective interpretation, legal evidence, material evidence, historiographical categories, claims of cultural derivation, and research tools.

Program: Early Christianity: Apostolic–Post-Nicene · Credits: 3

EC 501 · Second Temple Judaism and the Jewish World of Early Christianity
Examines the history, literature, institutions, beliefs, practices, and diversity of Judaism during the Second Temple period as essential context for the interpretation of the New Testament and earliest Christianity. Students engage relevant Jewish primary sources, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagintal and related literature, apocalyptic and wisdom texts, Josephus, Philo, and other evidence for Jewish life and thought. Topics include Torah and interpretation, temple and priesthood, synagogue, Jewish groups and movements, purity, covenant, eschatology, messianism, resurrection, apocalyptic expectation, diaspora Judaism, and Jewish interaction with Hellenistic and Roman culture. Emphasis is placed on recognizing the diversity of Second Temple Judaism and using Jewish contextual evidence responsibly in the interpretation of early Christian texts.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

EC 510 · Jewish Worlds and the Origins of the Jesus Movement
Governing question: What Jewish worlds made the emergence of the Jesus movement historically intelligible? Examines the diverse Jewish worlds of the late Second Temple period as the historical matrix of the Jesus movement. Topics include Torah, temple, synagogue, purity, covenant, Jewish groups, messianism, apocalypticism, resurrection, diaspora Judaism, Hellenistic and Roman contexts, and political catastrophe. The course establishes the Jewish baseline for assessing later continuity, differentiation, and transformation.

Program: Early Christianity: Apostolic–Post-Nicene · Credits: 3

EC 520 · Jesus and the Jewish Origins of the Christian Movement
Governing question: How should Jesus and the earliest movement associated with him be understood within first-century Judaism? Examines Jesus and the earliest communities formed around his followers within first-century Jewish contexts. Students distinguish the historical Jesus, the earliest Jewish Jesus movement, and later Christian memory; evaluate Gospel and comparative evidence; and investigate Torah, temple, kingdom, restoration, messianism, Gentiles, crucifixion, resurrection belief, and Jerusalem leadership.

Program: Early Christianity: Apostolic–Post-Nicene · Credits: 3

EC 530 · Paul, the Gentile Mission, and the Reconfiguration of Jewish Identity
Governing question: How did uncircumcised Gentile inclusion challenge, preserve, and reconfigure covenant, Torah, ethnicity, Israel, and communal belonging? Examines Paul as a Jewish apostle to Gentiles and his letters as principal evidence for pressures created by Gentile incorporation. Topics include circumcision, Torah, Abraham, Israel, table fellowship, idolatry, mixed communities, ethnicity, Jerusalem and Antioch, and later reception of Paul. Paul is situated within the wider process of Gentile expansion.

Program: Early Christianity: Apostolic–Post-Nicene · Credits: 3

EC 540 · Apostolic Christianity: Beliefs, Communities, and Practice
Governing question: What did apostolic and earliest post-apostolic Christianity look like before the major later transformations? Reconstructs apostolic and earliest post-apostolic beliefs, practices, worship, ethics, authority structures, mission, community forms, and diversity. Students examine Jewish and Gentile adherents, Scripture and emerging Christian texts, baptism, communal meals and Eucharistic practice, prayer, fasting, prophecy, moral formation, households, leadership, and initiation. The course establishes a baseline for later comparison.

Program: Early Christianity: Apostolic–Post-Nicene · Credits: 3

EC 550 · The Parting of the Ways? Jews, Christians, and Contested Identities
Governing question: How, when, where, and in what respects did Jewish and Christian communities become distinguishable religious identities? Examines competing models for Jewish-Christian differentiation. Students distinguish demographic, ritual, institutional, theological, legal, social, and discursive forms of separation; test multiple historiographical models; and evaluate regional variation. Particular attention is given to Jewish identity and practice among followers of Jesus, problematic labels, synagogue evidence, polemic, material culture, and lived interaction.

Program: Early Christianity: Apostolic–Post-Nicene · Credits: 3

EC 560 · Israel's Scriptures, Christian Texts, and the Formation of Christian Identity
Governing question: How did early Christians retain and reinterpret Israel's Scriptures while developing distinctively Christian textual authorities and identities? Examines the preservation, reinterpretation, and appropriation of Israel's Scriptures within increasingly Gentile Christianity and the parallel emergence of authoritative Christian writings. Topics include Septuagintal traditions, prophecy and fulfillment, Torah, covenant, Israel, Marcion, Justin, Irenaeus, Origen, canon formation, Gospel and Pauline collections, and competing claims to scriptural authority.

Program: Early Christianity: Apostolic–Post-Nicene · Credits: 3

EC 570 · Christianity among the Gentiles: Conversion, Religious Practice, and Transformation
Governing question: How did increasingly Gentile Christian communities negotiate inherited Greco-Roman religious beliefs, practices, institutions, and cultural assumptions? Examines Christianity's transformation within Greco-Roman religious and cultural worlds. Topics include conversion and gradual formation, sacrifice, idolatry, household and civic religion, emperor cult, sacred meals, healing, exorcism, dreams, protective practices, festivals, sacred space, burial, philosophy, rhetoric, asceticism, martyr devotion, holy-person traditions, and monastic forms. The course distinguishes rejection, persistence, adaptation, and legitimation.

Program: Early Christianity: Apostolic–Post-Nicene · Credits: 3

EC 580 · From Diverse Christianities to Orthodoxy: Identity, Authority, and Institutional Transformation
Governing question: How did particular Christian communities, texts, beliefs, practices, and structures of authority become increasingly normative? Examines Christian diversity and the processes by which normative forms acquired increasing authority in the second and third centuries. Topics include contested movements, Jewish identity and practice among followers of Jesus, heresiology, episcopal authority, apostolic succession, rules of faith, canon, ritual, excommunication, interchurch networks, persecution and martyr memory, and regional variation.

Program: Early Christianity: Apostolic–Post-Nicene · Credits: 3

EC 590 · Empire and the Ecumenical Councils: The Transformation of Christian Doctrine and Authority
Governing question: How did imperial patronage, ecumenical councils, conciliar canons, and imperial legislation transform Christian doctrine, authority, identity, and boundary enforcement? Examines Christianity from Constantine through Chalcedon (451), with Nicaea (325), Constantinople I (381), Ephesus (431), and Chalcedon (451) as central case studies. Students analyze doctrinal controversy, episcopal and imperial authority, conciliar procedure and reception, creeds and canons, Donatism, Christian law, religious classification, coercion, and the movement from ecclesiastical norm to legally consequential boundary.

Program: Early Christianity: Apostolic–Post-Nicene · Credits: 3

EC 600 · Jews and Christians in the Post-Nicene World: Separation, Power, and Persistence
Governing question: What became of Jewish-Christian relations when Christianity possessed increasing theological, institutional, cultural, and imperial power? Tests the governing thesis against fourth- and fifth-century evidence. Students examine imperial legislation, conciliar canons, bishops and anti-Jewish rhetoric, Jewish communal life, synagogues, regional variation, continued Jewish identity and practice among followers of Jesus, Christians accused of Judaizing, and persistent social and ritual interaction using literary, legal, archaeological, epigraphic, and material evidence.

Program: Early Christianity: Apostolic–Post-Nicene · Credits: 3

GK 510 · Koine Greek I
Introduces the foundations of Koine Greek for direct engagement with the Greek New Testament and other early Christian texts. Students develop basic competence in Greek morphology, vocabulary, grammar, and syntax while learning to read and analyze increasingly complex forms, clauses, and short passages. Emphasis is placed on accurate recognition of grammatical forms, responsible use of lexical and grammatical resources, and progressive development of reading and translation skills that prepare students for intermediate Greek study.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

GK 520 · Koine Greek II
Continues the development of Koine Greek competence through intermediate study of morphology, grammar, syntax, and vocabulary with increasing emphasis on direct reading of the Greek New Testament. Students analyze increasingly complex verbal and nominal forms, clause and sentence relationships, and grammatical constructions while developing greater fluency in reading and translation. Coursework emphasizes accurate parsing, syntactical analysis, contextual vocabulary use, and responsible use of lexical and grammatical resources in preparation for advanced Greek study. Prerequisite: GK 510.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

GK 530 · Koine Greek III: Advanced Grammar, Syntax, and Semantics
Develops advanced competence in the grammatical, syntactical, and semantic analysis of Koine Greek. Students examine advanced verbal and nominal syntax, clause relationships, word order, lexical semantics, idiom and phraseology, discourse-level features, and representative debates in Greek grammar and linguistics. Emphasis is placed on evaluating competing grammatical and lexical analyses, using advanced grammars and lexicons critically, and determining when linguistic evidence materially constrains translation or interpretation. Students increasingly move beyond identifying forms to explaining how Greek linguistic structures create meaning within literary and discourse contexts. Prerequisite: GK 520.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

GK 540 · Koine Greek IV: Advanced Reading and Textual Analysis
Develops advanced reading and textual-analysis competence in Koine Greek through sustained engagement with representative New Testament and related early Jewish and Christian texts. Students integrate advanced syntax, lexical semantics, idiom and phraseology, discourse organization, literary structure, and genre-sensitive analysis while working directly with critical Greek editions and relevant textual resources. Emphasis is placed on increasingly independent reading, evaluation of linguistic alternatives, and explaining how grammatical, semantic, and discourse features contribute to interpretation across extended textual units. Prerequisite: GK 530.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

HB 510 · Biblical Hebrew I
Introduces the foundations of Biblical Hebrew for direct engagement with the Hebrew Bible. Students develop basic competence in Hebrew morphology, vocabulary, grammar, and syntax while learning to read and analyze increasingly complex forms and short passages from the biblical text. Emphasis is placed on accurate recognition of grammatical forms, responsible use of lexical and grammatical resources, and the gradual development of reading and translation skills that prepare students for intermediate Hebrew study.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

HB 520 · Biblical Hebrew II
Continues the development of Biblical Hebrew competence through expanded study of morphology, grammar, syntax, and vocabulary with increasing emphasis on direct reading of the Hebrew Bible. Students analyze more complex verbal and nominal forms, clause and sentence relationships, and grammatical constructions while developing greater fluency in reading and translation. Coursework emphasizes accurate parsing, syntactical analysis, contextual vocabulary use, and responsible use of lexical and grammatical resources in preparation for advanced Hebrew study. Prerequisite: HB 510.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

HB 530 · Biblical Hebrew III: Advanced Grammar, Syntax, and Semantics
Develops advanced competence in the grammatical, syntactical, and semantic analysis of Biblical Hebrew. Students examine advanced verbal and nominal syntax, clause relationships, word order, lexical semantics, idiom and phraseology, and discourse-level features in representative Hebrew Bible texts. Emphasis is placed on evaluating competing grammatical and lexical analyses, using advanced grammars and lexicons critically, and determining when linguistic evidence materially constrains translation or interpretation. Students increasingly move beyond identifying forms to explaining how Hebrew linguistic structures create meaning within their literary contexts. Prerequisite: HB 520.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

HB 540 · Advanced Biblical Hebrew Reading and Biblical Aramaic
Develops advanced reading competence in Biblical Hebrew while introducing the language and structure of Biblical Aramaic. Students undertake sustained reading of representative Hebrew prose and poetry with continued attention to syntax, semantics, idiom, discourse organization, literary structure, critical editions, and textual variation. The course also introduces Biblical Aramaic through comparison with Hebrew, emphasizing essential morphology, syntax, vocabulary, and the guided reading and analysis of representative Aramaic portions of Ezra and Daniel. Students develop increasing independence in the use of Hebrew and Aramaic lexicons, grammars, and critical textual resources. Prerequisite: HB 530.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

HI 500 · Survey of Hebrew Israelite Doctrines and Claims
Introduces the principal doctrines, identity claims, historical assertions, and competing positions represented across diverse Hebrew Israelite traditions. The course is organized around four major claim categories: Identity, Descent, and Tribal Claims; Covenant, Election, and Torah; Messiah, Salvation, and the Nations; and Prophecy, Captivity, Restoration, and Eschatology. Students distinguish movement-wide ideas from tradition-specific positions, formulate claims precisely, identify the evidence proponents offer, and determine what forms of evidence would be required for later evaluation. The course presents and maps claims without attempting their full adjudication.

Program: Black Hebrew Israelite Theology · Credits: 3

HI 501 · Historical Method and Historiography
Introduces historical reasoning and the methods scholars use to evaluate evidence and reconstruct the past. Topics include historiography, source provenance, dating, authorship, independence and dependence, corroboration, chronology, causation, anachronism, oral tradition, retrospective testimony, arguments from silence, bias and polemic, competing reconstructions, burden of proof, inferential distance, historical probability, and proportional conclusions. Students learn to distinguish possibility, plausibility, probability, strong support, and demonstrated historical conclusions and to apply the same evidentiary principles to competing claims.

Program: Black Hebrew Israelite Theology · Credits: 3

HI 502 · Archaeological, Material, and Population Evidence
Examines the methods used to evaluate archaeological, material, geographical, demographic, and population evidence when such evidence bears on historical identity and descent claims. Students study archaeological context and provenance, dating, stratigraphy at a conceptual level, inscriptions, artifacts, iconography, settlement evidence, maps, historical geography, material culture, migration and ethnogenesis, cultural similarity versus demonstrated contact, population continuity, genealogy, and genetic evidence. Emphasis is placed on distinguishing what each evidence class can establish from conclusions that exceed its evidentiary reach.

Program: Black Hebrew Israelite Theology · Credits: 3

HI 503 · Source and Textual Criticism
Introduces primary-source and manuscript analysis for determining what source or text is actually available for historical and biblical argument. Students examine provenance and dating, authorship and attribution, transmission, textual variants, scribal alteration, interpolation, redaction, source relationships, dependence and independence, textual witnesses, manuscript traditions, ancient versions, quotations and fragments, critical editions, and principles for weighing variant readings. The course applies beyond biblical manuscripts wherever textual primary sources materially bear on a Hebrew Israelite claim.

Program: Black Hebrew Israelite Theology · Credits: 3

HI 504 · Biblical Exegesis and Hermeneutics
Develops disciplined methods for interpreting biblical texts used to support doctrinal, identity, and historical claims. Students analyze historical and literary context, genre, syntax and semantics, author and audience, intertextuality, canonical relationships, theological reasoning, proof-texting, referential questions, prophecy, typology, application, and competing interpretations. Emphasis is placed on distinguishing what a passage says in context, what an interpreter argues from it, what later application is being made, and whether an additional historical or identity conclusion follows from the text.

Program: Black Hebrew Israelite Theology · Credits: 3

HI 505 · Primary-Source Languages and Translation-Sensitive Evidence
Provides focused, claim-specific preparation for evaluating arguments whose evidentiary force depends on wording in ancient primary sources. Students receive guided exposure to relevant Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, and Egyptian-language evidence, with attention to script, transliteration, lexical semantics, grammar, syntax, translation, ancient versions, names, ethnonyms, historical linguistics, and responsible use of lexica, corpora, critical editions, and digital research tools. The course develops functional research competence rather than full reading fluency in multiple ancient languages.

Program: Black Hebrew Israelite Theology · Credits: 3

HI 506 · Identity, Descent, and Tribal Claims: Evidence and Evaluation
Applies the program's methods to Hebrew Israelite claims concerning Israelite identity, descent, continuity, and tribal affiliation. Depending on the claim, students evaluate ancient Israelite identity, Assyrian and Babylonian displacement, diaspora, African population history, Jewish and Israelite traditions in Africa, migration, the Atlantic slave trade, genealogy, oral tradition, historical linguistics, cultural parallels, archaeology, historical geography, genetics, Lost Tribes traditions, and modern tribal-identification systems. Students distinguish presence, contact, influence, ancestry, continuity, and specific tribal identity and develop conclusions proportionate to the evidence supporting each link in a proposed descent chain.

Program: Black Hebrew Israelite Theology · Credits: 3

HI 507 · Covenant, Election, and Torah: Evidence and Evaluation
Evaluates major Hebrew Israelite claims concerning covenant membership, election, ancestry and covenant identity, Israel and Judah, Abrahamic and Sinaitic traditions, Torah obligation, Sabbath, circumcision, dietary law, festivals, new covenant, and related religious practices. Relevant biblical, ancient Israelite, Second Temple, Jewish, and theological evidence is introduced as required by the claims. Students distinguish historical identity from covenant status, covenant membership from covenant faithfulness, and textual obligation from later theological application while comparing competing interpretations.

Program: Black Hebrew Israelite Theology · Credits: 3

HI 508 · Messiah, Salvation, and the Nations: Evidence and Evaluation
Evaluates competing Hebrew Israelite claims concerning Messiah, Yeshua where affirmed, traditions that reject Yeshua, messianic expectations, Christological claims where relevant, salvation and redemption, sin, covenant participation, resurrection, Paul, Gentiles, and the nations. Students examine Hebrew Bible, Second Temple, New Testament, linguistic, historical, and theological evidence according to the authoritative corpus relevant to the claim. Particular attention is given to the identity of Gentiles and dispersed Israelites, Pauline arguments concerning Israel and the nations, and the scope and beneficiaries of salvation.

Program: Black Hebrew Israelite Theology · Credits: 3

HI 509 · Prophecy, Captivity, Restoration, and Eschatology: Evidence and Evaluation
Evaluates Hebrew Israelite claims involving Deuteronomy 28, captivity and slavery, ships and displacement, exile, prophetic curses, restoration, regathering, kingdom, judgment, Israel and the nations, and eschatological expectations. Students distinguish the biblical text, its historical and literary context, the proposed interpretation, the claimed historical or future referent, and the independent evidence offered to connect them. Ancient captivities, Atlantic slavery, restoration traditions, prophetic reuse, and competing fulfillment models are introduced only where they bear materially on the claims under evaluation.

Program: Black Hebrew Israelite Theology · Credits: 3

HI 510 · Hebrew Israelite Evidence and Argument: Advanced Research Seminar
Culminates the program in an independent, substantial investigation of a contested Hebrew Israelite doctrine, identity claim, or historical assertion. Students define the proposition precisely; identify whose version of the claim is under review; establish relevant primary sources; determine the forms of evidence required; evaluate provenance, context, textual and interpretive issues; engage relevant scholarship; reconstruct serious competing explanations; weigh evidentiary strengths and limitations; and construct a conclusion proportionate to what the evidence can support. No predetermined religious conclusion is required; the quality of evidence, method, reasoning, and proportional judgment governs the project.

Program: Black Hebrew Israelite Theology · Credits: 3

NT 510 · Greco-Roman Historical, Social, and Cultural Contexts for New Testament Exegesis
Examines the Greco-Roman historical, social, cultural, institutional, and material contexts that materially affect interpretation of the New Testament and earliest Christian literature. Students investigate Roman imperial and provincial structures, cities and civic life, households and kinship, patronage and benefaction, slavery, voluntary associations, economic relationships, honor and status, religious practices, imperial ideology, rhetoric, philosophy, and relevant features of material culture. Primary literary, epigraphic, papyrological, archaeological, and numismatic evidence is evaluated critically. Emphasis is placed on determining when Greco-Roman evidence genuinely clarifies or constrains interpretation and avoiding simplistic parallels or unsupported background claims.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

NT 610 · Greek New Testament Exegesis
Develops sustained, full-process exegesis of representative New Testament texts from the original Greek. Students integrate Greek grammar, syntax, lexical semantics, discourse, textual criticism, Second Temple Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts, genre, relevant primary sources, appropriate critical methods, and scholarly interpretation in the analysis of extended passages across representative New Testament genres. Emphasis is placed on establishing the text, identifying and weighing relevant evidence, evaluating competing interpretations, constructing sustained exegetical arguments, and defending conclusions proportionate to the available evidence. The course assumes advanced Greek competence and focuses on interpretation rather than continued language instruction. Prerequisite: GK 540.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

OT 510 · Historical Contexts of the Hebrew Bible for Exegesis
Examines the historical settings of the Hebrew Bible that materially affect interpretation. Students investigate the political, social, geographic, chronological, and imperial contexts of Israel and Judah, with particular attention to Assyrian, Babylonian, exilic, Persian, and related historical settings. Emphasis is placed on evaluating historical evidence, reconstructing relevant contexts responsibly, distinguishing well-supported conclusions from conjecture, and explaining how historical location clarifies, constrains, or changes the interpretation of biblical texts. Historical material is studied for its exegetical significance rather than as chronology for its own sake.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

OT 520 · Social and Cultural Worlds of the Hebrew Bible for Exegesis
Examines the social and cultural worlds reflected in the Hebrew Bible and their significance for interpretation. Students investigate family and household structures, kinship, gender and social roles, economic life, law and custom, political and religious institutions, ritual practices, patterns of honor and status, and relevant features of ancient Near Eastern material and conceptual culture. Emphasis is placed on evaluating literary, archaeological, epigraphic, and comparative evidence critically; distinguishing appropriate contextual analogy from unsupported parallelism; and determining when social or cultural evidence clarifies, constrains, or changes interpretation. Students learn to use contextual evidence without importing modern assumptions into ancient texts.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3

OT 610 · Hebrew Biblical Exegesis
Develops sustained, full-process exegesis of representative Hebrew Bible texts from the original language. Students integrate Hebrew grammar, syntax, lexical semantics, discourse, textual criticism, historical and cultural context, genre, relevant primary sources, appropriate critical methods, and scholarly interpretation in the analysis of extended passages across representative biblical genres. Emphasis is placed on establishing the text, identifying and weighing relevant evidence, evaluating competing interpretations, constructing sustained exegetical arguments, and defending conclusions proportionate to the available evidence. The course assumes advanced Hebrew competence and focuses on interpretation rather than continued language instruction. Prerequisite: HB 540.

Program: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation · Credits: 3