A Liberation Biblical Hermeneutics for Lent (IS 680/880)

Prerequesites

None

Date

Friday, Jan. 9th – Monday, Jan. 12th

Credit

2.0

Block

1

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Course Description

IS 680/880 – A Liberation Biblical Hermeneutics for Lent

This course imagines the season of Lent in the liturgical calendar as an opportunity for liberative interpretation and preaching. At the intersection of politics and biblical interpretation, the course turns to the socio-political world of Roman Judea to interrogate ways that the passion narrative has been shaped by Roman imperial interests to affirm institutional power. As liberative praxis, the course will work through ways of re-reading Lenten texts to recover the anti-imperial import of the passion. As praxis, this course works with students to develop their own hermeneutical understandings as a self-reflective exercise and their facility to engage difficult biblical texts and challenge interpretive practices of marginalization.

Professor

Herbert R. Marbury

Contingent Faculty

Education

B.A., Emory (1991)
M.Div., Interdemoninational Theological Center (1994)
M.A., Ph.D., Vanderbilt University (1999, 2003)

Bio

Herbert R. Marbury researches the Bible’s textuality—that is how biblical texts come to meaning both in the ancient world and in the contemporary worlds of modern U.S. communities. Although he turns to cultural studies, he grounds his work in both historical-critical and hermeneutical methods. In the ancient world, he focuses on Judah under Persian and Hellenistic imperial domination, which are the societies from which much of the literature of the Hebrew Bible emerged. In his first book, Imperial Dominion and Priestly Genius (Sopher Press, September, 2012) he focuses on Ezra-Nehemiah and asks, “What meaning(s) might Ezra-Nehemiah have held for elites in Persian Jerusalem?” He investigates the Second Temple community’s counter-narratives of resistance against imperial domination.

Since 2012 Marbury has served as co-chair of the African American Biblical Hermeneutics section of the Society of Biblical Literature. There, he raises the question of meaning for African American communities. In Pillars of Cloud and Fire: The Politics of Exodus in African American Biblical Interpretation (New York University Press, 2015), he uses cultural studies as a mode of inquiry and builds on the method developed in Imperial Dominion. Pillars of Cloud and Fire recovers trajectories of counter-history in examples of African American biblical interpretation heretofore unexamined by biblical scholars. Focusing on figures such as Absalom Jones, David Walker, Zora Neale Hurston, Frances E. W. Harper, Adam Clayton Powell, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Albert Cleage, Marbury asks, “What meaning(s) has the exodus story held for successive African American communities in the U.S. from the antebellum period through the era the Black Power Movement?”

Prior to his tenure at VDS, Marbury served as pastor of Old National United Methodist Church in Atlanta, GA and as University Chaplain at Clark Atlanta University where, in 2004, he was named the Chaplain of the Year by the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation. He has taught at American Baptist College and has served as a mentor in the Doctor of Ministry program at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio for the program group “The Black Church and Social and Civic Empowerment.” For Marbury, joining the faculty at VDS follows the long arc of a call that has led him to pastoral and teaching forms of ministry, two commitments that he continues to maintain.

Course Information

Course Goals & Learning Outcomes
  1. Intellectually: develop a critical conscience that readily identifies marginalizing interpretive practices; critically engage and interrogate interpretations that affirm patriarchy, white supremacy,
    classism, and heteronormativity; gain familiarity with the histories and contexts that produced the Bible.
  2. Practically: construct a liberative praxis for biblical interpretation that responds to their vocational context; take up their own interpretive work for the Lenten season of the liturgical year and the New Testament texts commonly associated with the season.
  3. Spiritually: reflect on how learnings from material studied have helped deepen connections and understandings of the faith in light of the student’s own spiritual journey.
Required Textbooks

(All required readings other than Weems 1988 will be posted on Canvas.)

  1. Bailey, Randall C. “The Danger of Ignoring One’s Own Cultural Bias.” In The Postcolonial Bible, edited by R. S. Sugirtharajah. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998.
  2. “The Biblical Basis for a Political Theology of Liberation.” In Blow the Trumpet in Zion. edited by Iva E. Carruthers, Frederick D. Haynes and Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005.
  3. Bonilla-Silva, E. “What Makes Systemic Racism Systemic?.” Sociological Inquiry, 91: 513-533, 2021.
  4. Brown, Raymond E. The Death of the Messiah: From Gethsemane to the Grave: A Commentary on the Passion Narratives in the Four Gospels / Raymond E. Brown. 1st ed. New York: Doubleday, 1994.
  5. Cannon, Katie Geneva. “Womanist Interpretation and Preaching in the Black Church.” 57-67 in I Found God in Me. A Womanist Biblical Hermeneutics Reader. edited by Mitzi J. Smith. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2015.
  6. “The Mainstay of Biblical Liberation.” in Engaging Biblical Authority: Perspectives on the Bible as Scripture. Edited by William P. Brown. 18-26. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.
  7. Cone, James H. “Biblical Revelation and Social Relevance.” in Black Theology: A Documentary History: Volume 2:1980-1992. 159-174. Edited by James H. Cone and Gayraud S. Wilmore. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1993.
  8. Green, Bridgett. “‘Nobody’s Free Until Everybody’s Free’: Exploring Gender and Class Injustice in a Story About Children (Luke 18:15-17).” Pages 291-305 in Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2016.
  9. Horsely, Richard A. ed., In the Shadow of Empire: Reclaiming the Bible as a History of Faithful Resistance. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008. (Sections)
  10. Kinman, Brent. Jesus’ Entry into Jerusalem : In the Context of Lukan Theology and the Politics of His Day. Leiden ; E.J. Brill, 1995.
  11. Marbury, Herbert Robinson. Pillars of Cloud and Fire: The Politics of Exodus in African American Biblical Interpretation. New York: New York University Press, 2015.
  12. Martell-Otero, Loida I. “From Satas to Santas: Sobrajas No More: Salvation in the Spaces of the Everyday” Latina Evagélicas: A Theological Survey from the Margins. Loida Martell-Otero, Zaida Maldonado Pérez, and Elizabeth Cond-Frazier, eds. 33-51. Eugene Oregon: Cascade Books, 2013.
  13. Segovia, Fernando F. Decolonizing Biblical Studies: A View from the Margins. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2000.
  14. Seo, Pyung Soo. Luke’s Jesus in the Roman Empire and the Emperor in the Gospel of Luke /. Eugene, Oregon : Pickwick Publications. 2015.
  15. Thompson, Lisa L. Preaching the Headlines: Pitfalls and Possibilities. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2021. 
  16. Weems, Renita J. “Reading Her Way through the Struggle: African American Women and the Bible.” In Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation, edited by Cain Hope Felder, 57-77. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991.
  17. Just a Sister Away: A Womanist Vision of Women’s Relationships in the Bible. San Diego: LauraMedia, 1988.
Is there pre-course work?

Yes. Before you arrive on campus for your time in class, you must complete the pre-class assignments consisting of reading, writing, and lectures. The written assignments must be submitted prior to our first class meeting so that we may discuss them.

What technology is required?
Students should bring with them their laptops, tablets, or device with which they use to access the course materials and complete assignments.
What will I need to bring to class?
Laptop, notebook, pens/pencils, jacket or blanket, water bottle, assistive devices, etc. Any assignments or other needed materials will be listed in the course syllabus via Canvas.
Should I bring snacks?
You are welcome to bring snacks or drinks. LTS is equipped with a water filter for refilling water bottles and will have coffee and tea available, as well as an assortment of snacks. If you have a food allergy or sensitivity, please reach out to the Dean’s Office prior to your arrival.
What do I do if I can't join physically?

LTS does offer hybrid intensives options at the discretion of the Dean and course professor. Please contact the Dean’s Office prior to registering for courses to make your hybrid course request.

Other Intensives Course Offerings

Exegesis for the Church (IS 560)
Sermon Preparation (LW 554)
IF Block: IF 556 & IF 558
Christian Political Ethics for Social Transformation (IB 678/878)
Interpreting Contemporary Cultural Contexts (DM 812)
Thomas Merton: His Life, Spirituality, and Social Consciousness (LF 673/873)
LM Block (LM 561 & LM 562)

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