BH448: Christians in an Urban Context – Fall 2010

Dr. Wiles – Page 1 of syllabus

BH 448: Christians in an Urban Context

New Brunswick Theological Seminary
Fall, 2010 Dr. Virginia Wiles
http://urbanchristians.wilesonline.net

Tuesdays, 6:20-10:00 p.m.

Phone: (610) 428-5076 [Cell]
Email: drwiles@wilesonline.net
My Website: wilesonline.net

Course Description:
The early church grew up in a thoroughly urban and pluralistic environment. Through a
study of the urban realities of the early church and a comparison of those realities with
the urban realities of the modern world, students will better be able to relate the early
Christian message within an urban context. Prerequisite: OT00301, Introduction to the
Old Testament, and NT00301, Introduction to the New Testament. (4 credit hrs.)

Required Texts:
You will need a BIBLE for this course. EVERY WEEK.
You will need to access materials on the Internet throughout this course.
You will also need reliable access to the INTERNET. For email, work on our class
website, and browsing.

Meeks, Wayne. The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul. New
Haven: Yale, 2003. Paper. 978-0300098617.  [$19.23 @ Amazon]  A used copy
is fine.
Snyder, Graydon F. First Corinthians. Paper. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1993.
[$20.00 @ Amazon; only one copy in stock.  Used are available.]  A used copy is
fine.
Stambaugh, John E. The Ancient Roman City (Ancient Society and History). Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1988. Paper. 978-0801836923 [$22.95 @ Amazon]  A
used copy is fine.
Stark, Rodney. The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal, Jesus Movement
Became the Dominant Religious Force.  Paper. HarperOne, 1997.  978-
0060677015.  [$10.19 @ Amazon]  A used copy is fine.

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Course Objectives: The student will –

1. Become familiar with some of the key features of ancient urban realities;
2. Understand the interplay between ancient urban realities and the spread of the
Christian gospel, especially in relation to the city of Corinth and Pauline
Christianity;
3. Be able to make pertinent connections between the sociology of Corinth and the
theology of 1 Corinthians;
4. Analyze his or her own urban context/experience in light of psycho-sociological
studies;
5. Draw connections between how the gospel interacted with ancient urban society
and how the gospel might interact with modern urban societies, with special
reference to Paul’s Corinthian correspondence.

Course Outline:
I. Introduction and Methodologies for the Course (Week 1)
a. A Brief Introduction to Sociological Analysis
b. Narrative as an Integrative Intellectual Mode

II. The Urban Setting of the 21st Century (Weeks 2-3)

a. Urban Sociological Analysis Tools
b. Imagining Characters and Settings: 21st Century -- a little Psycho-Social
Analysis

III. The Urban Setting of the 1st Century (Weeks 4-6)

a. Applying Urban Sociological Analysis Tools to Rome and Corinth
b. Imagining Characters and Settings: 1st Century

IV. Reading Corinth and the Corinthian Correspondence as Urban

People/Texts (Weeks 7-13)

V. Presentations (Week 14)

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Course Requirements: Note that EVERY ITEM below is a requirement. I have

noted approximate percentages of each requirement for the calculation of the
final course grade, but EVERY ITEM listed is required. This is not a “mix-
and-match according to percentages” menu.

1. Class Attendance and Participation (approx. 20%). Class attendance IS required.

Being on time IS required. If a student misses more than the equivalent of two full
sessions – either through absence or through accumulated tardiness – NO CREDIT
WILL BE GIVEN for the course. Did you get that? NO CREDIT WILL BE
GIVEN for this course if you miss more than the equivalent of two full sessions,
whether through absence or through accumulated tardiness or early departure. THIS
MEANS YOU. If you cannot attend class, or cannot arrive on time regularly and
stay for the class session, please DROP this course during the first week of classes.
Otherwise you will be paying for a course that you will fail. That’s not fun.
2. Reading Reports (approx. 20%). – There are ten of these. See the “Assignments”
handout for directions. You MUST turn in a hard copy of each Reading Report.
Fewer than 8 will result in failure for the entire course. See the Course Schedule for
the Due Dates. (##1-10 in the List of Assignments, below.)
3. Other Written Assignments (approx 30%). See the “Assignments” handout for
itemization and for directions for the individual assignments. There are a total of
nine of these, due throughout the course. See the Course Schedule for the Due
Dates. ALL of these are required in order to pass the course. (##11-19 in the List of
Assignments, below.)
4. Final Project and Poster Talk – An Urban Teaching/Learning Experience
(30%). Instructions for this assignment will be given by the beginning of TERM B.
Each student must turn in some written material related to his or her preparation. All
materials due by the final day of class (December 14), though there are some
preparatory pieces that are due earlier. See Course Schedule. (#20, 1-c, in the List of
Assignments, below.)

Some Important Notes about Requirements and Assignments:

 Please note – I’m delighted for every single one of you who have signed up for this
course. The size of the class, however, means that you yourself must be responsible
for your work. I will be extremely hesitant to grant extensions for any of the
assignments or for the course as a whole. PLEASE plan now to turn your
assignments in on time. It is better to hand in a poorly done assignment on time than
it is to “wait” and hand in a brilliant piece of work. ON TIME, folks. ON TIME.
Turn something in, ANYTHING. Turn something in ON THE DUE DATE. (And
please keep a copy for yourself of everything you turn in!)

 Please plan on turning in a HARD COPY of your assignments. You may also send
me an electronic copy if you wish, but please also turn in a hard copy.

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 Please use this email address for course-related stuff: drwiles@wilesonline.net

 In the SUBJECT: line of your emails, please put URBAN CHRISTIANS (either all
caps or not, doesn’t matter). I am much less likely to lose your email if you follow
these instructions!

An Itemized List of Assignments:

Name of Assignment Due Date
1-10 Reading Report #1 – Stark, chs. 1-3 9/7
Reading Report #2 – Stark, chs. 4-7 9/14
Reading Report #3 – Stambaugh, chs.4-7 9/21
Reading Report #4 – Stambaugh, chs. 8-12 9/28
Reading Report #5 – Stambaugh, chs. 13-15 10/5
Reading Report #6 – Meeks, chs. 2-5 10/12
1 Corinthians Urban Notes #1 – on 1 Cor. 1-6 10/19
1 Corinthians Urban Notes #2 – on 1 Cor. 8-10 11/2
1 Corinthians Urban Notes #3 – on 1 Cor. 11 11/16
1 Corinthians Urban Notes #4 – on 1 Cor. 12-14 11/30
11 Social Description 9/7
12 21st C. Character Biography Data Sheet 9/7
13 My Basic Building Blocks 9/7
14 Myself in Context 9/14
15 My Photo-Array Map (Preliminary to “show and tell” on 9/14) 9/21
16 My World: Someone’s Story 9/21
17 1st C. Character Biography Data Sheet 9/28
18 A Corinthian Life Setting 10/5
19 Corinth: Someone’s Story 10/12
20 Final Project and Poster Talk – An Urban Teaching/Learning Experience
a. Preliminary Worksheet 11/9
b. Abstract 11/30
c. Poster Talk, presentation materials & final document for Dr. Wiles 12/14

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COURSE SCHEDULE:
Date Class Topic Readings Assignments DUE Date
Please complete the readingBY this date! To be turned in ON this date!
Intro to the Course
8/31 None None 8/31
and Methodologies
9/7 The Urban Setting of  “The Spread of Christianity—An  Social Description
the 21st Century Urban Story” Online at  21st C. Character
Urban Sociological http://www.christian- Biography Data Sheet
thinktank.com/urbxctt.html  My Basic Building Blocks
Analysis Tools 9/7
 Scroggs, “The Sociological
Interpretation of the New Testament”
(handout and online)
 Stark, Chapters 1-3 (ca. 70 pp.) RR1
9/14 Imagining Characters  Stark, Chapters 4-7 (ca. 90 pp.) RR2  Myself in Context
and Settings: 21st C.  Preliminary Photo-Array 9/14
Map (for show and tell)
9/21 The Urban Setting of  Online Google Maps/Rome Re-Born at  Final “My Photo-Array
the 1st Century Vimeo Map” Due, with written
Rome and Corinth  Stambaugh, Chapters 4-7 ( ca. 80 pp.) document 9/21
RR3  “My World: Someone’s
Story”
9/28 Rome and Corinth,  Browse Corinth Website Links  1st c. Character Biography
continued (NB: This will take lots of time!) Data Sheet
9/28
 Stambaugh, Chapters 8-12
(ca. 90 pp.) RR4
10/5 Imagining Characters  Stambaugh, Chapters 13-15  “A Corinthian Life Setting”
and Settings : 1st C. (ca. 40 pp.) RR5 (1st c.) 10/5
 Meeks, Intro, Chapter 1 (ca. 50 pp.)
10/12 Reading Corinth &  Meeks, Chapters 2-5 (ca. 110 pp.) RR6  “Corinth: Someone’s
1 Corinthians as Story” (1st C.) 10/12
Urban People
10/19 1 Corinthians 1-6  1 Corinthians  1 Corinthians Urban Notes
 Snyder, pp. 1-54, 220-262 #1
10/19
(ca. 95 pp.)

10/26 READING WEEK – No Class (Note the change from the official NBTS schedule!)
11/2 1 Corinthians 8-10  1 Corinthians 8-10  1 Corinthians Urban Notes
 Snyder, pp. [88-118], 119-162 #2 11/2
(ca. [30]+45 pp.)
11/9 1 Corinthians 8-10,  TBA  Preliminary Worksheet for
Final Project
11/9
continued
11/16 1 Corinthians 11  1 Corinthians 11  1 Corinthians Urban Notes
 Scroggs, “Paul and Eschatological #3 11/16
Woman” (Reserve or Online)
11/23 Thanksgiving Week – No Class
11/30 1 Corinthians 12-14  1 Corinthians 12-14  1 Corinthians Urban Notes
 Snyder, pp. 163-211 (ca. 50 pp.) #4 11/30
 Abstract of your project
12/7 1 Corinthians 15  1 Corinthians 15  Continue work on your
 Wiles, final chapter of “Making Sense project – Nothing due in 12/7
of Paul” class.
12/14 Poster Talks  Poster Talk – with presentation materials, handout, and final document
12/14
for Dr. Wiles