Introduction to Preaching Old Testament
SMBC Certificate, on-campus
SEMESTER 2 2024
Monday Daytime Unit
CP01b
The Hebrew Scriptures are essential for pastoral ministry and preaching. As the Apostle Paul reminded Timothy, the Old Testament is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16). It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the New Testament writings are saturated with Old Testament themes, quotations, and allusions. Indeed, without a good working knowledge of the Old Testament, much of the New remains opaque and the picture of Christ one sees is correspondingly thin.
It was for this reason that Bonhoeffer reasoned, “I don’t think it is Christian to want to get to the New Testament too soon and too directly.” Yet teaching and preaching the Old Testament well is not straightforward. There are significant theological and hermeneutical issues to broach; cultural and linguistic distance to overcome; and competence in new genres of text to acquire. The rewards, however, are more than worth the effort. Thus, in this unit, students will be introduced to the theory and practice of preaching Old Testament narrative texts with a special focus on the Abraham cycle in Genesis 11:27–25:11.
Lecturer: Dr Geoff Harper
SMBC certificate level
Lecture Mode: on-campus*
Times: Mondays 10.55am-11.45am
Dates: 15, 22 July, 12, 19 August, 9, 16 September 2024
Location: Croydon Campus, 43 Badminton Road, Croydon 2132
Credit Points and Costs:
ACM07 = 12hr - Audit (no assessments) - $149
CM07 = 12hr – ICCS - $418
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*LECTURE MODES:
On-Campus: units in this mode are delivered face-to-face in the classroom only, with a limit on numbers (for Covid safety).
Off-campus: units in this mode are delivered live online only, that is, a mix of online lectures, videos, activities and interaction with lecturers and fellow students.
Hybrid: units in this mode are delivered both on-campus (limited face-to-face numbers) and off-campus (live online) concurrently.
