Course Overview

Hermeneutics and Exegesis (3 credits)

       Instructor: Dr. David Feddes

Content Providers/Contributors: Dr. Jeff Weima, Dr. Craig Bartholomew, Dr. D. A. Carson, Greg Clark, Dr. Norman Geisler, Dr. Michael Goheen, Dr. Graeme Goldsworthy, Michael Gowens, Greg Johnson, Joshua Ng, Dr. J. I. Packer, Dr. John Piper, and Matt Slick

They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read. (Nehemiah 8:8)

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Overview: This course develops sound methods of Spirit-guided interpretation of Scripture involving grammatical, literary, historical, and theological elements. Students will gain skills in using online research tools and in basing sermons on the original meaning of the biblical text. 

(Please note that this course requires the completion of the "Old Testament Survey" and "New Testament Survey," as well as a minimum current GPA of 2.0. This course may be challenging for students, so plan on taking extra time to complete this course. Students will find this course especially helpful to take before "Sermon Construction and Presentation.")

Course Outcomes:

1. View the Bible as God’s message communicated by human authors in human language in a particular historical and cultural setting.
2. Depend on the Holy Spirit while using sound methods of interpretation.
3. Interpret Scripture with careful attention to grammatical, literary, historical, and theological elements.
4. Use online research tools to aid accurate biblical interpretation.
5. Depend on sound exegesis of Scripture as the basis for one’s theological positions and preaching.

Free Online Bible Study Resources:
These resources can help you in assignments and in future Bible studies. You may wish to create bookmarks for these on your computer.

1. ESV Global Study Bible (http://www.esvbible.org)
2. Bible Hub (http://biblehub.com)
3. Free Bible Commentary (http://www.freebiblecommentary.org)
4. Bible Gateway (http://www.biblegateway.com)
5. Bible Arc (http://www.biblearc.com)
6. e-Sword (http://www.e-sword.net)
7. Calvin's Commentary (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/commentaries.i.html)
8. Matthew Henry's Commentary (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc.i.html)

Assignments:

1. Read online articles as assigned. You may also save these articles to your own computer for further study.
2. View all video lectures online. (These lectures are also available as MP3 audios, but you will miss seeing helpful slides if you only listen to audio.)
3. Use the discussion forum to ask questions and exchange ideas with others.
4. Take the online quiz for each unit. You will have 60 minutes to answer multiple-choice questions for each quiz. Once a quiz has started, you must finish it, and you can't retake it. So be ready ahead of time. Each quiz covers readings and video lectures for that unit. While taking the quiz, you may use your notes and refer to articles and other materials. Tip: First answer all the questions you know. Then try to look up answers to questions you don't know. When you have entered an answer for every question, submit the quiz for grading before the 60-minute limit.

*The course has a total of 190 points: 15 points each for most quizzes, and 20 points each for quizzes 9 and 11.

Grading Scale:

A 95-100%   A- 90-94%   B+ 87-89%   B 83-86%   B- 80-82%   C+ 77-79%   C 73-76%   C- 70-72%    D+ 67-69%   D 63-66%   D- 60-62%   F 0-59%

Your average for the course must be at least 60%. Otherwise, you will fail the class and will receive no credit.

Deadline: You have 180 days to finish the course. Complete all assignments before the final deadline, or you will be automatically unenrolled, and all coursework will be removed. You will have to start over and take the class again to receive credit.

Accessibility: All videos have slides available with them and transcripts at the end of each section.