Theo 225A / Theo 325A
SYNOPTICS (3 units)
Herb Schneider, SJ
M 9:00-11:50 am

In the Church’s cycle of Scripture readings for the liturgy, Year B is devoted to the Gospel of Mark. Thus this year’s Synoptics course focuses primarily on the Gospel of Mark. The Gospel, however, will be studied synoptically, i.e. importance will be given not only to what Mark said about Jesus and his mission, but also how Matthew and Luke, the earliest “commentators” interpreted the Gospel of Mark.

At the end of the course, the course participants should:

1. Have a thorough knowledge of the Gospel of Mark
2. Have a lesser, but adequate knowledge of Matthew and Luke over against Mark
3. Be acquainted with basic, pastorally oriented methods of working with the text of Scripture
4. With Matthew and Luke as guides, be aware what is involved applying the Gospel of Mark to people living in different circumstances, with different needs, and immersed in a different culture.

The course requirements:

1. A thorough reading of the Gospel of Mark, Matthew and Luke.
2. This is foundational for the course and the basis for achieving specific aim 1 and 2.
3. Group exegetical work and reports on certain passages. This helps course participants put into practice, the methods of working with the text taught in class and assures achievement of Specific Aim 3.
4. Surveys of “pastoral constituents” about the Gospels and of Mark specifically. This is a prerequisite for Specific Aim 4.
5. A group pastoral project of a Bible Study based on Mark for a specific group. This helps the participants concretely to achieve Specific Aim 4.