Comprehensive Ph.D. Exams: The Third (and FINAL!) Day

Today, I finished my last of three days of comprehensive Ph.D. exams. See my two posts immediately below for information (and the questions I got) on the first two sessions.

Today was New Testament for me. I had 11 potential questions I could have received. Here is what I ended up getting.

Question 1 (choose one)
Choose one representative NT interpreter from the "pre-modern," "modern," and "post-modern" approaches. Situate each interpreter in his/her social, historical, and institutional context, describing his/her approach to biblical interpretation. Compare the methods and goals of interpretation of each interpreter, noting strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Do this using the same biblical material for each interpreter. Develop and defend your own hermeneutical position.

OR

In modern Protestantism, fundamentalist, liberal, neo-orthodox, and narrative theologians have had distinctive approaches to the use of the NT in constructive Christian ethics. Take either the issue of "women" or that of "homosexuality" and show how each of the four groups might argue from biblical data to a constructive Christian ethical stance

Question 2 (choose one)
Study of the Fourth Gospel and the Three Johannine epistles has focused of late on teh development of the Johannine community with scholars like J. Louis Martyn and Raymond E. Brown on the one side and scholars like Georg Strecker and Udo Schnelle on the other. Describe the two sides' positions and indicate the ramifications of adhering to one or the other position (e.g., history of religions focus and purpose of the writings)

OR

What is the key to Paul's theology? Evaluate the answers of F.C. Baur, A. Schweitzer, James S. Stewart, R. Bultmann, E.P. Sanders, Ben Witherington III, and James D.G. Dunn. Does the renewed study of ancient epistolary literature and of ancient rhetoric have any impact on how Paul's theology is understood today? What does?

Question 3 (choose one)
Explain the significance of the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and in A.D. 135 for the various forms of Middle Judaism. (In your answer be sure to include at least the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Essenes, Apocalypticists, and the Christian Messianists).

OR

Assuming that at least one of the general epistles involves pseudonymous authorship, set such a practice in its cultural context in Mediterranean antiquity and indicate and evaluate the historical and theological issues involved in such a practice.


I answered the first question listed in each set. In total I wrote about 21 pages today, so that brings my grand total for the entire set of exams to about 67-70 pages in 3 days (15 hours). Not too shabby! I should hopefully be hearing back results within a week!

I can say now, in hindsight, that this was to be sure a quite stressful process, but at the same time, a very rewarding one. Not only do I have a very fine overview of the field, but I have also filled in many of the gaps I felt I had before. All that said, however, I have no desire to do these again!!!

All the best!

Comprehensive Ph.D. Exams: Day Two

Day Two is under my belt, and yet again, I feel good. Quite good. Another five hour session, from 8am to 1pm.

Today I received four OT questions. They were (roughly) as follows.

Pentateuch

Discuss the last 25-30 years in Pentateuchal scholarship, citing specific portions of the Pentateuch where relevant. Mention the treatments of Rendtorff, Blum, Carr, Van Seters, among others.

Writings

Compare form-critical and holistic/canonical approaches to the Psalter. Demonstrate these approaches with "wisdom" in the Psalms.

Old Testament Theology

Choose three OT theologians from the 20th century and describe their approach to constructing an OT theology. Demonstrate each approach with texts from the OT.

Latter Prophets

Discuss your view of how the book of Isaiah depicts the Temple and sacrifice. Pay attention to scholarship and cite from the biblical text. Choose either a synchronic or diachronic approach.

I wrote about 9 pages on Pentateuch, and 7 pages on the other three questions . . . so 30 pages total in five hours. Wow.

This weekend my task is memorizing 10 NT questions for my final day of tests on Monday.

All the best!

Comprehensive Ph.D. Exams: Day One

Day one is under my belt. I feel good. Quite good.

They went from 8am until 1 pm. Here was what the test looked like today.

Hebrew translation:

Gen 3:1-6

Psalm 29

Josh 3:1-6

Amos 7:1-6 (parse all verbs)

Sight read: Gen 6:5

Question 1: Discuss the emergence of Israel in Iron I, paying particular attention to recent scholarship and evidence.

Question 2: How does the Deuteronomistic History develop the theme of kingship, using both secondary scholarship and specific references to the biblical text?

I wrote about 8.5 pages on question 1, and about 7.5 pages on question 2.

On Thursday I have four questions, dealing with the following areas: Pentateuch, Writings, OT theology, Latter Prophets. I will have to write fast!

Thank you for your prayers and well-wishes . . . I am hopeful on Thursday I will still feel this good!

Comprehensive Exams . . . Beginning in 2 Days

On Monday, April 27, I will begin my first of three days of comprehensive exams. This is the final hurdle to jump over prior to the dissertation. I have spent all semester preparing. I have as wide a view of the field as I will ever have.

Here is the breakdown for each of the three days (each day is a 5 hour session):

Monday, April 27

Hebrew translation

History/Archaeology

Former Prophets

Thursday, April 30

Pentateuch

Latter Prophets

Old Testament Theology

Writings

Monday, May 4

Three NT questions

At present, I feel quite good about things; I feel well-prepared. But it will be a ton of work. I can't imagine the amount of pages I am going to write in such a short period; 25 or more on the second day, in 5 hours. I barely write a page an hour when I'm writing a paper or article. But I know the material, and well, and I hope that translates on each day.

If time permits, I will post my reflections throughout the process. I appreciate your prayers (non-imprecatory, of course!). Wish me luck!

All the best!

Yom ha-Shoah

Today, April 21, 2009 (Nissan 5769), at sundown marks the end of Yom ha-Shoah, the Jewish holiday that memorializes the Holocaust. It is a topic I have studied very much. I have no words. My words are and will always be inadequate when faced with the reality of this event. But I have always felt a certain power and vitality in the words of the survivors, as well as in the accounts preserved of those who did not survive. It is their words I wish to share here, as we all reflect, and say . . . never again.

"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which turned my life into on elong night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never."

---Elie Wiesel, Night, 32

"I witnessed other hangings. I never saw a single one of the victims weep. For a long time those dried-up bodies had forgotten the bitter taste of tears. Except once [ . . . ] One day when we came back from work, we saw three gallows rearing up in the assembly place, three black crows. Roll call. SS all round us, machine guns trained: the traditional ceremony. Three victims in chains--and one of them, the little servant, the sad-eyed angel. The SS seemed more preoccupied, more disturbed than usual. To hang a young boy in front of thousands of spectators was no light matter. The head of the camp read the verdict. All eyes were on the child. He was lividly pale, almost calm, biting his lips. The gallows threw its shadow over him. [ . . . ] The three necks were placed at the same moment within the nooses. 'Long live liberty!' cried the two adults. But the child was silent. 'Where is God? Where is He?' someone behind me asked. At a sign from the head of the camp, the three chairs tipped over. Total silence throughout the camp. On the horizon, the sun was setting. 'Bare your heads!' yelled the head of the camp. His voice was raucous. We were weeping. 'Cover your heads!' Then the march past began. The two adults were no longer alive. their tongues hung swollen, blue-tinged. But the third rope was still moving, being so light, the child was still alive. . . . For more than half an hour he stayed there, struggling between life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes. And we had to look him full in the face. He was still alive when I passed in front of him. His tongue was still read, his eyes were not yet glazed. Behind me, I heard the same man asking: 'Where is God now?' and I heard a voice within me answer him: 'Where is He? Here He is--He is hanging here on this gallows . . . ' That night the soup tasted of corpses."

---Elie Wiesel, Night, 60-62

"Their life is short, but their number is endless; they, the muselmanner, the drowned, form the backbone of the camp, an anonymous mass, continually renewed and always identical, of non-men who march and labour in silence, the divine spark dead within them, already too empty to really suffer. One hesitates to call them living: one hesitates to call their death death, in the face of which they have no fear, as they are too tired to understand. They crowdy my memory with their faceless presences, and if I could enclose all the evil of our time in one image, I would choose this image which is familiar to me: an emaciated man, with head dropped and shoulders curved, on whose face and in whose eyes not a trace of a thought is to be seen. If the drowned have no story, and single and broad is the path to perdition, the paths to salvation are many, difficult and improbable."

---Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz, 90

"I'm not alive. People believe memories grow vague, are erased by time, since nothing endures against the passage of time. That's the difference; time does not pass over me, over us. It doesn't erase anything, doesn't undo it. I'm not a live. I died in Auschwitz but no one knows it."

---Charlotte Delbo, Auschwitz and After, 267

And while he was never a prisoner in the camps, the words of Rabbi Irving Greenberg are as true today as when he first uttered them. It is an important caution of which we must all be aware:

"No statement, theological or otherwise, should be made that would not be credible in the presence of burning children."

Upcoming Book Reviews!

Friends:
With preparation for comps (12 days away for the first session!) taking up much of my time, I have had little opportunity to read for reviews as assiduously as I had hoped. Never fear, though! Once comps are done, I plan to post a series of book reviews as time permits. Here is a little teaser of what I will be reviewing . . . (click the picture for more info on the title).

Tentative SBL 2009 Program Available

Thanks to my good friend Douglas Mangum over at Biblia Hebraica for making me aware that the preliminary 2009 SBL program for New Orleans is available. Here it is. No times or dates are yet available, but you can peruse the offerings, make a list of what you are interested in hearing, and then lament the many overlappings that will no doubt be the case when dates and times are made available! And please be aware, this schedule is tentative; I know this because one of my colleagues at Baylor is listed as presenting the same paper in two different sections.

You can search for my name and read the (incomplete!) abstract for my paper (or just scroll down a few posts to read the full version).

Happy perusing! Here are a few early stand-outs for me . . .
===========
Bible Translation (this first paper looks fascinating!!!)
Theme: General papers Bible Translation
Sarah Lind, Presiding
John Anderson, Baylor University A Trickster Oracle in Gen 25:23: Reading Jacob and Esau between Beten and Bethel (25 min)
Dorothea Erbele-Kuester, Theological University Kampen How should we translate unjust and androcentric biblical texts in gender-sensitive and just language? (25 min)
Yoo-Ki Kim, Seoul Women's University The translation of hyt.b in Jonah 4:4 (25 min)
Flemming A.J. Nielsen, University of Greenland Translation strategies in the Greenlandic Bible (25 min)
Lynell Zogbo, United Bible Societies Walk the walk! Talk the talk! (25 min)
Cosmin-Constantin Murariu, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven “Right” and “Freedom” in Light of Paul’s Rhetoric in 1 Corinthians 9 (25 min)


Book of Psalms
Theme: The Psalms and Creation
Nancy L. Declaisse-Walford, Presiding
Rolf Jacobson, Luther Seminary Theological Implications of Creation's Praise of the Lord (30 min)
David Rensberger, Interdenominational Theological Center Surveying Creation’s Praise: Psalm 148 and Its Descendants (30 min)
Esther M. Menn, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago Violent Waters: Reading the Psalms after Katrina (30 min)
Arthur Walker-Jones, University of Winnipeg The LORD, Who Makes Skies and Earth: The Importance of Creation in the Psalter (30 min)


Book of Psalms
Theme: Open Session
W. Bellinger, Baylor University, Presiding
Susan Gillingham, University of Oxford Psalm 2 through the Centuries: A Case Study of Jewish and Christian Reception History of the Psalms (30 min)
Will Kynes, University of Cambridge Doxology in Disputation: The Use of Psalms 8 and 107 in the Book of Job (30 min)
Arthur Boulet, Westminster Theological Seminary The Prayer of Manasseh: A Window Into the Shape and Shaping of the Hebrew Psalter (30 min)
Roy Garton, Baylor University The Death of a Psalmist: A Structural Analysis and Literary Reading of Psalm 88 (30 min)
Joel M. LeMon, Emory University The Ethics of the Psalms and the Problem of Violence (30 min)


Book of Psalms
Theme: The Psalms and Creation
Karl Jacobson, Augsburg College, Presiding
J. Richard Middleton, Roberts Wesleyan College The Role of Human Beings in the Cosmic Temple: The Intersection of Worldviews in Psalms 8 and 104 (30 min)
Stephen J. Lennox, Indiana Wesleyan University “In Wisdom You Made Them All”: Creation Theology in Psalm 104 against the Background of the Ancient Near East (30 min)
Carol J. Dempsey, University of Portland Creation Imagery in the Psalms: Its Beauty and Its Invitation (30 min)
Victoria Hoffer, Yale University Let the Heavens Rejoice! Imageries of Creation and Creator in the Service of Psalms (30 min)
John S. Vassar, Louisiana State University in Shreveport Yahweh as Artisan: A Metaphor of Creation in the Hebrew Psalter (30 min)


Matthew
Theme: Themes in Matthew
Daniel Gurtner, Bethel Theological Seminary, Presiding
Matthew Thiessen, Duke University Abolishers of the Law and the Early Jesus Movement (20 min)Discussion (10 min)
Jens Herzer, University of Leipzig The Riddle of the Holy Ones in Matthew 27:51-53: A New Proposal for a crux interpretum (20 min)Discussion (10 min)
Yonghan Chung, Graduate Theological Union The Temple in Matthew's Eschatology (20 min)Discussion (10 min)
Abel Bibliowicz, *The Anti-Jewish Strand in Matthew (20 min)Discussion (10 min)
George Thomas Givens, Duke University From the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel to All the Nations: A Challenge to Supersessionist Readings of Matthew (20 min)Discussion (10 min)


Pentateuch
Theme: Narrative and Law
Reinhard Achenbach, University of Münster (Germany) Presiding
Pamela Barmash, Washington University Law and Narrative in Genesis (25 min)
Diana Lipton, King's College London Legal Analogy in Deuteronomy and Fratricide in the Field (25 min)
Bruce Wells, St. Joseph's University The Story of the hated Wife in Genesis and in Deuteronomy (25 min)
Klaus-Peter Adam, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago Inadvertence in abstract legal terminology in asylum laws and in narratives (25 min)
Calum Carmichael, cornell university Jacob’s “red, red dish” and the Ritual of the Red Heifer (25 min)