Reading Biblical Texts Contextually: Mark and Paul in Asian Biblical Interpretation

All reading of biblical texts takes place in a context. Paying attention to how context affects reading provides insight, not only into the process of the reception of biblical texts, but also into the biblical texts themselves. This course explores the dynamic of reading biblical texts by examining how selected passages from the Gospel of Mark and the letters of Paul have been taken up in recent years specifically within two related fields of discourse: what is often described as Asian biblical interpretation, and its cousin, Asian American biblical interpretation. Through assigned readings, lectures, class discussions, student presentations, and individual case studies of specific biblical texts, this course will introduce students to published materials in Asian and Asian American biblical interpretation, and in so doing give students an opportunity to reflect on their own context as a lens for interpretation.