1 and 2 Kings

This course will examine the books from a rigorous historical perspective, but it will be constructed to find a “middle way”: the students and professor will together examine the theological trajectory of the books—especially the ways in which they point to their fulfillment, and Israel’s fulfillment, in Christ and his Church. The students will not simply be left with the stories, finally, as disparate units, but as narratives constructed—in their pre-Christian context—with tremendous theological sensitivity. A bridge will be made between the theological sensitivity and meaning of the Jewish writers and redactors on the one hand and, on the other hand, the historic Christian theological interpretations of these books. No reading knowledge of Hebrew will be required. This course is cross-listed as THE 607NE.