[Addendum to this post: The registration deadline has been extended to May 22; – MSH]
Registration for module 4 of MEMRA is open now, and will be open until May 15. Courses offered this time are:
- Beginning Hebrew (52 weeks)
- Beginning Greek (52 weeks)
- How We Got the Old Testament
- Description: An introduction to the collection and historical transmission of the text of the Old Testament. Attention will focus on the canonical process, ancient scribal tasks, copying and transmission of the biblical text, and ancient and modern translation of the biblical texts. The student will be introduced to types of errors in manuscript transmission, divergent readings in manuscripts, text-critical principles of evaluating errors and divergent readings, and the history of the printed Old Testament.
- Old Testament Theology II (no pre-requisite necessary)
- Description: An examination of Old Testament creation cosmology and its relationship to chaos and the existence of evil, the divine council, and divine imaging.
- The Book of 1 Enoch II (no pre-requisite necessary)
- Description: Continuation of 1 Enoch I, which covered chapters 1-36.
Here is the link to register. Note that books are not included in tuition and must be ordered separately, The module begins May 23, but registration closes on May 15.
MH – Regarding the II course on Enoch I, is it permissible for one who missed the first to study the syllabus/notes of that course as prep? Is such available?
thx
yes; I could send you salient readings – send me an email reminder.
Are these courses accredited and graded, and according to your own definition as I have seen you post before, would you consider one who took your Greek course well on their way to be considered a “theologian?”
not graded or accredited; they are just for fun / learning.
No – one year of a language doesn’t make anyone a biblical theologian. Languages are essential if you want your theology to come from the text (as opposed to English translations and other books), but it isn’t magic. It takes time and effort. As Greek lexicographer F. Danker once said, “The work of scholars is not for sissies.”
FUN !……It actually is fun believe it or not, who knew committing to memory Hebrew stems and ending could be a source of enjoyment !
But when you manage to read the scriptures in Hebrew, it makes all the effort worth while… i recommend it as one who took the course last year. Unfortunately it doesn’t make me a Theologian but it does give me better insight into the text.
Doc Heiser,
I just signed up for “How We Got the Old Testament.” I’m really excited and hope to learn a lot form the class. I’ve enjoyed all the lectures and talks you’ve done that I’ve been able to find on youtube. Your interview with Derek Gilbert on a View From The Bunker about the Divine Council (which is how I heard about you) was extremely eye opening for me as well. Thank you for all the great work you do. I know it seems like it goes under the radar at times but trust me when I say it’s making an impact. I believe more and more people are starting to see the importance of sound scholarship in the biblical arena. At least it is for me. I’m an AV at a large non-denominational church in Orange County California and I get to sit through a lot of services (sometimes the same one 3 times a weekend) and several events held on our campus. It’s been a blessing for sure, but dare I say, the shallow study and very generic messages I hear every weekend and at the various events are not bad in itself (remember I live in the most plastic city in the world) but it has left me thirsty for more. Your work has been exactly the kind of in depth, no nonsense style of research that I think is needed much more in our churches. My interest in the occult, new age, ufology, paranormal, and other such non-churchy topics is the reason why I believe my understanding of the bible needs to be even more sound. I’m 28 years old finishing up my bachelors in Sociology from UC Irvine; I also have a masters in music production and technology from Berklee School of Music which basically was my life pursuit until I became a Christian. Again, thank you for providing a place where I have the opportunity to learn and grow not only in our faith, but in our knowledge and intellect. God Bless!
Thanks – You will certainly learn a lot. Nice to know the material has been useful. I’ve wondered on more than one occasion if my skill set has made me basically unusable to people in church — and that was a big motivation to start blogging. Trust me, I understand your “church thoughts” very well.
Orange County – I once spoke at a MUFON event there. The invitation extended to me caused quite a stir between MUFON Orange County and the one in LA. I still have the emails detailing the war that erupted between the two sides over inviting me (since I am a well known critic of Z. Sitchin). It was a lot of fun, though.
I am certainly interested in taking some of your courses, but this time would not work well as I am already enrolled in enough school at the moment, as well as sufficiently enrolled in the rest of life. But I am going to keep your classes in mind for the future. Do you ever do any weekend long seminars on any of your more salient topics up in Washington?
haven’t done that except for occasionally stringing a few weeks together in church when I’m asked. I’ll likely do something like that this summer (late) but I don’t know what it will be.