Course Title: Major Figures in Scriptural Interpretation

Instructor: Dr Nate Wall-Bowering

Time: Tuesdays 6-8:45pm

Location: In-Person at St Margaret’s Anglican (160 Ethelbert)

Description: The playwright Ben Jonson once saluted his peer John Donne as “the first poet in the world in some things.” Twen5eth-century literary cri5cs would later amplify Jonson’s praise by canonizing Donne as the “metaphysical poet.” But there is another Donne who dwells in the shadow of the now canonical poet. Biblical scholar Brevard Childs, for instance, singled out “the haunting sermons of Donne” in his survey of the Psalter’s reception history, and ranked Donne among Scripture’s “truly great expositors.” Although studies in the history of biblical interpretation still largely ignore Donne, scholars of early modern literature have in the last two decades pulled John Donne the biblical interpreter out of the shadows. This course explores John Donne’s biblical exegesis. Students will become familiar with Donne’s biography and engage a selection of Donne’s sermons, alongside his theological essays, religious poetry, and devotional prose. Historical influences on Donne’s exegesis will be considered, including the Reforma5on schism, the English prayerbook, widespread retrieval of patris5c sources, and the movement known as “Christian Hebraism." The main thrust of the course, however, is theological and hermeneutical. Together we will seek to understand what convictions and habits of thought made the Dean of St Paul’s an imaginative and daring interpreter of Christian Scripture.

Partners: 

1. This Program is made possible through a Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Grand Rapids, Michigan, with funds provided by Lilly Endowment Inc.
2. In partnership with the Ecclesial University Project at St Margaret’s