圣经的基础 is a one-semester course that reflects the biblical basis of Samford’s core values and provides a foundation for understanding the place of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures in human culture. Knowledge of these Scriptures is the foundation of Christian thought and action.

Professors guide students in an exploratory journey of the Christian Scriptures, 包括它们的内容, 他们的历史背景, 文学流派, 神学和伦理主题. The course stresses the relevance of the Bible for contemporary Christian faith and practice.

Whoever thinks that he understands the Holy Scriptures, 或者它们的任何一部分, but puts such an interpretation upon them as does not tend to build up this twofold love of God and our neighbor, 还不明白他该明白的吗. 河马的奥古斯丁

透过圣经基础, students gain a foundational knowledge of biblical texts, teachings and backgrounds necessary for the Scriptures to play an informed and enriching role students’ continuing personal formation. The course also provides the foundations necessary for understanding the formative role of the Scriptures in the Western intellectual tradition, 作为滋养传统的根源.

课程元素

The 圣经的基础 course is taught by faculty with advanced academic training in biblical studies. 在课程中，教授帮助学生:

  • To grasp the Bible’s narrative structure and the importance of key people and events in the biblical narrative(s).
  • 了解圣经是什么，以及它是如何来到我们面前的.
  • To develop an understanding of the various 文学流派 and devices in the Bible and be able to assess the effect these have on the interpretation of biblical texts.
  • 对主要文学进行反思, theological and ethical themes found within individual books and across the biblical canon, as well as their potential relevance for contemporary life.
  • To explore how ancient socio-historical contexts and the interpreter’s context inform interpretation.
  • To engage with biblical themes as they are presented in various passages in a biblical book or books and explore the relevance of that biblical theme today.

课程的贡献

The location of 圣经的基础 within Samford’s core curriculum reflects a commitment within the university that Scripture should undergird all of Samford’s academic programs. While not all courses require skilled biblical interpretation, an intellectually rigorous and faithfully committed approach to the Bible shapes each program. A nursing student may learn a mass of information and techniques for patient care, but she or he also asks critical questions: Why is it important to care for people in the first place? How does my dispensing of care reflect my grasp of God’s purposes? How does my treatment of this particular patient draw on—or ignore—my understanding of God’s kingdom? The finance major asks similar questions about financial planning, real estate, and banking. It is our hope that students will emerge from 圣经的基础 knowing the importance of asking such questions and having the means to begin to answer them.

历史课程

The Christian commitments of Alabama Baptists formed part of the underpinning of Samford when it was founded as Howard College in 1841. The College appointed Jesse Hartwell as its first Professor of Theology in 1844, though it would be another fifty years before a course on the Bible was offered for credit. Soon thereafter all students were required to take at least one Bible course. When Howard College organized itself into departments in 1916, the Bible curriculum was entrusted to the Department of Religious Education. 通过各种名称的变化, the Department of Biblical and Religious Studies has continued to offer an extensive curriculum devoted to the study of the Scriptures.

In 1997, 亚虎app官方下载推出了新的核心课程, and the four-credit Biblical Perspectives course replaced the two-course cycle of Old and New Testament Survey, 学生至少要选一门. Biblical Perspectives sought to connect the study of the Bible to the rest of the university’s core curriculum and to ensure that every Samford undergraduate studied both the Old and New Testaments.

In 2019, Biblical Perspectives was revised and became 圣经的基础, with a greater emphasis of providing students with a solid foundation of biblical literacy, 包括主要的文学, theological and ethical themes of Scripture and greater stress on the role of Scripture in faith formation.