John C. Reeves
John C. Reeves
Blumenthal Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies, Department of Religious Studies

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Course Materials » RELS 2000: Topics Courses in Religious Studies » Alternative Messiahs » Course syllabus for Alternative Messiahs

Course syllabus for Alternative Messiahs

RELS 2000
Alternative Messiahs
W 2:30-5:15
Dr. John C. Reeves
204B Macy
Office hours: by appointment only
jcreeves@charlotte.edu
https://pages.charlotte.edu/john-reeves/

‘Then I saw a man (who was) despicable, broken down and in pain … I asked him, “Sir, what is the name of this place?” He said to me, “This is mighty Rome, wherein I am imprisoned.”  I said to him: “Who then are you? What is your name? What do you seek here? What are you doing in this place?”  He said to me: “I am the Messiah of the Lord, confined in prison until the time of the End.”’ (Sefer Zerubbabel in Ms. Oxford Bodl. Heb. d. 11)

Course description:  An overview of the different ways that the figure known as ‘the messiah’ or Christ was portrayed and interpreted by a variety of biblically affiliated religious groups.  In this course we will engage in the close reading of a large number of narrative, poetic, and ritual texts which mention this character in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the variegated roles it can play in pre-modern Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and other religious contexts.  Careful attention will also be given to the cultural issues surrounding the generation and promulgation of competing character profiles of such figures both within and outside the scriptures of these kindred religions.

Warning: In this class you will hear or read ideas which may disturb, shock, dismay, or outrage you, and you will be compelled to think using methodological paradigms which you may deem troubling, wrong-headed, blasphemous, or even sacrilegious. If you think you might be uncomfortable in this situation, then this is definitely not the class for you. On the other hand, if you think you can suspend your uncritical attachments to certain notions about scriptures, their meaning, and the circumstances surrounding their production, then you should undoubtedly learn a great deal about the historical and cultural matrices betwixt which Judaism, Christianity, and Islam arose and flourished.

Texts:

You do not need to buy anything from the bookstore.  Web links to many of the texts we will read are available on the course website.  Other texts will be distributed by the instructor electronically on Canvas as needed.

Course requirements:

a. Readings. The nature of this course entails a significant amount of close reading and reflection both within and outside of class. Students are responsible for completing the reading assignments (outlined below or assigned in class or via email) in a timely manner.  Every student must read and critically engage substantial portions of Bible, Qur’ān, parascriptural works, commentaries, testimonia, folktales, incantations, prayers, hymns, and assorted esoterica which have been englished from texts originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Mandaic, Greek, Latin, Coptic, Arabic, Persian, and Ethiopic.

b. Take-home written exercises. An indeterminate number of written exercises (usually one per week; optimally one per class) will be prepared and submitted for in-class discussion and out-of-class evaluation. These exercises vary in length from less than one (1) to a maximum of five (5) pages.  All of these exercises will be announced and explained by the instructor during the course of or at the conclusion of a class meeting.  The instructor’s evaluation of the student’s collective written exercise performance (using a scale √+ = A-; √ = C+; √- = D) will comprise 75% of the course grade.

c. Individual involvement. Almost perfect attendance (see below) is an essential requirement for this course. Each class meeting builds upon the knowledge gained during previous meetings.  Moreover, in-class discussion and analysis comprise a significant portion of every class meeting.  Preparation for every class usually involves the completion of a series of assigned readings and/or written assignment(s).  Students are expected to contribute in an informed manner[1] to the public analysis and discussion of any assigned topic, and the instructor reserves the right to transform class discussions into unannounced oral ‘pop-quizzes’ should he deem the situation so warrants (grades for such quizzes are averaged with those of the take-home exercises).  The instructor’s assessment of one’s attendance, class preparation, and informed oral contributions will constitute 25% of the final course grade.

d. Zakhor (Remember!): Mastery of the assigned readings and diligent class attendance are necessary prerequisites for the successful completion of this course. Each student is responsible for all lectures, class discussions, assignments, and announcements, whether or not he/she is present when they occur.

Miscellaneous information:

a. The grading scale used in this course is as follows:

91-100                      A             =              demonstrable mastery of material; can creatively synthesize

81-90                        B             =              some demonstrable proficiency in control of material & analysis

71-80                        C             =              satisfactory performance of assignments; little or no analysis

61-70                        D             =              inadequate and/or faulty understanding of material

0-60                          F              =              unacceptable college-level work

b. One of the requirements of this course is to complete the work of the course on time. Sometimes there are legitimate reasons for late work—an illness or other emergency. ‘Emergency,’ however, does not include your social involvements, travel plans, job schedule, disk, wi-fi, and/or printer failures, the state of your love life, your obligations to other courses, or general malaise over the state of the world.  The world has been in a mess as long as anyone can remember, and most of the world’s work is done by people whose lives are a mass of futility and discontent.  If you haven’t learned yet, you had better learn now to work under the conditions of the world as it is.  Therefore:

1) All unsubmitted assignments will be averaged as a 0 in the computation of the course grade.  No exceptions will be considered or granted.

2) For accounting purposes, letter grades bear the following values: A=95; A-=92; B=85; C+=78; C=75; D=65; F=30.

3) Homework exercises fall due on the date announced by the instructor in class. They must be typed, double-spaced, and submitted by email to me in either Microsoft Word or Adobe format prior to the start of the class for which they have been assigned.  No physical copies of homework will be accepted or returned.  Since we will normally discuss these exercises together in class on that date, it would clearly be unfair to those who submitted their work on time for me to accept ‘late’ work from those who were privy to our in-class discussion.  Hence I will not accept ‘late’ homework submissions (even from those of you who may be physically absent during our discussion); however, ‘early’ submissions (i.e., before the start of class) are always welcome and will receive full credit.  These exercises are graded using a scale √+ = A-; √ = C+; √- = D; failure to submit = 0.

4) Attendance at class meetings will be monitored by the instructor.  One or two absences are somewhat understandable, three (3) is the limit of tolerability.  Four (4) or more absences will result in an automatic F for the course.  Please note that—with the exception of religious holidays—the instructor does not distinguish ‘excused’ from ‘unexcused’ absences.  Unsanctioned late arrivals and early departures will be tallied as absences.

5) Policy regarding Audits: the instructor expects auditors (whether formally enrolled as such or not) to meet the same attendance, preparation, and oral participation standards as those students who are taking the course for credit.  The instructor does not expect auditors to prepare and submit any written assignments.

6) I do not post grades on Canvas or use it for grading.  You can easily determine your own course progress (or lack thereof) by paying attention to the number and quality of the grades you earn over the course of the semester and performing the simple arithmetic required (using the equivalency tables listed above) to generate a ‘rough’ grade average.

c. There will be no class meetings on the following days:
Wednesday, October 2 (Erev Rosh Hashanah)
Wednesday, October 16 (Erev Sukkot)
Wednesday, November 27 (Thanksgiving break)

d. Assistance and solicitation of criticism is your right as a member of the class. It is not a privilege to be granted or withheld. Do not hesitate to request it nor wait too late in the course for it to be of help.

e. The standards, requirements, and procedures set forth in this syllabus are subject to modification at any time by the course instructor.  Notice of such changes will be by announcement in class, or by email, or by changes to this syllabus posted on the course website at https://pages.uncc.edu/john-reeves/course-materials/.

ROUGH COURSE OUTLINE

1. Some issues surrounding methodology and terminology
a. how to read a ‘religious’ text: goals and caveats
b. terminological issues
c. considering Isa 45:1
Required:
Isa 45:1
R. J. Zwi Werblowsky, “Messianism in Jewish History,” Journal of World History 11 (1968): 30-45.
Gershom Scholem, “Toward an Understanding of the Messianic Idea in Judaism,” in idem, The Messianic Idea in Judaism and Other Essays on Jewish Spirituality (New York: Schocken Books, 1971), 1-36.

2. Scriptural & parascriptural antecedents
a. what exactly is a ‘messiah’? why do they emerge?
b. creating a ‘messianic’ cv
c. screening some suggested candidates
Required:
2 Samuel 7:1-17; Psalm 89:19-37; Jeremiah 33:14-18; Psalm 132:11-12; 1 Kings 2:4; 8:22-26; 1 Chronicles 28:7
Amos 9:11-12; Ezekiel 34:20-31; 37:15-28
Haggai 1-2; Zechariah 3-6
Genesis 49:10; Numbers 24:17

3. Messianism in the Dead Sea Scrolls
a. the so-called ‘True Teacher’ (Moreh [ha]-Ṣedeq)?
b. a plurality of messiahs?
c. the Testaments of the 12 Patriarchs
Required:
1QS 9.11; 1QSa 2.11-22; 1QSb 5.20-28; CD 6.10-11; 7.18-20; 12:23-13.1; 14.19; 20.1; 4QpPs 37 III.15; 1QpHab; 11QMelch
T. Reuben 6.8; T. Simon 7.2; T. Levi 2.11; 8.11ff.; 18; T. Judah 21.2-5; 24; T. Dan 5.10; T. Gad 8.1
Hebrew T. Naphtali

4. Early heterodox Jewish & Christian currents
a. Simon Magus
b. Elchasai
c. Mani
d. the ‘True Prophet’
e. the Arab prophet in the Doctrina Jacobi
Required:
Various sources on these figures

5. Messianism in some postbiblical Jewish and Christian apocalypses
a. Sefer Zerubbabel
b. Daniel apocalypses
c. ‘Ten Signs’ (‘Eser ’Otot) apocalypses
Required:
Various postbiblical apocalypses

6. Some Islamicate messianic currents
a. Abū ‘Īsā al-Iṣfahānī
b. Bihāfarīd
c. Muqanna‘
Required:
Various sources on these figures

7. Maimonides & messianism
a. his Mishnah Commentary and his Mishneh Torah
b. his ‘Epistle to Yemen’
Required:
Passages from these works of the Rambam

8. Kabbalah & messianism
a. introductory remarks
b. the Sabbatian movement & its aftermath
Required:
Gershom Scholem, “Redemption Through Sin,” in idem, The Messianic Idea, 78-141; 346-53.

9. Final thoughts

SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR RELS 2000

In response to student requests for recommendations regarding useful and enlightening discussions of certain topics, themes, and personalities that are presented in class and/or readings, I offer the following suggestions for further study at the student’s leisure.  I confine myself to materials which I myself have used with profit and which are currently available at Atkins Library.

It is often helpful for the student to begin with appropriate articles in the standard Bible dictionaries.  The most up to date are The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols.; ed. Katherine Doob Sakenfeld; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006-09) and The Anchor Bible Dictionary (6 vols.; New York: Doubleday, 1992).  Dated but still reliable are The Interpreters’ Dictionary of the Bible (4 vols.) and its Supplementary Volume (ed. George A. Buttrick; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962 & 1976), and the Harper’s Bible Dictionary (ed. Paul J. Achtemeier; San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985).  Highly recommended are the relevant articles in the new Encyclopaedia Judaica (22 vols.; Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA/Thomson Gale, 2007); the Encyclopaedia of Islam, Third Edition (Leiden: Brill, 2007-  ); the Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān (6 vols.; ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe; Leiden: Brill, 2001-2006), and The Qur’ān: An Encyclopedia (ed. Oliver Leaman; London and New York: Routledge, 2006).

[1] Note Prov 15:28: לב צדיק יהגה לענות ופי רשעים יביע רעות, which I’m inclined to render as ‘the mind of the devoted (student) contemplates before answering, whereas the mouth of the clueless spews forth worthless nonsense.’

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