UNISA Scripture Studies Course Module 2024-2025

Major Combinations:
NQF Level 5: Two modules: OTS1501, ECH1501
NQF Level 6: Three modules and One module from OTS2601, OTS2602, OTS2603, OTS2604
ONE module from ECH2601, ECH2602 ECH2603;
ONE more module, chosen from either group above.
NQF Level 7: BTH3720 as the capstone module and four modules any two from the following: ONE module from OTS3701, OTS3702, OTS3703, OTS3704, OTS3705 and any two ONE modules from ECH3701, ECH3702, ECH3703, ECH3704, ECH3705

Politics, Power and Prophecy in Ancient Israel – OTS3701
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 7	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Pre-requisite: 2 of OTS2601, OTS2602, OTS2603, OTS2604, ECH2601, ECH2602 & ECH2603
Purpose: To enable students to view the politics of ancient Israel holistically, and to gain an understanding of the role of the prophets in issues such as the use of power and social justice. This module will be useful to people who are interested in religion, politics, the Bible (in particular the Old Testament), spirituality and the church.

Introduction to Early Christian Literature, Theology, History and Archaeology – ECH1501
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 5	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
		Co-requisite: CGM1501
Purpose: To introduce students to the scientific study of early Christian documents; to facilitate competence in the use of early Christian literature in contemporary meaning making and identity formation; and to facilitate knowledge of the context for the origins of Christianity, and the early history of Christianity up to and including the second century C.E. Qualifying learners are able to describe and explain the contents, composition history, and message of the corpus of early Christian literature as well as interpret the Bible competently.

Excavating a Biblical City – OTS3702
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 7	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: To enable students to understand how archaeological excavations create knowledge of ancient societies. They will be able to read and interpret archaeological reports on the excavations of a specific city from the Old Testament world. Moreover, they will be able to interpret various archaeological finds in terms of the historical period (e.g. the Middle or Late Bronze Age, phases of the Iron Age, the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Periods) in which it was manufactured or from which it originated.

Introduction to Ancient Israelite Literature – OTS1501
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 5	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
		Co-requisite: CGM1501
Purpose: To introduce students to the history and literature of ancient Israel; get a sense of the flow of ancient Israelite history; facilitate competence in the use of the literature in contemporary meaning making and interpret the Old Testament competently.

The Bible and African Cultures – OTS3703
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 7	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: To enable learners to explore an intercultural interpretation of the Bible by discovering parallels between the cultural world of the Bible and African and Western manners and customs.

Text Interpretation, Theory and Method – ECH2601
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 6	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Pre-requisite: ECH1501 & OTS1501
Purpose: To facilitate knowledge of theories of interpretation of New Testament and early Christian literature, as well as knowledge of the context relatedness of interpretation. Qualifying learners are able to use methods of interpretation and thus become competent social agents and interpreters of Christian resources.

The Bible and Sexuality – OTS3704
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 7	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: To enable students to understand current discourses about sexuality and sexual relationships and to compare these with discourses, experiences and practices which existed in ancient Israel; to interpret various Old Testament texts in order to gain an understanding of how the ancient Israelites viewed sexuality and how this influenced their discourses, relationships and practices. Qualified students can interpret selected Old Testament passages dealing with sexual practices and experiences and relate these to contemporary discussions about sexuality, sexual relationships and practices.

Daily Life in Early Christianity – ECH2602
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 6	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: To enable students to describe and demonstrate understanding of daily life in New Testament times. Students who have completed this module will be able to better read, understand and interpret the documents produced in this era.

Understanding the Old Testament through Archaeology – OTS3705
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 7	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: To enable students to relate archaeological and historical geographical information to the Old Testament. This module will be useful to people who are interested in the historical background of the Bible.

Early Christian Spirituality – ECH3705
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 7	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: This module is useful to people who have a desire to develop insight into the diversity of spiritualities in early Christianity. The purpose of the learning experience is to develop a historical consciousness, which is facilitated through an exposition of various modes of being spiritual. Qualifying learners are able to recognize and compare six modes of spirituality and critically evaluate contemporary spiritualities, and are able to engage in contemporary dialogue on spiritual diversity.

Illness, Health and Healing in the Early Christian World – ECH2603
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 6	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: To enable students to describe, compare and evaluate faith healing, exorcisms and other folk healings in early Christian communities. They will gain an understanding of illness, health and healing in the New Testament and early Christian documents as well as the role of health care systems in society. Students credited with this module will be able to analyse the role of a variety of health care practices in the formation and maintenance of religious communities in particular and society in general.

The Bible, Creation and Ecology – OTS2601
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 6	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Pre-requisite: ECH1501 & OTS1501
Purpose: To introduce students to biblical creation narratives and creation theology and provide them with an elementary background to ecology. Certain implications of these fields of study are explored and these will enable students to critically participate in current debates on the relationship between science and faith and to contribute to discourses concerning ecological issues.

From Dan to Beersheba: an Archaeological Tour through Ancient Israel – OTS2602
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 6	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: To gain knowledge of the occupation history, excavation history, and Bible-related history of eight well-known biblical cities.

Life Orientation: Biblical Perspectives – OTS2603
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 6	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: To assist students in gaining knowledge and honing skills that will enable them to use the Bible meaningfully in the process of life orientation. It is aimed at students’ personal lives, and at situations in schools in which they act as facilitators of the learning area called `Life Orientation’.

The Bible and the Eradication of Poverty – OTS2604
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 6	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: To enable students to make a contribution to the eradication of poverty through a better understanding of people’s experiences of poverty in the present-day world and in ancient Israelite societies, as well as by studying various biblical perspectives on poverty.

Integrated Theological Praxis – BTH3720
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 7	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: This compulsory ‘capstone’ module may only be done by students in the final semester of their studies for the BTh degree. Qualifying students can integrate the insights and competences they gained from doing the other 29 BTh modules, and use those insights to design and carry out a small scale ministry project in their community to address a specific ocietal problem.

Death, Tombs and Burials in the Early Christian World – ECH3701
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 7	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: To facilitate knowledge about the archaeological and textual evidence regarding tombs, death and afterlife beliefs in the New Testament and early Christianity and to critically reflect on mourning and burial practices. Students will be able to compare, describe and evaluate these beliefs and practices in historical and cross-cultural instances as well as in contemporary communities where early Christian documents function as master narratives and identity creating symbol systems.

Religion, Worship and Prayer in the Early Christian World – ECH3702
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 7	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: To facilitate understanding the religious landscape of the early Christian world, and how religious practices contribute to community formation and identity construction. Students will be able to describe, compare and evaluate the role of magic, sacred places and holy persons in the documents and artifacts of early Christianity as well as in contemporary Christian communities.

The Bible and Human Development in Post-Colonial Africa – ECH3703
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 7	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: To facilitate knowledge of how different ways of interpreting the Bible can be used to facilitate human development in post-colonial Africa. Students credited with this unit standard are able to integrate methods of Biblical interpretation and theories of people centred development. They are able to design practical models for development in Africa in which religious aspects are integrated. This learning is of interest to students engaged in development studies and activities involving social change.

Construction of Bodies, Gender and Sexuality in Early Christianity – ECH3704
Under Graduate Degree	Semester module	NQF level: 7	Credits: 12
Module presented in English
Purpose: Firstly to acquire knowledge on how the Graeco-Roman culture produced early Christian bodies and how early Christian experience, knowledge and bodies were interrelated. Secondly, students who complete this module can critically assess contemporary attitudes towards constructions of bodies. Furthermore, students will be able to understand and evaluate how bodies and religion interact in the formation of culture, and integrate this knowledge in historical studies concerned with the body, such as History, Classical Studies, Anthropology or Cultural Studies. This module complements approaches concerned with the health of the body, such as the Health Sciences and Psychology. Lastly, it provides a critical dimension to transformational approaches, such as Gender Studies, Philosophy and Ethics.