Edward C. Hobbs came to Wellesley College in 1981 as Professor of Religion, where he also served as Chairman of the Department of Religion until 1990, and to Harvard University as Sometime Frothingham Professor of New Testament. Between 1958 and 1981 he was Professor of Theology and Hermeneutics at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, Professor of New Testament Theology at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, and Professor of Medicine at the University of California (San Francisco Medical Center), where he taught philosophy of medicine. He was also Visiting Professor of Philosophy for seven years at the University of California campus at Davis. Prior to 1958 he had served for a decade on the faculties of the University of Chicago and Southern Methodist University. He has also served as Visiting Professor at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, as well as the Claremont Graduate School, Southern California School of Theology, Pacific School of Religion, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, and San Francisco Theological Seminary. He has delivered major series of lectures at more than fifty universities in America, Great Britain (including Oxford University), and Germany, and has led dozens of week-long conferences for thousands of ministers and laity of the major Protestant and Catholic churches -- Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, United Church, and Roman Catholic. He has presented lecture series on theology and the visual arts at major museums in Los Angeles, Berkeley, and Hawaii. Dr. Hobbs is a specialist in the field known as hermeneutics (interpretation theory) and in New Testament. He was educated at the University of Chicago where he received degrees in philosophy, theology, and history of culture. He is the author of several books, the first of which was published in 1950 by the University of Chicago Press and the latest in 1990 by the University of California/Center for Hermeneutical Studies, as well as many articles, in a variety of fields which include New Testament, Hebrew Bible, ancient Greek, theology, the fine arts, liturgics, and occasionally wine. Among his avocations is the study, appreciation, and collection of fine wines; and for almost twenty years (until its sale in 1987) he was one of the owners of Ridge Vineyards (whose Cabernets have ranked highest in the world in many international tastings). His appearance on public television as a wine specialist complemented the hundreds of wine-tastings he has conducted for over thirty years. He has served as President of the Society of Biblical Literature, as Chairman of the New Testament Colloquium, and as Chairman of the Center for Hermeneutical Studies in Berkeley, of which he was a founder in 1969. In March 1986, he was again elected President of the Society of Biblical Literature, two decades after his first election to that position; and in 1989 he was brought back to Berkeley for the twentieth anniversary celebration of the Center for Hermeneutical Studies, speaking on "Hermeneutical Cartography," which is also the title of his latest book.
COURSES
REL 105 Study of the New Testament
The writings of the New Testament as diverse expressions of early Christianity.
Close reading of the texts, with particular emphasis upon the Gospels and the
letters of Paul. Treatment of the literary, theological, and historical dimensions
of the Christian scriptures, as well as of methods of interpretation. The beginnings
of the break between the Jesus movement and Judaism will be specially considered.
REL 209 Women, Sexuality, and Patriarchalism in the New Testament
The world from which Christianity emerged was largely
patriarchal and sexist, with a variety of attitudes towards sexual behavior
and marriage. The Christian movement itself took several different approaches
toward each of these issues, which found their way into the New Testament collection
and thus became the foundation for a multiplicity of stances in later centuries.
This variety in the documents will be examined, with special attention to their
roots and their results.
REL 211 Jesus of Nazareth
Historical study of Jesus, first as he is presented in the Gospels, followed
by interpretations of him at several subsequent stages of Christian history.
In addition to the basic literary materials, examples from the visual arts
and music will be considered, such as works by Michelangelo, Grünewald,
J. S. Bach, Beethoven, and Rouault, as well as a film by Pasolini. The study
will conclude with the modern “quest for the historical Jesus.”
REL 298 New Testament Greek
Reading and discussion of many characteristic New Testament texts, with attention
to aspects of Koiné Greek which differ from the classical Attic dialect.
REL 308 Seminar. Paul’s Letter to the Romans
An exegetical examination of the “Last Will and Testament” of the
Apostle Paul, concentrating especially on his theological construction of the
Gospel, on his stance vis-à-vis Judaism and its place in salvation-history,
and on the theologies of his opponents as revealed in his letters.
REL 310 Seminar. Mark, the Earliest Gospel
An exegetical examination of the Gospel of Mark, with
special emphasis on its character as a literary, historical, and theological
construct, presenting the proclamation of the Gospel in narrative form. The
Gospel’s relationships to the Jesus tradition, to the Old Testament/Septuagint,
and to the Christological struggles in the early church will be focal points
of study.