SUBJECTS FOE SPECIAL RESEARCH:  1.  The organization of the Persian Empire under Darius.  Goodspeed, Hist, of Anc.  World, 62-3; Ragozin, Media, 384-91; Sayce, Anc.  Empires, 247-50; En.  Bib., I, 1016-7. 2.  The Persian invasions of Europe.  Goodspeed, Anc.  Hist., 122-8; Herodotus, IV, 1-142; Ragozin, Media, 412-29; Bury, Hist. of Greece, 265-96; Botsford, Hist. of Greece, 127-36. 3.  Contents and literary characteristics of Isaiah 40-48. St. O. T., Ill, 27-30; Cobb, in Jour, of Bib.  Lit., XXVII, 48-64; Box, Isaiah, 179-237.

Section XCVII.  Conditions and Problems in the Jewish Community.  GENERAL QUESTIONS:  I. What is the probable date of the book of Malachi? 2.  Describe its teachings regarding the temple service. 3.  The need of a great moral awakening. 4.  The doubts expressed by the faithful in the community. 5.  The encouraging promises held out to them. 6.  Presentation of the problem of the faithful in the psalms of the period.

SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH:  1.  Contemporary Greek history and literature.  Goodspeed, Anc.  Hist., 159-96; Bury, Hist. of Greece, 507-90; Jebb, Greek Lit., 109-20. 2.  The earliest psalms.  Briggs, Psalms, I, LXXXIX-XCII; Cobb, Bk. of Pss., XI-XIV; Driver, Lit. of the O.T., 371-2; McFadyen, Introd. to O.T., 238-50. 3.  Psalm literature among contemporary peoples.  Breasted, Hist. of Anc.  Egyptians, 273-7; Jastrow, Relig. of Bab. and Assyr., 294-327.

Section XCVIII.  The Problems and Teachings of the Book of Job.  GENERAL QUESTIONS:  1.  Describe the structure of the book of Job. 2.  The different literary units which have entered into it. 3.  The probable dates of these different sections. 4.  Contents of the original prose story. 5.  The theme and contents of the great poem in 3-31, 38:1-42:6. 6.  The different lines of progress in Job’s thought. 7.  The meaning of the speeches of Jehovah. 8.  The contribution of the book to the solution of the problem of evil.

SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH:  1.  The Babylonian prototype of Job.  Jastrow, in Jour. of Bib.  Lit., XXV, Pt.  II, 135-91. 2.  Comparison of Job with other great skeptical dramas.  Owen, The Five Great Skeptical Dramas of History. 3.  The modern explanations of the problem of evil.  Royce, Studies of Good and Evil.

Section XCIX.  The Training and Mission of the True Servant of Jehovah.  GENERAL QUESTIONS:  1.  Describe the different characteristics of Jehovah’s servant in Isaiah 49-53. 2.  What was the prophet’s purpose in presenting this vivid portrait of Jehovah’s ideal servant? 3.  Describe the class to whom the prophet appealed. 4.  His interpretation of the task of the servant. 5.  His training. 6.  The different methods whereby he was to accomplish his mission. 7.  Did the prophet have in mind an individual, a class, or simply an ideal character? 8.  In what ways were his predictions fulfilled? 9.  In what sense is his ideal of service of present-day application?