RELI 120 - The Jewish Bible

In this course, we will study the Jewish Bible (also called the Tanakh or Old Testament) in its original cultural and literary contexts. Alongside an analysis of the biblical texts, students will also encounter related literature from the Ancient Near East to compare with the Bible. Through this comparative approach, we will gain insight into ancient history, as well as the political and theological views of the Israelites and their neighbors. We will also see how the Jewish Bible contributes to various topics of discourse that remain relevant today, including issues around ethnicity, feminism, LGBTQ concerns, God and science, ethics, and collective memory. As such, students will have the opportunity to put the Bible into dialogue with their own understandings of identity, society, and religiosity. Every year. (4 Credits)