English: What is the Bible?

Introductory exploration of one or more literary genres. May repeat for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years.

Title: What is the Bible? Colocated with REL 1250 Total combined enrollment = 40 Open to degree and PACE students

What is the Bible? is premised on the notion that a full understanding of the Bible requires an in-depth consideration of how, why, when, and even where it was written. To that end, the course will focus on the development of Jewish culture in its relation both to the rise and fall of the nation-state of Israel (including its often vexed relationship to other near-Eastern cultures) and to the biblical notion of the covenant as this at once inflected and was inflected by cultural and political affairs. The final unit of the course will examine the emergence of Christianity as one line of evolution within this predominantly Jewish culture, with particular attention to how the concept of the Messiah (the anointed one) was applied to Jesus of Nazareth.

First and foremost: open-mindedness. But also a commitment to reading, regular attendance in class, and attentiveness to the guidelines for specific assignments

Exams (both in-class and essay-style take-home); regular participation in online discussion groups