Introduction to Biblical Literature

Catalog description

This course will survey the structure of the Bible, Old and New Testaments, exploring the main genres of biblical literature: narrative, poetry, law, prophecy, historiography, wisdom, apocalypse, and epistles. Students will become familiar with major stories, themes, and metaphors that have shaped Western culture, literature, and theology, and also examine the relationship between the Hebrew literature of the Hebrew Bible (referred to as the Old Testament in the Christian tradition), and the Greek literature of the New Testament. Questions of historical reconstruction will address the ways in which events and societies contributed to the shaping of these famous texts and their impact on Western Culture at large.