On this page you will find information about discussion sections for RLST 10.

Attendance and participation at all discussion sections is required; each Teaching Assistant will devise his or her own method of evaluating attendance and participation, so be sure you understand what is required of you in discussion section and, if you are unsure, check with your Teaching Assistant.

Contact information for the TAs can be found here.

Discussion Section Meeting Times and Places

Listed below are the meeting times and places for the discussion sections: make sure you know where and when to be in section. Sections meet at strange times, so be sure you know whether it is meeting in the morning or the evening.

The "Room" links (where available) will take you to a campus map of the building in which that section meets; to download a campus map, click here.

You must attend the section for which you are registered. Seriously.

Section Number

Day/Time

Room

Teaching Assistant

Discussion Section Topics

Listed below are the assigned readings and topics for each week's discussion section (also listed on the course syllabus handed out in class). Be sure to bring the assigned reading (i.e., your Bible and any online reading) with you to discussion sections so that you can speak intelligibly about the topic. Some weeks are designated as "open discussion."

Along with each topic and reading below are listed some suggested topics to help you get discussion going: you are not required to stick to these subjects, and you should feel free to discuss whatever points you feel are relevant to the reading and assigned topic. But remember that participation is required in sections, so the suggested ideas for discussion may help you think of something to say. In addition, you should bring any and all questions about reading or lecture and bring them up in discussion section. Attendance and participation in sections is required.

Week one

Discussion section topic: Open discussion

Reading: none

Suggested topics for discussion: Why do people read the Bible (both "believers" and "nonbelievers")? Why is the Bible important in contemporary U.S. society--is the Bible important in contemporary U.S. society? What parts of the Bible do people usually read? How do they read them? Why are people at public events always holding up signs that say "John 3:16"? Who's John 3:16? How is this class going to be different from Sunday School/Bible study/church? Any other questions you've always wanted to ask about the Bible, and were perhaps afraid to ask....

Week two

Discussion section topic:  Fact, fiction, mythology?

Reading: Genesis 1-11

Suggested topics for discussion: Do you have to believe something is literally true to believe that it is true? What is a "myth"? Are myths true, or false, or somewhere in between? Are novels (or stories, or plays, or poems) that convey some message "true"?  Do people believe that the events recounted in the first eleven chapters of Genesis actually happened the way they did (world created in 7 days, every animal in the world fit on one boat, etc.)? If they do, why do they? If they don't, does that mean they think the Bible is fiction? Mythological? Untrue?

Week three : No discussion section

Week four

Discussion section topic: God, Israel, and Sexual Betrayal

Reading: Ezekiel 16

Suggested topics for discussion: How effective are images of sexual betrayal and violence? Do we read "sex" (including both sexual activity and sexual roles, that is, gender relations) differently when one of the parties involved is more than human: that is, is it somehow "all right" for God to act brutally toward his lover? Are such images of sexuality perceived as "normal"--do we learn "truths" about the roles between men and women in such portrayals? If so, what are the "truths" about men, women, and sex being conveyed in this prophetic text? Why would the Bible use violent images of sexual brutality to convey religious messages? Why would an individual (a prophet) use such images?

Week five

Note: Discussion groups that meet on Thursdays or Fridays may switch discussion topics from Week Five and Week Six in order to have an opportunity for midterm review.

Discussion section topic: Gender, God, and Israel

Reading: Song of Solomon (aka Song of Songs): entire book

Suggested topics for discussion: How effective are images of sexual intimacy and loyalty? Do we read "sex" (including both sexuality attraction and sexual roles, that is, gender relations) differently when one of the parties involves is more than human (God)? Are such images of sexuality perceived as "normal"--do we learn "truths" about the roles between men and women in such portrayals? If so, what are those truths? Are they true for all time, or do they tell us something instead about sexual relations and desires in another time and place? Why do you think so many readers of this text have resorted to metaphor or allegory (that is, the text is "really" about something other than sexual relations), and how persuasive are such readings?

Week six 

Note: Discussion groups that meet on Thursday or Friday, after the midterm, may switch discussion topics from Week Four and Week Five in order to have an opportunity for midterm review.

Discussion section topic: Open discussion and midterm review

Reading:  none

Suggested topics for discussion: Midterm? There's a midterm??

Week seven : No discussion sections

Week eight

Discussion section topic: The Passion Story

Reading:  Matthew 27:24-66; Mark 15; Luke 23:13-56; John 19

Suggested topics for discussion:  How could you reconcile the four accounts of the trial and death of Jesus? On what points do the stories agree, and where do they disagree? How do the impressions of Jesus differ from story to story--does he suffer more or less in different accounts? What access to we have to Jesus' emotional state: is he calm, excited, scared, proud, defiant? What narrative role do the other characters--Pilate, "the Jews," the guards, the crucified thieves--play in creating this impression of Jesus? What do you make of Jesus' last words in the different accounts? Why would believing readers--ancient or modern--want four distinct accounts of this event? Why has it been important for people throughout history to identify the "good guys" and the "bad guys"? Considering also passages concerning "the Jews" in the Acts of the Apostles, what possibilities does the passion account leave for interfaith dialogue between Christians and Jews?

Week nine

Discussion section topic: The End of the World as We Know It

Reading: Revelation 13-14

Suggested topics for discussion: Is it possible to read these accounts as literal predictions of events that will come to pass? What kinds of literal interpretations have heard (or can you imagine) for such images as the dragon, the ten-horned beast, the "mark" for buying and selling, the Lamb on Zion, the Son of Man with the sickle, and so forth? Would an ancient reader understand the literal meaning of these images differently from a modern reader? Some readers believe Revelation can be understood if you understand the "key" (Lamb = Christ, dragon = Devil, and so forth); but what if a reader had never heard of Christianity, had never read other parts of the Bible, and had no other context: how would he or she make sense of this text?

Week ten

Discussion section: Open discussion and review for final exam

Reading: none

Suggested topics for discussion: Final?? There's a final too?? Aw, great.