Wednesday, September 6: Course introduction I. Read through syllabus II. Classroom introductions (me, you) III. Quick tour of assignments and online resources Friday, September 8: How do we read a Bible? I. Bible-reading logistics a. Old Testament, Apocrypha, New Testament b. Books, chapters, verses     group exercise: Find the passage! II. Three approaches a. historical-critical b. literary-critical c. moral-ethical     example texts: The flood narrative (Genesis 6-9); The Gerasene demoniac (Mark 5) III. “Scholarly approaches” a. what do biblical studies scholars do? b. who do they do it for? c. are we biblical studies scholars? Monday, September 11: Canons and boundaries I. Tanak (Jewish Scriptures) a. what? (Law, Prophets, Writings) b. when? (languages, translations) c. who? (communities, versions) II. Christian Bible a. what? (Old Testament, New Testament [gospels, acts, letters, apocalypse]) b. when? (languages, translations) c. who? (communities, versions)     group exercise: beginnings and endings III. canon consciousness a. what is a canon? b. why have canon? c. who makes canons (and who doesn't)?     modern canons: Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek, MCU Wednesday, September 13: Times and places I. Histories a. History within the Bible (creation to the end of the world) i. creation; patriarchs; chosen people; kingdoms; exiles ii. Jesus; apostles; end-time b. History of the Bible (ancient near east to Rome) i. Mesopotamian empires ii. Greek kingdoms iii. Roman empire II. Geographies a. “ancient near East” b. “Greco-Roman world” III. Themes a. vertical: divine-human b. horizontal: empire-community     modern stakes: empire, power, liberation Friday, September 15: Reading and identity I. What do we do with ancient sources? a. “secular” sources (approaches? stakes?) b. “religious” sources (approaches? stakes?)     group discussion: what is religion? II. What do we do with ancient sources? a. the past is a mirror b. the past is a foreign country c. positionality and lenses     example text: John 4 III. How are we doing? (catching our breath) Monday, September 18: Creation and destruction I. The character of God a. YHWH, ancient near eastern deity b. God, eternal creator c. the Documentary Hypothesis     group exercise: “J” vs. P” in the creation narrative II. The character of humanity a. pride and fall b. hero and victim     discussion: Noah as hero, victim, or perpetrator? III. What can we learn— a. history (etiology) b. literature (mythology) c. ethically (theodicy)     discussion: does God hate Job? Wednesday, September 20: Covenant and promise I. God and Israel a. “chosenness” as historical b. “chosenness” as literary c. “chosenness” as ethical     key terms: hesed II. covenants a. Abraham b. Moses c. David     discussion: circumcision? Friday, September 22: Crisis and redemption I. Israel and “the nations” a. “exodus” (Egyptians) b. “conquest” (Canaanites) c. “exile” (Babylonians) II. God and Israel, part II a. redemption (to the Land) b. retribution (in the Land) c. restoration (back to the Land)     discussion: Bible as crisis manual? III. How are we doing (catching our breath some more) Monday, September 25: No class (Yom Kippur) Wednesday, September 27: Families (husbands, wives, children, slaves) I. The ancient household a. patriarchy b. bondage II. The biblical household a. patriarchy? b. bondage? c. God as father, husband, enslaver     example texts: Hagar’s story; Ezekiel’s allegory Friday, September 29: Politics (judges, kings, queens, prophets) I. Where does authority come from? a. birth status (kings; aristocrats) b. special gifts (prophets; holy men/women) c. expertise (priests; scribes)     discussion: authority and race, class, gender, ability II. How is authority enacted? a. domination b. divination c. mediation     example texts: David & Bathsheba; Jezebel & Elijah III. What do ancient politics have to do with modern readers? Monday, October 2: Law and (moral) order I. The Bible as legal code a. ritual b. daily life c. morality?     group exercise: the 10 Commandments II. What are laws for? a. community (God and Israel) b. morality (Israel versus the nations) c. control (man, women, children, the enslaved)     discussion: Amos 5-6: pro or anti “law”?     discussion: how do laws change? Wednesday, October 4: Wisdom and folly      group exercise: you are the advice columnist I. What is “philosophy”? a. metaphysics b. rules for living c. social elitism II. Biblical philosophy a. Proverbs: optimistic pragmatism b. Ecclesiastes: neutral pragmatism c. Job: pessimistic pragmatism     key terms: theodicy III. Philosophical contexts a. creation and destruction b. covenant and promise c. crisis and redemption Friday, October 6: Song and dance      group reading: Psalm 23 I. Biblical songs a. embedded songs (Moses, Miriam) b. stand-alone songs II. Why sing? a. individual expression b. communal expression III. Song of Solomon: what’s going on? a. sex in the Bible? b. “allegory” and Israel     side discussion: why have biblical “authors”?     if time: how are those Red Tent essays going? Tuesday, October 10: Diaspora and danger I. Diaspora/exile a. vertical axis (divine-human) b. horizontal axis (Israel-the nations) II. Diasporic literature a. colonial resistance b. gender and politics c. fantasy and reality d. assimilation and resistance Wednesday, October 11: Love and romance (and demons) I. Women in the Bible a. symbols b. traces c. models II. Ruth a. genealogy b. family c. love III. Tobit a. danger b. heroism c. marriage IV. Judith a. rage Friday, October 13: Culture and conflict I. Cultural and colonialism a. Hellenism b. Americanism? c. globalism II. Apocalypticism a. world-view b. literary genre c. ethical stance II. Revolt a. “Hammer time” b. Hanukkah Monday, October 16: Jesus as wonderworker I. The New Testament: in whole and pieces a. contents (from stories to canon) b. contexts (from Jewish movement to religion) II. What is a “messiah”? a. political contexts (Rome and revolution) b. religious contexts (apocalypse and atonement) III. Jesus as messiah in Mark a. miracles as healing     example text: Mark 5:25-34 b. miracles as resistance     example text: Mark 5:1-20 c. suffering as salvation Wednesday, October 18: Jesus as prophet I. The synoptic “problem” a. why “sources”? b. why “Q”? II. Jesus and the law a. fulfillment as intensification b. fulfillment as abrogation III. Jesus and death a. women     comparison: Jesus’s last words IV. Jesus and resurrection a. gentiles Friday, October 20: Jesus as God I. John versus the synoptics a. speeches versus sayings b. “signs” versus miracles c. “life” versus apocalypse II. Jesus as God’s... a. Word b. Son c. Advocate d. equal? III. What do we do with 4 gospels... a. communities b. historical Jesus c. history versus theology?     Monday, October 23: Apostles and teachers I. The Jesus movement a. evidence (letters, Acts) b. ideologies (expansion, apocalypse) c. stakes (origins, authenticity) II. Paul a. what’s an apostle? b. what is salvation?     group discussion: (why) did people follow Paul? III. The Jesus Movement as New Religious Movement a. charisma b. counterculture Wednesday, October 25: Jews and gentiles I. Israel and covenant... a. in Galatians b. in Romans c. in Hebrews     role play: Paul and Cephas in Antioch II. Gentiles and covenant a. in Galatians b. in Romans c. in Hebrews III. “Is the New Testament Anti-Jewish?” Friday, October 27: Insiders and outsiders I. Faith and city a. sacrifice b. sex c. statues II. Faith and empire a. persecution b. “exile”     group discussion: why “drop out”? III. Faith and community a. antichrists b. having “the spirit” Monday, October 30: Letters     group discussion: letter, email, text, tweet? I. Reading canon/reading apocrypha a. in antiquity b. in modernity II. Paul versus “Paul” a. pseudonymous or forgery? b. apocalypse c. charisma III. Paul in the world a. from prophet to bishop b. from prophet to philosopher Wednesday, November 1: Histories     group discussion: what is history? I. Apostolic histories a. counterhistory? b. fan fiction? II. Apostolic conquerors a. Paul in Rome b. Peter in Rome III. Apostolic enemies a. emperors b. heretics Friday, November 3: Biographies     group discussion: what is biography? I. Gospel as biography a. character versus chronology b. self versus development II. Interpretive gaps (midrash) a. of person b. of events     group discussion: what gaps does Mark leave? III. Child Jesus a. satire? b. piety? Monday, November 6: Martyrs I. Dying for God a. suffering for God b. rejection of “the world” c. pathology? II. Reading about dying for God a. solidarity (us against them) b. counterculture c. revolution Wednesday, November 8: Women I. Gender and history a. women’s history b. gender/power II. Women as apostles a. Junia(s) b. Thecla III. Women as symbols a. virgins b. (m)others Friday, November 10: The end of the world I. Apocalypse (again) a. as genre b. as worldview c. as entertainment? II. Revelation a. symbolapalooza     website fun: looking up 666 b. martyrs, virgins, (m)others     website interpretation: Brick Bible, “The Whore of Babylon” c. narrative criticism (where am “I” in Revelation?) III. Apocalypse (finally) a. violence b. fear c. hope? Monday, November 13: King of Kings mini-screening No lecture Wednesday, November 15: King of Kings discussion No lecture Friday November 17-Friday 24: No class Monday, November 27: Scroll, codex, website, app I. Book technology a. history b. significance     classroom exercise: make a scroll vs. make a codex II. Biblical book histories a. codex “revolution”? b. from print to pixel III. A tour of Bibles a. ritual Bibles b. secular (?) Bibles c. digital Bibles d. form and function? Wednesday, November 29: Lectionaries I. How are Bibles read? a. cover to cover? b. piecemeal?     classroom exercise: sortes biblicae II. Bible and ritual a. what are lectionaries b. who decides lectionaries? c. how do Bibles make ritual meaning? III. Lectionaries up close a. Jewish lectionaries: Torah scrolls and haftarot b. Christian lectionaries: bible lessons c. alternative lectionaries Friday, December 1: Homilies I. How are Bibles taught? a. homily history b. homily as ritual II. Homily forms a. relation to lectionary b. relation to current events     classroom exercise: hot (Bible) topics III. Check-in: how are we doing? Monday, December 4: Performance I. How are Bibles performed? a. from ritual to play b. Christmas pageants     brief screening: A Charlie Brown Christmas (clip) c. Purim spiel     brief screening: Les Miz – Les Megillah (clip) II. Historical performances a. passion as participation b. passion as performance c. Oberammergau and biblical identity Wednesday, December 6: Popular culture I. Popular biblical fictions a. revisiting Red Tent and King of Kings b. why retell a Bible story? why watch/read a retold Bible story? II. Big screen bibles a. “sword and sandals” epics b. Jesus movies c. animated Bibles     brief screening: Prince of Egypt (clip) III. Small screen a. religious television b. satire? (Simpsons: Bible Stories) c. who are pop culture bibles for? d. what Bible stories are “safe”? Friday, December 8: Politics I. Bibles in schools a. “Bible wars” b. Supreme Court cases II. Bibles in law a. First Amendment b. Ten Commandments? c. blue laws III. Bibles in politics a. swearing-in ceremonies b. “Judeo-Christian nation” (Christian nationalism?) c. a secular Bible?     show-and-tell: The “Jefferson Bible” Monday, December 11: Conclusions No lecture (bring your questions!)

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