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Why do we have a Bible from ancient Israel and Judah? Could something like it have existed among the Philistines, the Moabites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians or the Persians? If so, why haven’t they been transmitted throughout the ages and been translated into thousands of languages, as the Hebrew Scriptures have been? And why would such a sophisticated corpus of literature as the Bible have its origins in a remote region of the world (the southern Levantine hill country), rather than at the centers of ancient civilization (Mesopotamia and Egypt)? After all, these civilization centers boasted technological supremacy and military superiority. They were the ones who invented writing and easily conquered the population that produced the Bible. Finally, why has the Bible had such a huge impact on world history, shaping the identities of a very wide array of societies across the globe?
The course takes on this paramount question of the Bible’s raison d’être: its why and wherefore. The first two weeks of the class treat the history and archaeology of ancient Israel, and the subsequent weeks examine how the Biblical authors tell their history and interpret their past.
Same reason the Egyptian book of the dead was written -
It was written but it didn't make the same impact on human history.
It was written but it didn't make the same impact on human history.
Course Syllabus
Week 1: The Riddle That Has Yet To Be Solved
The Bible's Purpose
Books in Ancient Religions
Between "Church and State"
Theologies of the Bible
A Shared Text
The Bible as a "Pedagogical Program of Peoplehood"
Week 2: The Rise and Fall
Israel's Place in the World of the Ancient Near East
The Emergence of Two Competing Kingdoms
Military Triumphs
The Onslaught of Imperial Powers
Defeat and Deportation
Conditions of Conquest
Week 3: The Making of the Bible as a Response to Defeat
Diaspora and Divided Communities
Creating a Shared Past and Common Ancestors
The Pentateuch and Historical Narratives
One People with Multiple Law Codes
Creating a Collection of National Songs and Laments
Reinterpreting Prophecies
Comparative Cases: English and German History
Week 4: Reinventing the Hero
Martial Valor, Masculinity, and Martyrdom
Long Life versus Glorified Heroic Death
The New Role of the Family
From Battles to Building
Comparatives Cases: From the Crow Nation to Jane Austen
Week 5: A Wise and Discerning People
The Role of Education
National Education Programs: From 19th Century Germany to the Dalai Lama
From Deuteronomy to Ezra-Nehemiah
Freedom of Information and Open Access
Making Priestly Knowledge Public
The Attempts of the State to Control Prophets
Divine Knowledge for the People, Not Solely the King
The Reason Why Biblical Writings Survived Catastrophes
Week 6: Covenant and Kinship
The Rise of Empires
One God
A New "Political-Theology"
Covenantal Ethics of Peoplehood
The Power of Law
Protecting the Individual and Defending Difference
Caring for the Land
Week 7: The Bible's Future
The Bible's Pedagogical and Political Purpose
The Bible's Radical Theology
The Bible as an Attempt to Unify Rival Communities
The Bible's Impact on Political Identities Throughout the World
The Bible's Role in the Public Sphere and in Secular Society
The Bible as a Model for New Forms of Community