THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

THE BIBLE AND ITS INTERPRETERS FALL 2019 CTI 304 / 28905 RS 315 / 42050

INSTRUCTOR

Øyvind Bjøru

1 COURSE DESCRIPTION It has been called “the greatest story ever told”. The Bible springs out of traditions, literature, and momentous events in the Ancient Near East and Greco-Roman world of the first millennium BCE, but in turn, the Bible has also spawned a vast body of interpretative and literary texts that keeps on growing to this day. In this section of “The Bible and its Interpreters” we will examine the stories, traditions, and events that shaped the biblical text, as well as the reverberations it has had throughout the past two millennia. We will look at how the myths of Mesopotamia, and the experience of the Israelites/Judaeans as a people wedged in between the mighty empires of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Macedon, Persia, and Rome shaped the Bible. We will also trace how the Bible as text and tradition has been interpreted to influence legal codes, religious traditions, art and literature all the way up to the present, including the Mishna and Quran in the first millennium CE, the medieval poetry of Hildegard of Bingen and Dante Alighieri, and modern authors such as Dostoevsky and Saramago. The formative texts of the distant past meet the creative burst of modernity as we discuss scripture, literature, rhetoric, authority, and art as it pertains to the Bible, its history, and its impact on the world around us.

COURSE GOALS — Sample the genres of the Bible — Investigate the textual strategies of the various genres — Engage in close reading of primary texts and contextualize them — Become familiar with the literary milieu in which the Bible emerged — Recognize the range of creative endeavor the biblical text has generated

FLAGS This course carries the Global Cultures flag. Global Cultures courses are designed to increase your familiarity with cultural groups outside the United States. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one non-U.S. cultural group, past or present.

This course also carries the Writing Flag. Writing Flag courses are designed to give students experience with writing in an academic discipline. In this class, you can expect to write regularly during the semester, complete substantial writing projects, and receive feedback from your instructor to help you improve your writing. You will also have the opportunity to revise one assignment, and you may be asked to read and discuss your peers’ work. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from your written work. Writing Flag classes meet the Core Communications objectives of Critical Thinking, Communication, Teamwork, and Personal Responsibility, established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

2 COURSE MATERIALS Required text: — The New Oxford Annotated Bible (NOAB) with : New Revised Standard Version. Fifth Edition, 2018. The NOAB is available through the UT Co-Op and on two-hour library use only loan at PCL (BS 191.5 A1 2018 N48 2018).

The remaining readings and other materials for the lectures will be posted on the Canvas site for this class.

ASSESSMENT Students will write two papers and revise one of them, diving more deeply into topics that this course has introduced them to. The first two papers engage with one and two biblical passages respectively, and the third is a revision and expansion of one of the first two papers. At the beginning of the course, some time will be devoted to discussing these papers. All papers will be submitted through Canvas, under Assignments, in .docx or .pages format.

Paper 1, due Sep 27, 3pm (1500–2000 words) The student will choose a biblical passage up to a chapter in length and perform a close reading of the text highlighting the features that shows what genre the passage belongs to a