| English 360: The Bible as Literature
Michael Bryson
ST 832
818-677-5695
michael.bryson@csun.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION: God is a serious
problem. For many centuries, passionately argumentative people
disagreed with each other about how to understand and come to terms
with the problem they called “God” (by the different names of El, or
Elohim, or Shaddai, or Yahweh). The arguments and counterarguments
these people often lived and died over are recorded in what is
perhaps the Western world's greatest anthology—the collection of
books known as the Bible. This course is intended to familiarize
literary students with what is arguably the most influential text in
Western culture. No previous acquaintance with the Bible is
presupposed. We will consider such questions as the historical
situation of the Bible's writers, the changing representation of God
as a literary character, and the Greek “New Testament” as a radical
reinterpretation of the "Old Testament" (otherwise known as the
Hebrew Bible). The individual books we will focus on include
Genesis, Exodus, Judges, Ruth, selected Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Job,
Amos, Hosea, Jonah, and Isaiah; the Gospel according to Matthew, the
epistles Galatians, Ephesians and 1-3 John, as well as Revelation.
EVALUATION METHOD:
There will be three essay exams. In the range of 6-8 pages, these will
be responses to essay questions (three or four), and will require you to
present an analysis to test accurate knowledge of the readings and
material presented in discussions. These essays will not require
outside sources (other than lecture material and the course textbook),
but will require you to read the Bible texts closely, and cite evidence
from the texts (using MLA citation) to back up your arguments
READING LIST:
Selections from
The Bible, New Revised Standard Version
Selections from
The Bible: A Literary and Historical Introduction, Bart Erhman
Weekly Preview
Week 1 (8/25)
1) Introductions. What is the Bible? Historical/cultural background of the Bible--Erhman
2-8, 47-55
2) Creations--Genesis 1-3; Erhman, 31-38
Week 2 (9/1)
Labor Day--Off
Week 3 (9/8)
Three recurring themes: the rival brothers, the God who repents, the covenant--Genesis 3-18; Three more themes: the trickster, the barren woman, the sacrifice--Genesis
19-36
Week 4 (9/15)
Joseph and his brothers--Genesis 37-50
Week 5 (9/22)
God the liberator and God the hardener of hearts--Exodus
1-19; Psalm 78; Erhman 59-65
Voice versus vision, or the problem of representing God (I)--Exodus 20-40
Week 6 (9/29)
War, Male Heroism and Women as Chattel in Israel--Judges 1-18;
Erhman 92-98
Week 7 (10/6)
War, Male Heroism and Women as Chattel in Israel--Judges 19-21; Female Heroism in Israel?--Ruth;
Erhman, 177-179
Exam 1
(due 10/20)
Week 8 (10/13)
The Deuteronomic Theory of History and the role of Prophecy--Isaiah
1-39; Erhman 121-127
Week 9 (10/20)
The Deuteronomic Theory of History and the role of Prophecy--Amos,
Hosea, Erhman, 117-121, 133-134
Week 10 (10/27)
1) The Critique of Prophecy, and the problem of representing God (II)--Job
1; Erhman 195-202
Week 11 (11/3)
The Critique of Prophecy and the problem
of representing God (III)--Jonah;
Erhman, 181-184
2) Poems of Worship and Praise--Psalms 1, 2, 8, 13, 14, 19, 22,
23, 24, 29, 36, 42, 45, 50, 51, 63, 72, 82, 93,
104, 121, 126, 127, 137, 139, 148, 149, 150; Erhman 168-173
Week 12 (11/10)
1) Traditional wisdom vs. radical dissent, or the sage and the skeptic--Proverbs 1-9; Book of Ecclesiastes;
Erhman 192-195, 203-205
Exam 2
(due 11/24)
Week 13 (11/17)
2) How the Hebrew Bible became the Old Testament--Isaiah
40-66 and Matthew 1-2; Erhman,
150-155, 254-259
Week 14 (11/24)
1) The argument for Jesus as the Hebrew Messiah--Matthew 3-20; On the dying and rising God--Matthew
21-28;
2) The Epistles, or Letters to the Early Christians--Galatians, Ephesians, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John;
Erman,
316,-338-340, 363-364
Week 15 (12/1)
The Apocalypse, or the End of the World as We Know It--Revelation
(The Apocalyse of John);
Erman, 367-372
Exam 3
(Due 11:59:59 PM, 12/17 via email attachment)
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