Introduction to the Bible

This course introduces students to the Old (OT) and New Testaments (NT), their development and their contexts. Introductions are given to the literary types of the Bible, the specific issues raised by the treatment of the OT and NT as distinct bodies of writings, and the contexts (Judaic, Graeco-Roman and Early Christian) which provided the crucible for their formation.

Further attention is directed towards the ways in which the Bible has been read and interpreted particularly in the modern Higher Criticism. The course provides an introduction to the movements within Higher Criticism and encourages students to develop a critical appreciation of each. Particular attention is given to examining cultural factors in the interpretation of these texts. The presuppositions and prejudices underlying particular critical approaches are examined. Contemporary literary theory and hermeneutics are used to inform the question of where the meaning of the Bible can be located, and to make students aware of the difficulties in claiming objective readings of texts. Students will also examine how literary theory influences contemporary biblical scholarship as well as more recent approaches such as narrative theology and social-scientific criticism.

Students will deal with questions relating to the historical background of individual texts as part of a wider study of the environment of the Bible. They will also examine difficulties relating to the formation of the biblical texts as currently constituted and the formation of the OT and NT canons in all their diversity: it will include examination of the Apocrypha and the Septuagint. Students will note how the formation of various canons also has an impact on their interpretation. This will lead, ultimately, to consideration of the historical and theological issues relating to biblical studies.

Practical skills are a strong component of the course. Students will be taught how to transliterate and verbalise Biblical Hebrew and Koine Greek to assist their reading of secondary literature. Introductions are given to different textual, linguistic, lexical and interpretative resources available as well as the particular jargon and shadings of argument used in biblical scholarship. Thus a critical approach to reading even classic interpretations should be fostered. These skills are practiced in lecture and colloquy by attending to selected texts which raise specific exegetical questions; these examples illustrate the methods being described.

The course assumes no prior knowledge of the Bible or of the environments which formed it.

The New Revised Standard Version will be the basic text reference for this course: students are recommended to own a copy which includes the Apocrypha.