Syllabus
Other Course Materials
Class Lecture Notes
Statement by the Pontifical Biblical Commission (1994):
The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church
Catholic Statement on Fundamentalism in Scripture Interpretation
 

Introduction to the Old Testament

A primary goal of the course is to appreciate the documents that Christians call the “Old Testament” as products of real people in a real world.  These documents record the ways in which the people of Israel experienced and interpreted their experiences of God throughout many centuries of their long history.  Just as the people of Israel did not attempt to separate God from history and everyday life, the assumption of this course is that part of the task of understanding the Hebrew Bible is to situate it in its original contexts: religious, historical, social, mythical, theological, ideological, economic, political.  The result should be to put into historical and cultural perspective the history, faith, and experience of Israel.  It is only by appreciating fully Israel’s particularity that we can hope to see how the story of Israel can say something about human experience in general.

RELS 126