2023 Fall

ENGLISH 107 001 - LEC 001

The English Bible As Literature

Steven Goldsmith

Aug 23, 2023 - Dec 08, 2023

Tu, Th

02:00 pm - 03:29 pm

Physics Building 3

Class #:25997

Units: 4

Instruction Mode: In-Person Instruction

Offered through English

Current Enrollment

Total Open Seats: 0

Enrolled: 96

Waitlisted: 0

Capacity: 96

Waitlist Max: 20

No Reserved Seats

Hours & Workload

2 to 3 hours of instructor presentation of course materials per week, 9 hours of outside work hours per week, and 1 to 0 hours of the exchange of opinions or questions on course material per week.

Final Exam

TUE, DECEMBER 12TH

08:00 am - 11:00 am

Physics Building 3

Other classes by Steven Goldsmith

ENGLISH 190 001 001SEM

Course Catalog Description

Introduction to the English Bible treated as a literary work.

In this class, we will read a selection of biblical texts as literature; that is, we will read them in many ways but not as divine revelation. We will take up traditional literary questions of form, style, and structure, but we will also learn how to ask historical, political, and theoretical questions of a text that is multi-authored, dialogic, and historically layered. Among other topics, we will pay special attention to how authority is established and contested in biblical texts; how biblical authors negotiate the ancient Hebrew prohibition against representing God in images; and how the gospels are socially and historically poised between the original Jesus movement that is their source and the institutionalization of the church that follows. Assignments will include a midterm exam, a paper, and a final exam.

Class Notes

Book List:

New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version (Fifth Edition); Robert Alter, Genesis: Translation and Commentary (Norton); A Dictionary of the Bible (Oxford)