Mark Twain once humorously characterized a classic as a book everybody talks about but nobody reads. Twain would undoubtedly be surprised to learn that the Bible has become such a book. As American society has grown more secular and diverse, biblical literacy among Americans has plummeted. When so much of American history, politics and culture is predicated upon a familiarity with the literature of the Bible, knowing little or nothing about it can be a real liability. The purpose of this course is to address this deficiency. Students will read generous portions of the literature of the Bible, develop an appreciation for its artistry, and explore the way it has been used to enrich the narrative world of American rhetoric, poetry, drama and fiction.
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In 1955 the Jewish sociologist Will Herberg published an essay celebrating the triumph of religious diversity in America. He argued that America had become a nation where one could be either a Protestant, a Catholic or a Jew and still be considered an American citizen. Though Herberg’s essay is still regarded as a classic discussion of religion in America, its value has become more historical than descriptive. Today, in addition to large numbers of Americans who are members of the three religious traditions Herberg described, the United States includes rapidly growing populations of Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus, as well as secular or non-religious groups. Making sense of this explosive and sometimes volatile diversity and understanding its implications for American social, cultural and political realities constitute the focus of this course.
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Eccentric, annoying, combative, subversive and at times even iconoclastic, prophets look deeply into the heart of a culture’s social reality and find it wanting. By articulating the experience of the weak and the vulnerable, prophets call their societies back to the just principles upon which they were founded, or forward to new definitions of human community that recognize the fundamental equality of all human beings. Having discovered the prophet’s role as defined in the antics and oracles of the biblical prophets, students seek to rediscover this role in contemporary social protest leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.
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