Discipline: Humanities
ENG-English
 Degree Credit  [ ]
Non Credit  [ ]
Nondegree Credit  [ ]
Comm Service  [ ]
 

Riverside Community College District
Integrated Course Outline of Record

Humanities 23


COURSE DESCRIPTION
23 The Bible As Literature
Same as: ENG-English 23
 Units: 3.00
 
Prerequisite(s): None.

Advisory: ENG 1B
A survey of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament with emphasis on literary form, styles, and themes, including the extensive influence of the Bible on Western literature. 54 hours lecture. (Letter Grade, or Pass/No Pass Option.)
 
SHORT DESCRIPTION FOR CLASS SCHEDULE
Survey of biblical literature in terms of its development, themes, genres, symbols, motifs, and impact on Western literature
 
ADVISORY ENTRY SKILLS
Before entering the course, students will be able to:
  1. Read, analyze, and critically discuss college-level literary texts, recognizing key ideas and literary elements.

  2. Support oral and written arguments about literary works with effectively integrated, relevant, and sufficient evidence drawn (as appropriate) from texts.

  3. Compose developed, unified, coherent, stylistically fluent essays that demonstrate an ability to critically reflect on the texts and issues addressed in the class.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
 Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
  1. Recognize and identify patterns of Hebrew and Greek literary forms, styles, themes, and genres in the Bible;
  2. Analyze and interpret literary and religious ideas which prevailed during Hebrew Bible and New Testament times;
  3. Compare and contrast specific literary genres and stylistic devices by examining the artistic, historical, religious, and cultural trends embodied in the literature;
  4. Apply college-level methods of literary analysis in reading and writing about biblical literature;
  5. Synthesize knowledge of specific biblical literary forms with a sense of religious/intellectual history and the development of ideas;
  6. Demonstrate critical thinking and writing skills through the process of constructing unified, coherent, and stylistically fluent written responses to, analyses of, and arguments about biblical literature.
 
COURSE CONTENT
  TOPICS
 

Instructor’s approach may be historical, topical/thematic, motif- or or genre-based.  Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Introduction:  the world of biblical scholarship, questions of biblical authorship, the bible as anthology, questions of biblical redaction, ancient Near Eastern literature and the Bible; parallel stories and influences); Hellenistic influences/background of the New Testament; general structure/layout of the Biblical canon
The Bible and history:  limitations on reading the Bible as history; history according to the Pentateuch, prophets, apocryphya, and New Testament; the Jewish inter-testamental period; value of the Bible to historians
Literary Forms in the Bible:
Commonest Hebrew Biblical forms:  narrative prose, including genealogies and deuteronomic histories; etiologies, birth narratives, miracle stories, theophanies and hero stories; epic-heroic and quest narratives, oracular and prophetic literature, creation narratives
Hebrew Bible poetic forms, including:  liturgical forms (psalms, ceremonial poems), historical recitals (e.g., Decalogue), prophetic oracles; ancient patriotic poetry, laments, love songs
Short prose forms:  wisdom/gnomic sayings, visionary texts, satire, parables
New Testament literary forms, including:  parables, gospels, epistles, traditional stories (pronouncement, healing, birth narratives, beatitudes, “woe” stories, legal commentary, allegory/extended parables, transfiguration scenes); visionary-apocalyptic literature
Literary Devices and Textual Analysis;  general biblical (Near Eastern) literary style; parallelism, repetition, hyperbole, metaphor; parables as extended metaphor or allegory; formulaic expressions and oral poetry; symbolism; personification; irony, satire, and wordplay; ancient Hebrew poetic conventions, including synonymous and semantic parallelism, incremental repetition, and chiasmus/antithesis
The Structure and Formation of the Biblical Canon: 
The Torah; the Jewish canon and the formation of the Pentateuch;
the Christian canon and the Septuagint;
the gospels, the question of apostolicity, and the apocrypha, including the Gospel of St. Thomas, the pseudepigrapha, the Eastern Orthodox canon, and the “outside books” of the Septuagint;
the prophetic writings (esp. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel);
the wisdom literature including Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes;
apocalyptic literature, including Daniel and Revelation
the gospels (authorship, purpose, context, dating and sources, literary genres)
Acts and the letters (genre, purpose, and authority of Acts, the Pauline letters, disputed letters, pastoral letters, general letters)
The Text of the Bible and the Problems of Translation;  dating of manuscripts, linguistic sources including the impact of the Dead Sea Scrolls, important translations (including Septuagint, Vulgate, Erasmus, Douay-Rheims, King James, Geneva Bible, Revised American Standard and New English versions, as well as recent major study bibles); problems of translation, including linguistic differences, establishing primary texts, the question of theological bias, use of multiple translations, and dynamic equivalence vs. formal correspondence

 
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
 Methods of instruction used to achieve student learning outcomes may include, but are not limited to:

  • Lectures and discussions on biblical literary genres, including critical methods of biblical analysis, in order for students to understand the various forms of narrative style in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament.
  • Guest writers/lecturers invited to class to discuss topics related to biblical studies and biblical literature.
  • Presentation, discussion, and detailed examination of poetic and prose forms in the Hebrew Bible and New Testamenat.
  • Showing films, videos, slides, distributing handouts, and/or using electronic or computer-based media in order to reinforce understanding of concepts related to the various historical, cultural, literary, and anthropological approaches  to biblical literature.
  • Cooperative/collaborative learning tasks and activities designed to assist students in applying concepts used in biblical analysis and synthesizing ideas about the Bible and western culture.
  • Assignment of primary texts complex enough to facilitate the development of critical thinking and reading skills.
  • Assignment of secondary criticism that supports the understanding of the primary texts and models the interpretive and analytical skills being covered in the class.
  • Individual conferences in order to evaluate and advise students on course content and strategies for improving their thinking, reading, and writing skills.
  • Computer-assisted and/or web-enhanced instruction which reinforces the course content.
 
METHODS OF EVALUATION
 Students will be evaluated for progress in and/or mastery of learning outcomes by methods of evaluation which may include, but are not limited to:

  • The writing of a minimum of 3000 words of formal interpretive/analytical prose designed to demonstrate students’ ability to employ college-level methods of analysis to interpret biblical literature and demonstrate critical thinking and writing skills. These can be assigned as in-class or take-home essays.
  • Individual and group assignments designed to demonstrate successful understanding and application of basic concepts and definitions in the field of biblical studies, as well as students’ ability to recognize the distinctive features of biblical texts and to employ college-level methods of literary analysis to interpret this primarily traditional literature.
  • Questions on historical and literary topics and content designed to evaluate students’ understanding of the key approaches to biblical analysis.
  • Quizzes/examinations designed to assess students’ ability to recall, critically analyze and apply key concepts and course content.
  • Active participation as required by instructor to ensure progress both in mastering the course content and to ensure participation in collaborative learning project.
  • Final examination designed to synthesize the topics of the class, measure students’ comprehension of the material, and demonstrate achievement of student learning outcomes.

 
ASSIGNMENTS

Required Reading Assignments


Required Writing Assignments


Other Outside-of-Class Assignments
 
COURSE MATERIALS
 All materials used in this course will be periodically reviewed to ensure that they are appropriate for college level instruction. Possible texts include:

  • Alter, Robert. The Art of Biblical Narrative. N.Y.: Basic Books, 1982.
  • any. The Art of Biblical Poetry. N.Y.: Basic Books, 1985.
  • Frye, Northrop. The Great Code: The Bible and Literature. N.Y. and London: HBJ, 1982.
  • Pagels, Elaine. The Gnostic Gospels. N.Y.: Random House, 1979.
  • Robinson, James M.. The Nag Hammadi Library in English. any: Harper Collins, 1990.
  • Coogan, Michael D.. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. 3 ed. any: Oxford University Press, 2001.
  • Ehrman, Bart. Lost Scriptures. any: Oxford University Press, 2005.
  • Gabel, John B., Charles B. Wheeler, and Anthony D. York. The Bible as Literature: An Introduction. 5 ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2004.
  • Harris, Stephan L. . Understanding the Bible. 6 ed. any: McGraw-Hill, 2003.
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