The Bible in History

Description and Requirements
The Bible is arguably the most important book ever assembled. This seminar will explore the changing role of the Bible, both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, from Antiquity to the Enlightenment. We will consider how a book can be considered holy, the formation of biblical canons, how the Bible functioned in medieval Christian and Jewish culture, the physical evolution of the biblical text, the impact of printing, and the critical re-conception of the Bible as a created rather than divine text.

Seminar requirements: regular and informed participation in seminar discussion, including one presentation and write-up based on the reading (35%); one short paper (5-10 pages) (30%), and a research study of a Bible from Special Collections (35%).
           
Schedule

Introduction: Formation of the Hebrew Bible
Self-understanding of the Hebrew Bible (selected biblical texts)

Origins: Rabbinic Judaism
Sawyer, Sacred Languages, “Sacred Languages“ 23-31, “Literacy,” 44-58, “canonization,” 59-71
Eshel, Jewish Study Bible, “The Bible in the Dead Sea Scrolls” cancel
Stern, Jewish Study Bible, “Midrash and Jewish Interpretation”
Packet: Sefer HaAggadah, selections on rabbinic idea of Scriptures
Origins: Christianity
Hamel, The Book: A History of the Bible, “Bible in Hebrew and Greek,” 40-63
Sawyer, Languages, “Sacred Languages,” 31-43, “Canonization,” 71-75, “Translation,” 76-95
Augustine,  De Doctrina

Sacred Scripture                                    
Packet: Van der Horst, “Sortes: Sacred Books as Instant Oracles in Late Antiquity”
Petrucci, “Christian Conception of the Book”
Benedict’s Rule
Sawyer, Languages, “Beliefs and Controls,” 96-111, Names and Numbers,” 112-128, “Styles and Strategies,” 129-142, “Interpretation” 143-170.
Augustine, Confessions

Early Middle Ages
De Hamel, The Book, “Latin Bibles from Jerome to Charlemagne,” 12-39; “Giant Bibles of the Early Middle Ages,” 64-91

Manuscript Bibles Special Collections
De Hamel, The Book, “Bible Picture Books,” 140-165
De Hamel, The Book, “Commentaries on the Bible,” 92-113; “Portable Bibles of the Thirteenth Century,” 114-140.

Renaissance, Humanism, Reformation and Printing
De Hamel, “The Gutenberg Bible,”190-215
Packet: Hamilton, “Humanists and the Bible”
Packet: Eisenstein, “Western Christendom Disrupted”
De Hamel, The Book, “Bibles of the Protestant Reformation,” 216-243
Packet: Tribble, “Authority, Control, Community”

 Waning of Holiness
Packet: Hill, “A Biblical Culture” and “The Bible Dethroned”
Spinoza, Theologico-Politico Tractate
Breuer, Jewish Study Bible, “Post-Medieval Jewish Interpretation”

Presentations  and Conclusion
Jenkins, New Faces of Christianity