Biblical Studies. Biblical Interpretation

BI603. Ancient Judaism in the Mediterranean Diaspora

Credit, three hours. (Wilson) (Same as WR603.)

A survey of the literature and religion of the Jewish people during the Second Temple period, with special attention to their interactions with Greek culture and Roman rule.

BI615. Feminist Interpretation of Bible

Credit, three hours. Prerequisite: OT 500-Level and NT500-Level or equivalent, or permission of the instructor. (Faculty)

A seminar exploring biblical texts and interpretations as they relate to issues of gender, power, and sexuality. The course will include attention to texts from both the Old Testament and New Testament as well as apocryphal materials. We will explore feminist interpretations from a variety of cultures and consider the future of feminist biblical interpretation. (Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and/or Global Contexts)

BI617. African American Biblical Interpretation

Credit, three hours. (Faculty)

This course explores traditions and methods of Biblical Interpretation in the context of African American communities. (Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and/or Global Contexts)

BI620. Bible, Race, and Reception History

Credit, three hours. (Kemp)

This course introduces students to the ways the Bible has been used throughout American history to construct, support, and challenge America’s racial caste systems. (Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and/or Global Contexts)

BI623. The Bible and Asian America

Credit, three hours. (Nam) (Concurrently listed with REL370 in Emory College)

The course will explore the interplay between the Bible and the experience of Asian Americans. Topics are biblical, historical, and social. Biblically, the course will introduce students to the growing field of Asian American interpretation. Historically, the class will examine how prominent events in Asian American history, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Delano Grape Strike, and the passage of the Hart-Cellar Act, may dialogue with biblical texts. Socially, the class will examine confluences and tensions when Asian American interpretations interact with modern faith communities. (Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and/or Global Contexts)

BI625. Global South Biblical Hermeneutics

Credit, three hours (Dube)

The biblical text has travelled into various continents, countries, and cultures, but what are the methods and theories employed for its interpretation and for what purposes? This course will explore how the biblical text is read in various contexts of the global south. It will analyze the intersection of the context, method and interpretation of the biblical text and how global class, race, gender, sexuality ethnicity, postcoloniality, cultural diversity, among others, inform and shape the reading and interpretation of the Bible in the global south. It will also expect learners to apply some encountered methods to selected texts. Articles from various contexts of the global south and their diaspora communities will be read for their offerings. (Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and/or Global Contexts)

BI627. Bible and Postcolonialism

Credit, three hours. (Dube)

Empire building, & strategies of subjugating others for gold, god, & glory, has characterized international relations throughout history. From the Hebrew Bible to the New Testament, most biblical books were written within the colonial context of one imperial power or another. In modern colonial history, the Bible was an important part of selling “god” to the colonized while their lands were being taken. This course will study the Bible from the perspective of postcolonial theories to examine its entanglement with the empires & in search of ways of reading for decolonization & liberation. (Race, Ethnicity, Gender,and/or Global Contexts)

BI640. Bible and Health

Credit, three hours. (Dube)

Health is central to all members communities at individual, communal, country, regional & global levels. Recent global pandemics underline interconnectedness & the centrality of shared health. As a normative text, biblical perspectives on health matter. This course seeks to explore various definitions & theories of health. It will investigate the link between Earth-justice, political stability, social justice; & the health of individuals & communities. Explorations of biblical understanding of health will be drawn from various biblical texts & put in conversation with contextual placements. (BI640CEE when offered as a Contextual Education Elective.)

BI641. Teaching the Bible

Credit, three hours. (Hylen) (Same as RE540.)

This course equips students with the methodology to enable others to experience the Bible as an intelligible, relevant, and powerful force in daily life. It examines how the Bible shapes personal faith and corporate life.

BI649. Bible and Sermon

Credit, three hours. (Faculty) (Same as P649.)

This course helps students move from exegetical work to the sermon, attending to preaching that continues both the substance of the biblical text and its form and function. (BI649CEE when offered as a Contextual Education elective)

BI670. Bible, Law, & Religion in America

Credit, three hours (Kemp)

Through an examination of the Bible, historical texts from America’s founding, Court cases, & secondary literature, students will investigate some of the ways the Bible has influenced the structure, values, & function of aspects of America’s judicial system. Particular emphasis will be placed upon the development of & debates surrounding the 1st Amendment provisions governing “freedom of religion.” As part of this course, students will explore various perspectives on how the “separation of church and state” is related to questions of the proper place of religion in politics and public life.

BI698. Special Topics in Biblical Interpretation

Credit, variable. (Faculty)

Special topic or one-time offering courses led by Candler regular and visiting faculty. Prerequisites may be required and are noted on the course schedule when applicable.