The first in a two-course sequence of selected topics that enables students to develop critical knowledge of biblical texts and post-biblical traditions by helping them understand how these works and their histories of reception inform interpretive contexts. Students will acquire skills in critical thinking, analysis, reading, and writing that will equip them to recognize the relevance of the academic study of biblical texts and religion. Selected works from the biblical writings and affiliated literature will be discussed within the framework of topics that will allow students to explore their own and others’ operative assumptions about meaning and values.
Religious Studies 101-102 is a prerequisite for 200-level courses in the Religious Studies Department. Humanities 101-102 can substitute for this prerequisite.