The Bible is a strange and intimidating book for many readers, and rarely more so than in its narrative sections. How can one make sense of the seemingly mythic world of Genesis 1-11? Or the ethically and culturally alien tales of the Patriarch? Or the rambling stories of 1 & 2 Kings? Or the seemingly redundant lists of 1 & 2 Chronciles? Or Esther, which makes no mention of God? And how can we take seriously stories which seem to so obviously bear the marks of literary artifice and editing, with so many stories echoing others in recognizable yet still unpredictable ways?
This course will equip students with an array of tools, skills, practices, and instincts that will imrpove their Bible reading. It will strengthen students’ theological grasp of what sort of text Holy Scripture is, while training them to read its narratives well.