The Second Online NGFP Course
has been launched!
The Bible as It Was by Prof. James Kugel, Professor
of Classical and Modern Jewish and Hebrew Literature and of
Comparative Literature, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard
University
In mid March 2005 the Nahum Goldmann Alumni Online Magazine opened its second online course in cooperation with the Jewish Heritage Online Magazine. The course, led by Prof. James Kugel of Harvard University and Bar Ilan University, is entitled The Bible As It Was. The 6-lesson course is free, and is conducted via email listserve over a period of six weeks. The discussion "thread" will also be viewable online by date, author, and topic at this url: http://lists.ngfp.org/pipermail/ngfp-bookclub/. 
READING REQUIREMENTS All reading material will be based on Prof. Kugel's book, The Bible As It Was. |
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The main purpose of The Bible as It Was by Prof. James Kugel is to present a detailed look at how the Bible was interpreted in the centuries just before and after the start of the common era – to show what the Bible essentially was in that period.
In The Bible as It Was Prof. Kugel seeks to isolate and identify the principal interpretive traditions of, specifically, the Pentateuch as they are preserved in various ancient writings outside the Hebrew Bible itself. Together these traditions provide an overall feeling for what Scripture as a whole meant for most Jews and Christians, and how the Bible was read and understood, during this crucial period.
Among the ancient biblical interpretations culled from hundreds of different sources, the following are some of the most important: Enoch; Septuagint; Jubilees; Wisdom of Ben Sira; Dead Sea Scrolls; Wisdom of Solomon; Writings of Philo of Alexandria; New Testament; Flavius Josephus; Targums.
In the book, Prof. Kugel organizes the material by motif:
for example, “The Punishment was Mortality,” or
“Abraham Saved from Fire.” His objectives:
1. to reconstruct why and how the motif may have developed;
2. to illustrate the motif’s existence with brief excerpts
from ancient writings; and
3. to demonstrate how vividly ancient traditions of interpretation
changed utterly the meaning of the Bible.
The course will be constructed as follows:
WEEK 1: Introduction and Audio-Interview
with Prof. Kugel
WEEK 2: Abraham Journeys from Chaldea
WEEK 3: Lot and Lot's Wife
WEEK 4: Jacob and the Angel
WEEK 5: Growing Up in Pharaoh's Court
WEEK 6: At Mt. Sinai