JDS 240LEC—Scripture and Interpretation

What is scripture? What makes a religious text different from other kinds of human writing? What gives it its special kind of authority, and how do interpreters leverage this authority toward political ends? How does history change the meanings we can derive from scripture, and how does scripture continue to be meaningful in globally diverse geographic and cultural settings? What happens when scripture is interpreted in conflicting ways? Can genres and media beyond the written-for instance, visual arts and film, performing arts, or material culture-be understood as modes of scriptural interpretation? This course addresses these and related questions by introducing students to key ideas and methods for understanding religious scripture and the interpretative communities scripture creates. The course is organized around a specific scriptural text-for example, a book from the Bible-and tracks the interpretation of this text over time. We will consider how scripture is interpreted and contested in a variety of genres, which may include literature and philosophy, commentaries and sermons, the visual arts and music, and more.