The Character of God in the Bible: A Composite Portrait - Einzelansicht

This courses deals with the representation of the character of God in Tanakh/Hebrew Bible. The course will deal with the history of religions perspective (Ancient Near Eastern background), iconography, cultural models (God as Warrior, King, Judge, etc.), ethical perspectives (the moral character of God), systematic theological analysis (how to interpret this biblical discourse about God today), and, finally, the character of God in rabbinic midrash.

The course will be taught in English. The biblical text will be studied in English and Hebrew. Please come to class with a Bible/Tanakh. This course is partially based on lectures and therefore attendance and note taking is crucial. In addition to the Tanakh we will read scholarly texts in English. Students are expected to participate in class discussions based on the reading assignments. There will be some brief writing exercises and presentations. A five page final essay is to be submitted at the end of the course. The deadline for submission is final.

Class Attendance

Proof of performance includes regular participation, reading the texts given for the weekly meetings and various written self-reflections. If students miss more than one fifth of the class the class counts as “not completed” and no credits can be given.

The course will introduce the student to a variety of methods and disciplines: literary-critical analysis, historical reasoning, iconographic study, history of religions categories, philosophical and theological interpretation, and midrash, the interpretive reading found in Rabbinic Judaism of Late Antiquity. By gradually building up the elements of the structure required to deal with one of most complex symbols of human language – ‘God’ – the student will be challenged to synthesize historical, cultural, philosophical, theological, and literary evidence. Whether one can integrate these discrete disciplines and create a composite portrait of what we call, in shorthand, ‘God’, is a question that we shall jointly discuss. Each student will answer this question in his or her own way.