COML 4260 - Biblical Seminar II

(crosslisted)
(also RELST 4260 )(HB) (HA-AS)

Spring. 4 credits.

Enrollment limited to: 15 students.

C. M. Carmichael.

Topic: Sex and Religion in the Bible.

Discussing attitudes to sexuality in the Bible, we will examine in Old and New Testament texts the clash between ancestral behavior and subsequent laws, as well as the contrast between legal and religious ideas. Topics will include: marriage and divorce, incest, intermarriage, gender discrimination, guilt and shame, homosexuality, women and purity, sexual language and symbols. It should be possible to say something new about the topics and also, because of the perennial nature of the issues, to say something that is relevant to contemporary life.