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The Bible's Prehistory, Purpose, and Political Future

With its walls razed to ground by Babylon’s armies, Jerusalem joined a long line of ancient vanquished cities—from Ur and Nineveh and Persepolis to Babylon itself. While some recovered from the destruction, others did not. But none responded to political catastrophe by fashioning the kind of elaborate and enduring monument to their own downfall that we find in the Bible. Most conquered populations viewed their subjugation as a source of shame. They consigned it to oblivion, opting instead to extol the golden ages of the past. The biblical authors in contrast reacted to loss by composing extensive writings that acknowledge collective failure, reflect deeply upon its causes, and discover thereby a ground for collective hope. Working through colorful biblical and ancient Near Eastern texts, and drawing on an array of comparative examples, the course illustrates the thoroughgoing manner with which biblical authors responded to defeat by advancing a demotic agenda that places the community at the center. The aim of the biblical authors was to create a nation, and they sought to realize this goal via a shared text, which includes stories and songs, wisdom and laws. This corpus of writings belongs, without a doubt, to humanity’s greatest achievements. Whereas the great civilizations of the Near East invested their energies and resources into monuments of stone that could be destroyed by invading armies, the biblical authors left a literary legacy that has been intensively studied until the present day. More important, these authors’ visionary response to defeat brought to light a radical new wisdom: the notion that a people is greater than the state which governs it, and that a community can survive collapse when all of its members can claim a piece of the pie and therefore have a reason to take an active part in its collective life.

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Rating 4.8★ based on 82 ratings
Length 7 weeks
Effort 6 weeks of study, 4-7 hours/week
Starts Jul 3 (43 weeks ago)
Cost $49
From Emory University via Coursera
Instructor Dr. Jacob L. Wright
Download Videos On all desktop and mobile devices
Language English
Subjects Humanities Art & Design
Tags History Arts And Humanities

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What people are saying

very interesting

Great course ....mucked up my star rating and accidentally gave two when I meant to hive five Very interesting and challenging course.

I found this course very interesting, and learnt a great deal about how and why the Bible came to be written.

Great course, very interesting and good lecturer Very much interesting information Very good teacher and the course is amazing!

Very interesting course.

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professor wright

Professor Wright is passionate, warm and engaging.

Compared to lectures offered by various seminaries, Professor Wright has organized the course in a way that has included both biblical sources and extra-biblical sources which are not permitted by seminaries.

I would love to take more courses from Professor Wright regarding OT and relevant areas and am wondering how I can access them.

I just started this class this morning and Professor Wright is great.

Professor Wright TRULY "knows his stuff."

I have been wanting and waiting for a complete interdisciplinary approach for decades, and finally, this is it!Thank you, Professor Wright!

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look at

There is no real termination date, the course sets you off to look at so many angles.

Have been a student of the Bible for years, but this course sheds new light and make you look at things differently.

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know more

Aside from the required reading he also provided a wealth of extra content to enrich the learning experience for those motivated to know more.

What I found most beneficial is that it made me want to know more.

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dr. wright

Dr. Wright clearly put a lot of effort into preparing his lectures as well as additional interviews with scholars.

Also, Dr. Wright is a very interesting scholar and provides a wonderful reading list.

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best mooc

This was the best MOOC I've taken so far.

The best MOOC I have ever taken.

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think about

I did a full review on my blog (http://www.adamgonnerman.com/2014/07/course-review-bibles-prehistory-purpose.html), and here are the key takeaways for me as described there: Taking the course broadened my vision for how to deal with the Biblical material, freed me from slavish adherence to and rebellion against the text, and got me to think about a lot of things.

Great course, it gave me plenty to think about.

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interviews with

The lectures were amazing, as were the supplemental interviews with world-reknowned scholars.

Particularly enjoyed the interviews with experts in the field.

hebrew bible

A lot for me to Very interesting discussion about the writing of the Hebrew Bible.

Really interesting thesis about the impetus behind the formation of the Hebrew Bible.

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Careers

An overview of related careers and their average salaries in the US. Bars indicate income percentile.

Adjunct Instructor of Biblical and Theological Studies $25k

Adjunct Instructor of Biblical and Theological Studies $25k

Pastor, Biblical Families Department Lead $84k

Pastor, Biblical Families Department Lead $84k

Associate Collective Bargaining Counsel $232k

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Rating 4.8★ based on 82 ratings
Length 7 weeks
Effort 6 weeks of study, 4-7 hours/week
Starts Jul 3 (43 weeks ago)
Cost $49
From Emory University via Coursera
Instructor Dr. Jacob L. Wright
Download Videos On all desktop and mobile devices
Language English
Subjects Humanities Art & Design
Tags History Arts And Humanities

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