REL 262 - The Bible, the Enlightenment and its Aftermath

FDR: HU
Credits: 4
Planned Offering: Spring

A study of how the Bible influenced the thought and culture of the Enlightenment, broadly conceived, and how various Enlightenment ideas and figures influenced the reading of the Bible both in the Enlightenment Age itself and into the succeeding centuries. Primary figures in Spring 2012 are the German literary genius, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and the American founder, Thomas Jefferson. International (Swiss) guest scholar and Goethe specialist, Johannes Anderegg, joins the course for the first two weeks. Reading of Goethe’s Faust is central to the first part of the course. The class’ trip to Charlottesville to visit Monticello and to explore the Enlightenment context of the “Jefferson Bible” is central to the second half of the course. Brown, Anderegg.