Battle over the Bible: The Bible in the Eyes of Jews, Christians and Muslims

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Not long after the canonization of the Bible, it had already become the subject of fierce debate between Jews and the nascent Christian church. With the appearance of Islam centuries later, all three major monotheistic religions took part in such polemics. These polemics involved both technical issues surrounding the biblical text and larger theoretical issues such as the method by which it should be interpreted, the identity of its author(s), and the editorial process which it underwent. For each of these issues, we will proceed chronologically from the earliest Jewish-Christian debates in the ancient period to the polemics involving Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Middle Ages. Finally, as we move into the modern period, we will explore the pivotal role that Jewish-Christian disputes played in the evolution of modern biblical criticism. Examining the inter-religious debate about the Bible throughout the ages provides a window into central themes in the history of these religions as well as familiarizing us with the questions that form the core of modern biblical studies.