Huron University, Licentiate in Theology, Biblical Studies 260, Dr. Murray Watson

There is no denying that there are portions of the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament whose imagery, language, and storylines shock, scandalize, and horrify us today. In a now-famous 1984 book, the feminist Biblical scholar Phyllis Trible aptly described them as “texts of terror”: passages that seem to presume (and endorse?) misogyny, hatred, gleeful violence against “the Other,” and even genocide. For thousands of years, both Jews and Christians have grappled with how to interpret these readings in a way that is morally defensible and spiritually fruitful. In this course, we will explore strategies (both Jewish and Christian, ancient and modern) for reading, interpreting, and praying with a range of texts that have been highly problematic for centuries of readers. Together, we will see if we can “redeem” these texts and find meanings in them that can still speak to us today in ways that can “de-fang” their surface meanings and reveal messages that can nourish us as people of faith in this 21st century.