Syllabus
Biblical Interpretation in a World of Religious Diversity Syllabus
This syllabus considers Biblical interpretation in an age of increased interaction between diverse religious communities.
In 2015, Dr. Amy Cottrill participated in a Teaching Interfaith Understanding faculty development seminar, run in partnership between the Council of Independent Colleges and Interfaith Interfaith America, and generously funded by the Henry Luce Foundation. For information on future seminars, and to access more resources created by seminar alumni, visit The Council of Independent Colleges.
Course Description
This course starts from the premise that biblical interpretation always happens in ways that are informed by cultural and theological conversations that surround, inform, and preoccupy biblical readers. Today, one of the most important and compelling social and theological realities is religious diversity and the frequent conflicts that involve religious difference. Though religious difference itself is clearly not a new phenomenon, awareness of and interaction with people of diverse religious traditions is a feature of life today in a different way than it was even twenty years ago. We live in a world that is interconnected by economic structures, technology, media, and migration. What difference does this reality make in the practice of biblical interpretation?