The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Texts

Why do Jews and Christians read the same biblical passages so differently? This course explores some of the Hebrew Bible's best-known texts (many quoted or reinterpreted in the New Testament) to examine their meaning in the original ancient contexts and how Jewish and Christian traditions came to understand them in strikingly different ways. Readings include the creation narratives, Adam and Eve, Isaiah's Suffering Servant, Jonah, and Psalm 22 (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?), which Jesus quotes from the cross and other texts. Along the way, students will discover how interpretation transformed a shared body of scripture into distinct religious traditions.