Teaching the Hebrew Bible in a Small Religious Studies Department: Problems and Resolutions

Students educated in public institutions, particularly those with small Religious Studies Departments, frequently have little knowledge of the academic study of the Hebrew Bible. Problems for faculty include insufficient time to do research (in the case of lecturers of large general survey sections), insufficient knowledge (in the case of graduate students), and faith-based knowledge (in the case of visiting local clergy). Students frequently display attitude problems when faced with other approaches to scripture than that taught by their religion, or when they realize that they cannot earn an easy A just by knowing Bible stories; occasionally such students become evangelical or disruptive. Even those students who attend class because they are interested in Western culture have no knowledge of the Ancient Near Eastern world from which a great portion of the Hebrew Scripture emanates, and they do not have the requisite languages.