Humor in the Bible

Knowledge-Values Courses: Christian Tradition

In this dicussion-and-project-based course on humor in the Bible, we will learn the forms, functions, and effects of humor in the social and cultural contexts of the ancient Mediterranean world. In particular, we will study humor in Mesopotamian myths and we will explore humor in Jewish, Greek, and Roman narratives, rhetoric and comic materials. We will apply two critical methods to our study of biblical humor: a literary analysis and a contextual analysis situated in the ancient world.