The Bible as Religious Object

This is a course in the history of an artifact, one that we now call “the Bible,” which has a unique status in many religious communities. This course will explore two aspects of this artifact’s life: 1. How that artifact physically comes into being; and 2. What it meant for different communities to attribute special status to that artifact. The main questions that we will be addressing in this course are: What does it mean to call a text or a book “sacred”? How does the idea of a sacred text or object shape the way that people interact with the Bible, and with religion more broadly?