Open Yale Courses

• Registration is not required.
• No course credit, degree, or certificate is available.

The online courses are designed for a wide range of people around the world, among them self-directed and life-long learners, educators, and high school and college students.

Each course includes a full set of class lectures produced in high-quality video accompanied by such other course materials as syllabi and suggested readings. The lectures are available as downloadable videos, and an audio-only version is also offered. Here are two classes from the Religious Studies faculty:

Introduction to the New Testament History and Literature

This course provides a historical study of the origins of Christianity by analyzing the literature of the earliest Christian movements in historical context, concentrating on the New Testament. Although theological themes will occupy much of our attention, the course does not attempt a theological appropriation of the New Testament as scripture. Rather, the importance of the New Testament and other early Christian documents as ancient literature and as sources for historical study will be emphasized. A central organizing theme of the course will focus on the differences within early Christianity.

Presentations by Dale B. Martin

Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible)

This course examines the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) as an expression of the religious life and thought of ancient Israel, and a foundational document of Western civilization. A wide range of methodologies, including source criticism and the historical-critical school, tradition criticism, redaction criticism, and literary and canonical approaches are applied to the study and interpretation of the Bible. Special emphasis is placed on the Bible against the backdrop of its historical and cultural setting in the Ancient Near East.

Presented by Christine Hayes

For more information and to register, go to http://bit.ly/4ENFcE.