RELG 016. First-Year Seminar: Bible and Politics

What role does the Bible play in contemporary political debates? How do the Bible-and religion-shape American politics, political movements, and the law? This course explores the intersections among the Bible, Religion, and Politics. It critically examines categories often taken as self-evident and distinct-such as “the religious” and “the political”-and demonstrates how they work together in ways that continue to impact individual and collective identities in the United States. We begin by reading the Bible - in itself both a political act and an act steeped in politics. From “the politics of interpretation,” we then move on to explore the ways in which religion and biblical interpretations are called upon, both explicitly and implicitly, in modern and current debates about gender, sexuality, race, science, ethics, and Constitutional Law. We explore issues such as abortion, gay marriage, euthanasia, creationism, incarceration, and capital punishment. Students will be introduced to a range of methods and theories in the academic study of Religion and related critical theories. Through seminar discussion and written assignments, students will develop skills that are crucial to engaged, nuanced, critical discourses in the academy and beyond.
Humanities.
1 credit.
Eligible for GSST
Fall 2026.
Kessler.
Catalog chapter: Religion
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/religion

Access the class schedule to search for sections.