The Old Testament

By: Amy-Jill Levine, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Amy-Jill Levine

Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

The Old Testament - written in ancient Israel by many different authors over the course of a thousand years - has had more meaning to more people than any other book the world has known. Its influence, whether you consider it scripture or literature, is evident everywhere in our culture, from medieval mystery plays to modern novels, art, music, theater, film, and dance. What can this work teach us about those who wrote it? About the people we once were? And can new academic understanding also speak to faith? As Professor Levine observes: "The Old Testament is endlessly fascinating because it offers everything to explore: myth, saga, and history; tragedy, comedy, and farce; economics and politics; literature and poetry of surpassing beauty; court intrigue and prophetic morality; heavenly miracles and sometimes heavenly silence; questions of theodicy; answers that satisfy and answers that may not; destruction and rebuilding; despair and hope."

In a series of 24 lively lectures, she takes you down all of these avenues, exploring selected passages from the texts known as the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, and the Tanakh, revealing how fresh research and findings from scholars of archaeology, cross-cultural studies, and comparative religion can deepen your understanding.

And though the focus of her lectures is on historical and literary issues, Professor Levine does not shy away from issues of religious concern, maintaining that the goal of an academic course is not to undermine religious faith, but to use that academic knowledge as a new source of insight into the writings that form a believer's spiritual bedrock.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2001 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2001 The Great Courses

magnificent

I truly loved this Old Testament. the author was amazing I learned so much and I'm so thankful

Great intro to the Old Testament

I’ve never read the Old Testament and used this course to get an overview of the popular stories and themes. The lecturer was great; she made a wealth of information digestible. I loved that she included some historical context and a telling of a popular Babylonian story that helped put the origins of the book into context. Fantastic Great Course!

Outstanding and engaging

Spiritually enriching, great narrator/lecturer with contagious excitement for the material. I'm going to listen to her Great Figures of the New Testament next. Oh, and check out Song of Songs 5:4-5, which she encourages listeners to read, but doesn't read as part of the lecture for fear of having this placed in the Erotica section:).

Overview rather than Innerview

The narrator, Professor Levine, is energetic and wonderfully articulate. She laces her historical account with appropriate humor. She is committed to a mild feminist agenda, dishing on male heroism -- as with Samson, and with King David -- and exalting female deception and assassination. Her approach is historical, placing texts in contexts, but at the cost of not working hard on style, especially poetic accomplishments, narrative complexity, and shades of meaning. However, as Professor Levine constantly complains, there is so much to be said that even these 24 lectures cannot do more than scratch the surface. Her excitement with her area of expertise is wonderful, and as an introduction to further study, this course is well conceived and performed.

Review5

this was an excellent lecture series, I'm curious as to what other titles the Professor has available

Excellent again

This is the second time I have gotten to listen to Professor Levine. What a treasure! It is like journeying with her into the land of discovery. I am so grateful for this opportunity. And yes wouldn't it be great if I could meet her in person sometime.

I loved this course!

I found it really engaging, and really learned a lot. In spite of thinking I was relatively well read in scripture. I would love to listen to another of Prof Levine's courses. Absolutely value for money compared with some audio books I have bought lately.

amazing!!

professor Levine does an amazing job taking us through not only the text itself but also giving background and historical information to help better understand how things worked.

Not a beginner course

The professor is very good, but she assumes that you have a prior knowledge about the Bible and the stories in it.

Most excellent!

I wish there were part II of this course. Amy-Jill Levine is such an expert. She has an ability to share her enormous knowledge with excitement. She is also very sensitive to differences in religious interpretation of particular texts. Overall the best!