The course focuses on the literary artistry and principal thematic concerns of the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures), Apocrypha, and New Testament in the King James Version. In addition to close literary study of individual biblical books, from Genesis to Revelation, other topics to be studied include: canon formation (How does a book become 'essential reading'?); gender relations (What does the Bible say about marriage, same-sex, and hetero-sexual relations?); the influence of the Bible on various writers in different countries; and the Bible as a source of popular cultural forms of expression (films, songs, cartoons, etc.).