How does reading the Bible as literature differ from reading it as scripture? Do you focus on different elements? Have different expectations for the characters, conflicts, and action?
How would you describe God as a literary character? Does God develop as a character over the course of the readings? How would you describe his relationship with creation, including his people?
What changes in the world after Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God’s command (the first literary “crisis” in the Bible)? How does humanity’s relationship to God and the world change as a result?
Compare and contrast the flood stories in Gilgamesh and Genesis. What do their differences say about their functions in the larger texts and the worlds they are a part of?
Is there pathos in the story of Abraham and Isaac? If so, where does it come from? How is the reader supposed to feel about God’s testing of Abraham?
As always, come up with at least one questions or topic of your own you’d like to discuss.