This course examines ancient Greek religion and considers its role in the contexts of Greek culture and thought. Literary and material sources, such as epic, drama, architecture, sculpture, and vase painting will be examined in order to establish the nature and function of religion in Greek society. Topics include the gods/goddesses, heroes, cult, magic, curses, initiation rites, athletic competition, local mythic traditions, religious festivals, oracles, and healing sanctuaries.

The Pressbooks textbook is open access and is organized by chapters that correspond to the module topics on the Blackboard course page (so, Module 1 on Blackboard = Chapter 1 in Pressbooks, etc.). Each chapter includes links to the readings and/or other media. Please make sure that you keep up with the chapter assignments so that you are prepared before taking the module tests. The module assignments will include material from the two textbooks (this one and V. Warrior’s Greek Religion), so it is essential that you complete all of the textbook assignments. Also, make sure to familiarize yourself with the course Blackboard page. There you will find the syllabus, modules, discussion topics, instructions, and other important information. You may read through the Pressbooks textbook at your leisure, however, the module topics in Blackboard will also include links to the assigned Pressbooks readings (see Modules > Module 1, etc.).

After completing basic biblical Greek, students are often eager to continue to learn and strengthen their skills of translation and interpretation. This intermediate graded reader is designed to meet those needs. The reader is “intermediate” in the sense that it presumes the user will have already learned the basics of Greek grammar and syntax and has memorized Greek vocabulary words that appear frequently in the New Testament. The reader is “graded” in the sense that it moves from simpler translation work (Galatians) towards more advanced readings from the book of James, the Septuagint, and from one of the Church Fathers. In each reading lesson, the Greek text is given, followed by supplemental notes that offer help with vocabulary, challenging word forms, and syntax. Discussion questions are also included to foster group conversation and engagement. There are many good Greek readers in existence, but this reader differs from most others in a few important ways. Most readers offer text selections from different parts of the Bible, but in this reader the user works through one entire book (Galatians). All subsequent lessons, then, build off of this interaction with Galatians through short readings that are in some way related to Galatians. The Septuagint passages in the reader offer some broader context for texts that Paul quotes explicitly from the Septuagint. The Patristic reading from John Chrysystom comes from one of his homilies on Galatians. This approach to a Greek reader allows for both variety and coherence in the learning process.

The book proposes the hypothesis that six generic ways of being religious may be found in any large-scale religious tradition such as Christianity or Buddhism or Islam or Hinduism: sacred rite, right action, devotion, shamanic mediation, mystical quest, and reasoned inquiry. These are recurrent ways in which, socially and individually, devout members of these traditions take up and appropriate their stories and symbols in order to draw near to, and come into right relationship with, what the traditions attest to be the ultimate reality.

Studying the Bible: The Tanakh and Early Christian Writings is a university-level, textbook introduction to the study of the Bible, its literary forms, and historical and cultural contexts. This textbook is a companion to the Bible courses taught in the English Department at Kansas State University, in particular ENGL 470 The Bible, though it is available for use in other courses and contexts. This textbook examines the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Tanakh) and the early Christian writings of the New Testament. It is an introduction to the analysis of biblical texts, their histories, and their interpretations. The emphasis throughout this textbook is on the literary qualities of these biblical texts as well as their cultural and historical contexts.

Humans across the globe and throughout millennia have searched for answers to questions like, "why are we here?" or "what am I supposed to do with my life?" And the answers people have found, or created, or chosen, have varied as widely as the cultures and people themselves. Some people focus on rules. Some focus on afterlives. Some look to become whole. Some seek adventure and learning. So this text, while full of various ways that people have searched and discovered and created, is only touching a few of the bigger traditions in our world. Hopefully each chapter will introduce the reader to some ideas from that specific tradition that enlighten them as to how a specific group of people think, believe, and live. This text is set up to be an ebook. The various videos, links and resources will only really work if the user keeps to the digital format. Read this book on a device--it will be a much more rewarding experience!