First posting for Biblical Lit

The questioned posed for the first blog was "what do I know today that I didn't know before?" Frankly, I know I will enjoy this class more than I thought I would at first glance. When I think of the Bible, my religious upbringing springs to mind rather than a piece of literature. I am an ex-Southern Baptist and was not looking forward to diving back into the hellfire, brimstone and damnation of my childhood. Despite my educational background (more about that in a minute), studying the Bible from an academic perspective is a new, and certainly unique, experience for me.

Since others have been so willing to share their backgrounds in their blogs, I'll do the same. I have a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in professional writing. I graduated from college 10 years ago and have worked since then primarily as a technical writer, an editor and, most recently, as a teaching assistant in the English department of an alternative high school in Great Falls (my hometown). I coached forensics last season at CM Russell HS also. My love of my work in the high schools convinced me to pursue a secondary education certification and Dr. Myers encouraged me to pursue the extended English degree option, which involved adding a few lit classes to my transcript, including, obviously, this one.