UNBELIEVABLE---you can now learn as "theology" in college the Bible according to Bruce Springsteen...---...not making this up....the inspirational words of Saint Bruce can be taught to you for the $$$price$$$ of a seminar for a semester....
exploring the theological underpinnings of Springsteen’s lyrics, and the song writer’s reinterpretation of biblical stories.
Byrne Seminars, open to first-year students at Rutgers, are one-credit courses, with correspondingly lighter workloads, that offer an introduction to research in classes of no more than 20 students.
Rutgers Today: You’ve noted that Springsteen interweaves elements of the secular and the sacred in his lyrics. Can you give some examples of where and how he’s done this in his works over the years?
Azzan Yadin-Israel: The seminar includes lyrics of songs from “Greetings from Asbury Park, New Jersey,” Springsteen’s first album, all the way through “Wrecking Ball,” so this is clearly a broad
phenomenon. In some songs, Springsteen engages biblical motifs explicitly, as the titles indicate. For example, “Adam Raised a Cain,” “Jesus was an Only Son,” “In the Belly of the Whale” (referring to Jonah). But concepts with biblical resonance appear throughout his works (the Promised Land, redemption, faith), and it’s just a matter of taking the theological overtones seriously.
Rutgers Today: Is there one dominant theological philosophy running through the Springsteen lyrics you’ve analyzed? Which biblical stories does he link to?
Azzan Yadin-Israel: Interestingly, Springsteen refers more often to the stories of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) than the New Testament. On a literary level, Springsteen often recasts biblical figures and stories into the American landscape." RutgersToday
Oh, and one more thing.....
"Yadin-Israel said, “there’s no expectation that anyone will become a Springsteen scholar. I do hope the students gain an appreciation for a particular way of thinking about texts, an attentive engagement of an author’s work,....." RutgersToday
Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools,
Romans 1:22
"The pop icon lovingly known as The Boss is best known for writing about women, sports, cars and factory whistles. Now a Rutgers professor is leading a Byrne Seminar  |
| From the "Really" File |
Byrne Seminars, open to first-year students at Rutgers, are one-credit courses, with correspondingly lighter workloads, that offer an introduction to research in classes of no more than 20 students.
Rutgers Today: You’ve noted that Springsteen interweaves elements of the secular and the sacred in his lyrics. Can you give some examples of where and how he’s done this in his works over the years?
Azzan Yadin-Israel: The seminar includes lyrics of songs from “Greetings from Asbury Park, New Jersey,” Springsteen’s first album, all the way through “Wrecking Ball,” so this is clearly a broad
 |
| Gospel according to St. Bruce now taught in college |
Rutgers Today: Is there one dominant theological philosophy running through the Springsteen lyrics you’ve analyzed? Which biblical stories does he link to?
Azzan Yadin-Israel: Interestingly, Springsteen refers more often to the stories of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) than the New Testament. On a literary level, Springsteen often recasts biblical figures and stories into the American landscape." RutgersToday
Oh, and one more thing.....
"Yadin-Israel said, “there’s no expectation that anyone will become a Springsteen scholar. I do hope the students gain an appreciation for a particular way of thinking about texts, an attentive engagement of an author’s work,....." RutgersToday
REALLY?
