Time is reporting that Rutgers University will offer a theology class devoted to New Jersey legend Bruce Springsteen. Billed as a freshman seminar, the class will cover Springsteen’s entire discography. Professor Azzan Yadin-Israel, a Jewish studies and classics specialist, will conduct the class.
The official news bulletin from Rutgers explained further:
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.
The narrator of “Adam Raised a Cain” describes his strained relationship with his father through the prism of the biblical story of the first father and son; Apocalyptic storms accompany a boy’s tortured transition into manhood in “The Promised Land,” and the first responders of 9/11 rise up to “someplace higher” in the flames, much as Elijah the prophet ascended in a chariot of fire (“Into the Fire”).
Theologically, I would say the most dominant motifs are redemption — crossing the desert and entering the Promised Land — and the sanctity of the everyday.
Rutgers joins the likes of Princeton, Monmouth University and University of Rochester as those to incorporate The Boss in their curriculum.
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