Biblical History and Literature Department records

Courses in Bible Study have been taught from the time of the inception of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1837. The course of study was simply called "Bible" for almost the first fifty years of the Seminary's history. Although formal departments did not exist at this point, groups of classes were offered under different headings. In the 1883/1884 academic year, the name was changed to "Bible Study." The same classes within the "department" were retained at this point, as well as in the 1884/1885 academic year when the title of the course of study was changed to "Theism and Christian Evidences." "Theism and Christian Evidences" remained a course of study at the Seminary and College until the 1892/1893 academic year. However, in 1890/1891, a course of study entitled "The Bible" emerged, and this remained until 1893/1894. During the years of overlap between these two courses of study, "The Bible" was a course of study for students in their first few years at the College and "Theism and Christian Evidences" was a course of study for senior students. "The Bible" included the study of the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible, while "Theism and Christian Evidences" included the study of leading topics in Christianity. The courses of study merged in 1893/1894 under the title of "The Bible," but this course of study was renamed "Bible and Theism" for the 1895/1896 academic year. In 1897/1898, the department became "Biblical Literature." At this time, the range of courses within the department expanded. Another change occurred in 1901/1902 when the name of the department was changed to "Biblical History and Literature." At this point, there was only a slight change in courses offered. In the 1927/1928 academic year, the department became "History and Literature of Religion," again with no significant change in courses offered at this time. In the 1947/1948 academic year, this became the Religion Department.