It is commonly accepted there is an anti-urban religious stereotype with origins in the earliest suburbs, the social reform movement of cities in the late 19th century, and mass suburbanization in the post-war period, which has radically remade our cities over the last 200 years. But is God really anti-urban? There are over 700 generic references to the ‘city’ in The Tanakh or Old Testament. Can they tell us anything about urbanism today, given the innumerable problems of language, translation, interpretation and our own evolving conception of the city over time? This course examines in detail more than two dozen of these biblical references to the city in an attempt to answer these questions. In the Old Testament, God is not anti-urban. Quite the opposite, there is evidence of God as the architect, designer, and planner. The city itself is often seen as a symbol of strength and an ideal to achieve because God’s plan for humanity begins in a garden without sin but concludes in a redeemed city (1.5 hour course).
Key concepts: city, strength, metaphor, Old Testament, Tanakh, urban, wisdom
Includes an one and a half hour video presentation and PDFs of the course supplementary material and slide handout.
Please note there may be a delay for a couple of hours before you might be able to access the course because we have to confirm receipt of payment for each order before completing the purchase.
About the Instructor
Dr. Mark David Major, AICP, CNU-A is an architect and planner with extensive experience in urban planning and design, business management and real estate development, and academia. He is a Professor of Urban Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Mark has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Florida, Georgia Tech, Architectural Association in London, the University of São Paulo in Brazil, and Politecnico di Milano in Italy.