Religious arguments feature in a wide spectrum of global conflicts. In this seminar we will focus on the role that sacred texts play in justifying positions that religious groups take on such issues as the role of women, violence, the presence of evil, sexuality, attitude toward other religions, and the ultimate future of the earth. To examine these questions we must gain familiarity with standard analytical techniques and the assumptions, often unexamined, that both scholars and ordinary people use to amass sacred texts as evidence for their views. While centering on the role of the Bible in the major branches of Christianity, we will also discuss issues in Islam, the Sikhs, and the polytheistic religion of ancient Greece.