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Rutgers University religion studies professor Azzan Yadin-Israel teaches his Springsteen Theologies course Tuesday, March 24, 2015. (Bobby Olivier | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

NEW BRUNSWICK -- Azzan Yadin-Israel's students sit silently around classroom tables, listening.

Bruce Springsteen's "Into The Fire" plays from computer speakers.

The haunting track, off 2002's "The Rising," is commonly viewed as one of Springsteen's grateful and resonant works in response to the Sept. 11 attacks. The average fan would not analyze much further.

But a new approach is taken in Springsteen's Theologies, a 10-week course currently in session at Rutgers University. It is taught by a religion studies professor who aims to merge The Boss's revered lines with the oft-bypassed theological ideals they evoke.

With lyric sheets distributed, the freshman seminar class breaks down the song stanza-by-stanza, focusing on a key line: "I need your kiss, but love and duty called you someplace higher / Somewhere up the stairs, into the fire."

Yadin-Israel directs his pupils to verses from the Old Testament, to II Kings 2-12. They connect the lyric to the prophet Elijah leaving his disciple Elisha, and his ascension into the heavens on chariots of fire.

The professor continues, noting "Into the Fire's" "strong sacrificial imagery" and its symbolism of religious healing.

During each class, the group examines a few tunes from a different Springsteen album, spanning his 1973 debut "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." through 2005's "Devils and Dust," and weighs them against both biblical texts and past studies linking the two works.

Yes, Springsteen's songs -- the ones that don't dwell on hotrods and the woes of the blue-collar class -- are being picked apart for their clerical value.

Angela Mullis, director of the Byrne First-Year Seminars, says the class is in line with the University program's mission, to introduce new students to academia.

"Oftentimes, through popular culture or by employing art students are familiar with, it opens the doorway to scholarly research, and to material they are just beginning to grasp," says Mullis. "And who better than Jersey's own Springsteen to introduce students to research?"

Through the assigned readings, Yadin-Israel hopes his students "come to appreciate the complexity and the depth within Springsteen's lyrics, but at the same time, they'll also think about the religious motifs and the biblical text that we cover as having a great deal of cultural relevance.

"It won't just be something that you study in Sunday school or synagogue, but living, cultural texts that current artists are dealing with and grappling with today."

The professor acknowledges, and tries to instill in his class, the "arc" of theologies Springsteen's lyrics have undergone over the last 40 years, beginning with the anti-religious sentiments of "Greetings."

Yadin-Israel cites the arrogance of "It's Hard to be a Saint in the City," and the arguably sacrilegious lines of "Lost in The Flood":

"Nuns run bald through Vatican halls, pregnant, pleadin' immaculate conception /

And everybody's wrecked on Main Street from drinking unholy blood."

From there, the class has examined Springsteen's search for redemption in "Born to Run," and its theological undertones, and subsequently, his shift toward uncertainty in "Darkness on the Edge of Town."

"In 'Born to Run,' he believes salvation is a real possibility," Yadin-Israel tells his pupils. "But in 'Darkness,' he's much less sure of that."

The pop-culture content is far removed from what Yadin-Israel, a professor at Rutgers since 2002, typically researches -- his courses usually take on 3rd Century rabbinical texts or Plato. But he had written a piece for Jewish Review of Books on the Israeli hip-hop band Hadag Hanash, and the group's use of biblical references. So when the university asked him if he'd teach a seminar, he chose to expand the concept to an American artist.

And as a lifelong fan, he was happy to dive deeply into Springsteen's songbook.

"The course has definitely changed my appreciation of Springsteen as a writer," Yadin-Israel says. "Aside from the strong emotional connection, I now really value the thought he puts into his lyrics."

Jordan Cohen, a freshman History and Political Science major, has enjoyed venturing through Springsteen's lyrical timeline.

"Each album seems to have a different focus towards religion, which is really interesting, as his musical style has changed as well," he says. "It's a good course for looking at things we take for granted -- like a popular musician's song -- through a different lens."

Now in its second year, the class will be ramped up into an honors class next semester, and Yadin-Israel has taken his research on the road of late, leading talks at local churches, synagogues and the Bruce Springsteen Special Collection at Monmouth University. He's also in the process of penning a book on the topic, titled "The Grace of God and the Grace of Man: Springsteen's Theologies."

Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier. Find NJ.com on Facebook.