DESCRIPTION:

This course is an examination of the various presentations of end-time expectations found in the New Testament. Eschatology is a broad concept, and therefore the course will cover, for example, national hopes as well as individual expectations at death. Special attention will be given to the questions raised by the diversity of eschatological expressions in the New Testament, as well as questions concerning Jewish and Greco-Roman backgrounds.

Although much avoided and misconceived, the expectation of the "last things" is of fundamental importance in the NT. Serious consideration of these expectations, seen generally in threats of judgment and promises of reward, will result in much-needed renewal and hope in today's church.

The course will be a combination of lectures, in-class discussion, and student reports on assigned topics of research. The class will meet weekly for a three-hour session.

Longenecker, Richard N., ed. Life in the Face of Death: The Resurrection Message of the New Testament. Eerdmans, 1998.

Witherington, B., III. Jesus, Paul, and the End of the World. InterVarsity Press, 1992.

Course reader containing articles from various journals and anthologies; authors represented include R. Bauckham, D. Daube, W. D. Davies, R. H. Gundry, J. Jeremias, and M. L. Peel.

Beasley-Murray, G. R. Jesus and the Last Days: The Interpretation of the Olivet Discourse. Hendrickson, 1993.

Buchanan, G. W. New Testament Eschatology: Historical and Cultural Background. Mellen Biblical Press, 1993.

Cooper, J. W. Body, Soul, and Life Everlasting. Eerdmans, 1989.

Davies, W. D., and D. Daube, eds. The Background of the New Testament and Its Eschatology. Cambridge University Press, 1972.

Gloer, W. H., ed. Eschatology and the New Testament: Essays in Honor of George Raymond Beasley-Murray. Hendrickson, 1988.

Harris, M. J. Raised Immortal: Resurrection & Immortality in the New Testament. Eerdmans, 1983.

Kummel, W. G. Promise and Fulfillment: The Eschatological Message of Jesus. SCM, 1957.

Ladd, G. E. The Presence of the Future. Eerdmans, 1974.

Lincoln, A. T. Paradise Now and Not Yet. SNTSMS 43. Cambridge University Press, 1981

Nickelsburg, G. W. E., Jr. Resurrection, Immortality, and Eternal Life in Intertestamental Judaism. Harvard Theological Studies 26. Harvard University Press, 1972.

Plevink, J. Paul and the Parousia. Hendrickson, 1997.

Schmidt, T. E. and Moises Silva, eds. To Tell the Mystery: Essays on New Testament Eschatology in Honor of Robert H. Gundry. JSNTSup 100. JSOT Press, 1994.

(1) Notes on the reading assignments. (2) A research paper, not exceeding twelve pages in length, on a specific topic in New Testament Eschatology. Topics should be discussed with and approved by the instructor early in the course. (3) A progress report to the class on the assigned topic, above. (4) An essay-style final examination based on the readings and class lectures.