Summer 2016/Pasadena

NT500

Parris

NT500: NEW TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION (4 Units: 160 hours). David Parris.

DESCRIPTION: New Testament Introduction orients students to the literature of the New Testament in its various literary, historical, and theological contexts and to New Testament interpretation in service of Christian practice.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Having successfully completed this course students will have demonstrated that they (1) have an introductory knowledge of the literature, history, and theology of the New Testament; (2) can identify a range of questions (e.g., historical, literary, canonical) that might be addressed to particular New Testament texts and can explore those questions in the process of interpreting particular New Testament texts; (3) are able to take into account the varied contexts of both the biblical materials and their contemporary interpreters; and (4) can read the New Testament in ways that foster faithful Christian practice.

COURSE FORMAT: This is a hybrid+ course, meaning that it is a ten-week course with nine weeks of online instruction and one week of classroom instruction during week 4 of the quarter. The week of classroom instruction will include four hours daily of lecture and discussion, as well as additional lunch meetings and evening sessions (required in hybrid+ courses). Classroom and online instruction will include lecture and discussion for a total of 40 instructional hours.

REQUIRED READING: 1230 total number of pages required.

Select readings from one of these translations of the New Testament: CEB, NRSV, or TNIV [approx. 150 pp.].

Carter, Warren. Seven Events That Shaped the New Testament World. Baker Academic, 2013. ISBN: 978-0801039164, Pub. Price $21.99 [150 pp.].

Carter, Warren and Amy-Jill Levine. The New Testament: Methods and Meanings. Abingdon, 2013. ISBN: 978-1426741906, Pub. Price $39.99 [360 pp.].

Green, Joel B. and Lee Martin McDonald, eds. The World of the New Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts. Baker, 2013. ISBN: 978-0801039621, Pub. Price $49.99 [130 pp. assigned].

Osiek, Carolyn, Margaret Y. MacDonald and Janet H. Tulloch. A Woman's Place: House Churches in Earliest Christianity. Fortress, 2006. ISBN: 978-0800637774, Pub. Price $21.00 [250 pp.].

Parris, David Paul. Reading the Bible with Giants:How 2000 Years of Biblical Interpretation Can Shed New Light on Old Texts. 2nd ed. Cascade Books, 2015. ISBN: 978-1625647283, Pub. Price $26.00 [190 pp.].

RECOMMENDED READING:

Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament. Yale University Press, 1997. ISBN: 978-0300140163, Pub. Price $75.00.

deSilva, David A. An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods and Ministry Formation. InterVarsity Press, 2004. ISBN: 978-0830827466, Price $50.00. (highly recommended)

Ferguson, Everett. Backgrounds of Early Christianity. 3rd ed. Eerdmans, 2003. ISBN: 978-0802822215, Pub. Price $42.00.

Fiensy, David A. and James Riley Strange, eds. Galilee in the Late Second Temple and Mishnaic Periods. Vol 1: Life, Culture, and Society. Fortress, 2014. ISBN: 978-1451466744, Pub. Price $69.00.

Ladd, George Eldon. A Theology of the New Testament. Rev. ed., Edited by Donald A. Hagner. Eerdmans, 1993. ISBN: 978-0802806802, Pub. Price $39.00.

Wright, N.T. The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is. InterVarsity, 1999. ISBN: 978-0830822003, Pub. Price $29.00.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 1230total number of pages of books and articles required [82 hours].

2. Contributions to ongoing, discussion forums. (5%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1-4] [5 hours].

3. Book reviews on Seven Events and A Woman’s Place (2 pages each) (10% each, 20% total). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes 1 & 3] [6 hours].

4. Interpretive assignment that focus on a close reading of a particular NT text to be assigned. (4 pages) (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes 2 & 3] [16 hours]

5. Historical Timeline that shows all the major/significant events from 400 BC to 200 AD that impacted Palestine, the Jewish people, the wider Near Eastern and Greco-Roman worlds. (3-4 page chart) (15%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1-3] [9 hours].

6. Outline and Argument paper on one of the epistles (6 pages in length) (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes # 2-4.] [20 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets a core requirement in the 120 MDiv, 80 MAT, 80 MATM, and 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015) and the MATM, MAICS, and MACL Programs (Winter 2010).

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.