Course Syllabus

Instructor: Pamela Eisenbaum

Course Overview and Objectives

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Course Description

This course serves as a general introduction to the New Testament, its literature, its background and origins, its history, and its significance to the Christian tradition. There are no prerequisites.

Objectives

  1. To provide you with a basic knowledge of the literary contents of the New Testament
  2. To locate New Testament texts in the Roman and Jewish context of the first century
  3. To gain an understanding of the beliefs and practices of the first generations of Jesus-followers
  4. To help you become critical interpreters of the New Testament.
  5. To develop an appreciation for the biblical text and the scholarly resources that can be used to deepen one’s understanding of it

Books

Required

  • Krister Stendahl, The Final Account: Paul’s Letter to the Romans (Fortress, 1995) ISBN-10:0800629221; Kindle edition okay
  • Bart Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction (Sixth Edition; Oxford, 2016) ISBN-10:978-0-19-020382-5 Note: This text may be rented from Amazon (which costs less than half the retail price).
  • Pamela Eisenbaum, Paul Was Not A Christian (HarperOne, 2009/10) ISBN-10:0061349917 or ISBN-10: 0060722916; Kindle okay
  • Marc Brettler and Amy-Jill Levine (eds.), The Jewish Annotated New Testament (Oxford, 2011); ISBN-10:0195297709
  • Although we will primarily use the JANT, you should also have a Bible in one of the following versions: NRSV (recommend HarperCollins Study Bible, but any NRSV will do); New International Version (Updated 2011); New American Bible (Revised 2011); New American Standard Bible (Updated 1995); Note: Pay attention to the date and edition; older versions are not acceptable, though anything published later than the stated date is fine if it is the same version.

Optional

  • Brian Blount, et al, True to Our Native Land: An African American Commentary on the New Testament (Fortress, 2007); ISBN-10:0800634217
  • Carol A. Newsom, Sharon H. Ringe, and Jacqueline E. Lapsley (eds.), Women’s Bible Commentary, (Third Edition Revised and Updated; Westminster/John Knox, 2012); ISBN-10:066423707X
  • Kurt Aland (ed.), Synopsis of the Four Gospels (Revised 1982; English only; American Bible Society, 2010) ISBN-10:1585169420 

Other Books of Interest

  • Jouette Bassler, Navigating Paul: An Introduction to Key Theological Concepts. (WJK, 2007). A Theological Introduction to Paul, organized thematically.
  • Joe Marchal, Studying Paul’s Letters: Contemporary Perspectives and Methods. (Fortress, 2012). A collection of essays by various authors introducing readers to new contemporary approaches to reading Paul.
  • James D. G. Dunn, Jesus, Paul and the Gospels (Eerdmans, 2011). A set of lectures on the Gospels and Pauline letters from one of the most influential evangelical scholars of the Twentieth-Twenty-first Century.
  • Stephen Patterson, Beyond the Passion: Rethinking the Life and Death of Jesus (Fortress, 2004). A creative reading of the gospel tradition that interprets the meaning of Jesus’ death not just as atonement for sin, but in terms of his life and teachings.
  • Mark Goodacre, The Synoptic Problem: A Way Through the Maze (T & T Clark, 2004). A substantive but accessible overview of the synoptic problem. Goodacre does not hold the mainstream view but this volume is nevertheless a fairly balanced approach.

Synopsis of Schedule

Evaluation

Policies And Services

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Course Summary:

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