New Testament Introduction
BITH 501
Summary
Explore the New Testament Introduction course and what you can expect to learn through the semester.
Course Overview
New Testament Introduction introduces the literature of the New Testament in its socio-historical, literary, and canonical contexts, methods of New Testament study, and critical issues in New Testament formation and interpretation.
Attention will be given to analysis of critical views.
Textbooks
- See the current booklist.
Professor: Dr. Stephen Smith
Assignment Overview
Video lectures (both pre-recorded and synchronous real-time interaction via Google Hangouts) will supplement the class textbooks.
Students will interact with the readings and video lectures in weekly assignments.
The final project for the class is a 2500-3000 word research paper on a New Testament critical issue. The paper will explain how a specific NT text (or multiple texts) is clarified by a proper understanding of the critical issue.
Intended Outcomes
You will appreciate
- The role that issues of New Testament introduction play in our interpretation of Scripture
- The responsibility we have to accurately interpret God’s Word and conform our lives to it
You will be able to
- Engage the major questions of NT study and scholarship, including the nature of Scripture
- More accurately interpret and apply the New Testament in light of its socio-historical context
- Identify and critique unbelieving assumptions and conclusions in the study of the New Testament
You will understand
- The key elements of the background, authorship, chronology, and other introduction issues for the New Testament books
- The content of each chapter in the New Testament
- Critical methods of New Testament study
- The socio-historical contexts of the New Testament writings
Students will gain confidence in the authority and reliability of the New Testament.