Encountering the New Testament

Catalog description

This course examines the biblical traditions and texts of the Christian Scriptures as products of particular historical and cultural communities, and as literary and theological documents. Although it focuses on the New Testament, the course will also introduce biblical studies more generally, including the relationship between the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Special attention will be paid to the need for historical- and literary-critical methods to interpret the Bible as mandated by the 1943 Papal encyclical, "Divino Afflante Spiritu," and later Church documents. This course will also help students acquire familiarity with the great diversity in the New Testament about regarding the person and significance of Jesus, the role and structure of the Christian community, and how discipleship is understood.