REL 162 History and Literature of the New Testament
An introduction to the social-historical study of the writings that came to be the New Testament of the Christian churches. We will survey the social, political, and religious contexts of the Jewish and Greco-Roman worlds of the first century, the actions and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, and the missionary activity and theology of Paul of Tarsus. We will study most of the texts included in the New Testament as well as other ancient Jewish and early Christian writings to learn about the development of the various beliefs and practices of these first Christian communities.