New Testament
(an Introduction to its Literature and World)
Dr. Mark Given
Welcome to REL 102! A major goal of this course is understanding what early Christian writings meant in their original contexts, in a world very different from our own. As L. P. Hartley put it, "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." We want to understand what these ancient authors intended to say in ancient ways to their ancient audiences. Only then can we intelligently reflect on what they might mean for us today. Click here for Requirements and here for Calendar.
But Why Study the New Testament at All in a State University?
One major reason to study the New Testament in a public university setting is that it is hard to imagine any writings that have had more influence on Western Culture than the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, and the New Testament is, of course, the Christian portion of what Westerners would commonly refer to as "the Bible." For a host of reasons that pertain to becoming "an educated person"—to use the MSU lingo—and an informed citizen capable of evaluating and contributing to public discourse in this country in an informed way, a familiarity with the history and literature of the New Testament should be considered indispensable. The following sections include discussion of several other specific reasons for studying the New Testament academically.
General
Education Goals
This course is included under the
“Knowledge of Human Cultures” general education
goal. The rationale for this goal is that
“In an increasingly interconnected world,
students’ professional, social, civic, and
personal lives are affected by the complexity of
human interaction. Thus, students must
understand the nature and underlying mechanisms
of that interaction in a broad variety of
contexts.”
More specifically, REL 102 falls under
General Learning Goal 9 of the “Humanities”
subcategory according to which “Students will
cultivate their intellect, imagination, and
creativity as they develop an understanding of
how social, cultural, linguistic, artistic,
religious, philosophical, and historical
contexts have shaped the thoughts and actions of
people worldwide.” It does this by
addressing the following Specific Learning
Outcomes:
1. Understand how
various forms of written, oral, musical, visual,
and bodily expression contribute to human
knowledge and experience.
2. Utilize knowledge of
various critical and theoretical frameworks to
analyze and respond to works in humanities and
the arts.
3. Interpret texts and
other cultural products in ways that reflect
informed understanding of relevant contextual
factors, including socio-cultural influence and
cultural traditions, perspectives, and
behavioral patterns.
4. Analytically compare
the influences of community, institutions, and
other constructions such as class, gender, and
race on the ways of thinking, believing, and
acting in cultural and historical settings other
than one’s own.
Course Goals
As stated above, REL 102 addresses
General Learning Goal 9 under the “Humanities”
subcategory according to which, "Students will
cultivate their intellect, imagination, and
creativity as they develop an understanding of
how social, cultural, linguistic, artistic,
religious, philosophical, and historical
contexts have shaped the thoughts and actions of
people worldwide.
1) cultivates intellect
by requiring knowledge of culturally significant
primary sources (the NT and related documents)
and modern methods of interpretation;
2) cultivates
imagination by exposing students to a variety of
attitudes toward this literature both in its
historical setting and the present, thus
promoting sensitivity to multicultural concerns;
3) cultivates creativity
by challenging students to look for multiple
possibilities of interpretation and to develop
the ability to deal with ambiguity through
exposure to a variety of ways ambiguous and
conflicting biblical texts and other data are
interpreted by historians and other readers.
In all these ways, the course develops
intellectual self-awareness as students come to
understand how diverse contexts have shaped the
understanding of the New Testament in both the
past and the present.
In terms of Specific Learning Outcomes,
students should:
1) Understand how
various forms of early Jewish and Christian
written, oral, musical, visual, and bodily
expression contribute to human knowledge and
experience. Students will become familiar
with the ways in which early Jewish and
Christian culture is expressed through
literature (the New Testament and other early
Jewish and Christian writings), performance
(worship), and artifact (manuscripts, art, and
other artifacts). (Compare Gen Ed SLO 1
above.)
2) Utilize knowledge of
various critical and theoretical frameworks to
analyze and respond to early Christian works.
Students will be introduced to the historical
method and the goal of distinguishing between
more and less probable accounts of past events
with as much objectivity as possible. They
will learn to use theories and methods employed
in the academic study of the literature and
history of early Christianity such as text,
source, and redaction criticisms, as well as
sociological approaches and newer methodologies
such as feminist and reader-response criticism.
(Compare Gen Ed SLO 2 above.)
3) Interpret early
Christian texts and other cultural products in
ways that reflect informed understanding of
relevant contextual factors, including
socio-cultural influence and cultural
traditions, perspectives, and behavioral
patterns. Students will come to understand
the unique ways of thinking, believing and
acting developed by pagans, Jews, and Christians
who interacted throughout the New Testament
period. (Compare Gen Ed SLO 3 above.)
4) Analytically compare
the influences of community, institutions, and
other constructions such as class, gender, and
race on the ways of thinking, believing, and
acting in the ancient Greco-Roman cultural and
historical setting. Students will gain the
ability to conceptualize and trace the
influences of institutions such as temples,
synagogues, and churches, and other
constructions such as class (slave and free,
rich and poor), gender (diverse and changing
attitudes toward male and female roles in early
Christianity), and ethnicity (the relationship
between Jews and non-Jews in early Judaism and
Christianity). (Compare Gen Ed SLO 4
above.)
The development of strong critical reading skills is another fundamental aspect of this course. You cannot do well by skimming the reading assignments. You must learn to identify the main points, but also comprehend the logic by which scholars have arrived at certain conclusions.
Furthermore, this course contributes to the goals and objectives of the Public Affairs Mission of Missouri State University. Some of these goals and objectives are:
1. To produce citizens who are "more competent and committed in their ability to contribute to society"
2. To "develop an increasing awareness of the public dimension of life"
3. To "produce a broad literacy in the primary public issues"
Religion has always played a significant role in the public discourse of this country. Individuals and groups with remarkably different agendas often appeal to the Bible for support. But how well do these individuals and groups actually know or understand the texts to which they appeal? And how many citizens actually know the content of the Bible or the history behind it well enough to evaluate these appeals? Studying the Literature and World of the New Testament will prepare you think in an informed and critical way about public religious rhetoric.
Finally, the goal of studying religion in a state university is not to make you religious or irreligious. To use of oft repeated phrase, we do not "teach religion" in a state university but we "teach about religion." In a famous 1963 decision, the Supreme Court encouraged the study of religion in state-supported academic environments. This is consistent with a goal common to most public universities of investigating all significant aspects of human experience in a sympathetic and responsible, yet thoughtful and critical manner. Religion is most certainly a very significant aspect of human experience.
Methods
This course employs literary-historical and socio-rhetorical methods. The former method concentrates on interpreting the literature of the early church in its original historical context. It includes attention to literary problems encountered in biblical texts. The latter method focuses on the social structures and conflicts of the early churches. It includes investigation of the types of arguments employed by early believers and their opponents.
A literary-historical religion course is an excellent place to begin to develop the sort of critical thinking skills that will serve you well in your university career and beyond. It takes acquired skills and diligent efforts to reconstruct the past and understand how and what people were thinking and feeling two millennia ago in a world more different than like our own. I encourage you to think critically about issues of interpretation and learn to support your ideas with reasoned and evidence-based arguments.
A socio-rhetorical religion course is an excellent place to contemplate an important issue addressed by the Public Affairs Mission of Missouri State. The early church, like the Judaism of which it was a part, was a religious movement of great diversity. Already within the pages of the New Testament we see religious and political rhetoric in action as competing ideologically and ethnically defined groups assert their particular visions/versions of "the good news" and struggle with the problem of maintaining unity in diversity. Examining their experience with such issues may encourage reflection upon our own situation.
Class meetings usually consist mostly of lectures with some discussion. I find this an appropriate style for an introductory and foundational course where my goal is that you will learn as much basic information as possible about the New Testament and its scholarly investigation. The final exam reflects this goal. The blended modality gives students a chance to interact with the course materials and issues each week and receive feedback. The professor and graduate assistant are always glad to discuss course materials and issues during office hours and through email.