Introduction to New Testament History and Literature - Audio
By Dale B. Martin
To listen to an audio podcast, mouse over the title and click Play. Open iTunes to download and subscribe to podcasts.
Description
(RLST 152) This course provides a historical study of the origins of Christianity by analyzing the literature of the earliest Christian movements in historical context, concentrating on the New Testament. Although theological themes will occupy much of our attention, the course does not attempt a theological appropriation of the New Testament as scripture. Rather, the importance of the New Testament and other early Christian documents as ancient literature and as sources for historical study will be emphasized. A central organizing theme of the course will focus on the differences within early Christianity (-ies). This course was recorded in Spring 2009.
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
26 - The "Afterlife" of the New Testament; and Postmodern Interpretation? | How did a small group following an apocalyptic prophet in Palestine become Christianity - what is now called a "world religion"? This small movement saw many changes in the second, third, and fourth centuries, from the development of different ... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
2 |
25 - Ecclesiastical Institutions: Unity, Martyrs, and Bishops | The Epistle of Jude can be dated to somewhere during post-apostolic Christianity and before the formation of the Canon. It refers to the apostles as representing a prior generation, yet it quotes from texts later excluded (perhaps, for example, by... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
3 |
22 - Interpreting Scripture: Medieval Interpretations | The Apocalypse, or the Revelation of John, shares many of the traits found in apocalyptic literature: it operates in dualisms--earthly events contrasted with heavenly ones, present time with the imminent future, and it calls for cultural and political.. | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
4 |
14 - Paul as Missionary | The New Testament and other texts provide us with many accounts of the Apostle Paul, some that contradict each other. Throughout the history of Christianity, Paul has assumed many different roles for different people. For the early Christians... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
5 |
24 - Apocalyptic and Accommodation | The Apocalypse of John showed an anti-Roman, politically revolutionary perspective. This is in contrast with Paul's writing in Romans 13, which calls for submission to governmental authorities - although passages in 1 Corinthians may be said to ... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
6 |
23 - Apocalyptic and Resistance | The principles of interpreting the New Testament in this course assume a historical critical perspective. The historical critical method of interpreting a text privileges the intended meaning of the ancient author, the interpretation of a text's ... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
7 |
21 - Interpreting Scripture: Hebrews | There are many ways of interpreting the text, and ancient methods of interpretation may seem bizarre to our modern sensibilities. The New Testament offers us many examples of how an early Christian might interpret the text of the Hebrew Bible... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
8 |
19 - The "Household" Paul: the Pastorals | In ancient times, documents that were falsely attributed to an author, called pseudepigrapha, were a common phenomenon. Both the Letters to the Colossians and Ephesians are most likely pseudonymous works attributed to the Apostle Paul. | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
9 |
12 - Johannine Christianity: the Letters | The Jesus of the Gospel of John often speaks in riddles so that his dialogues with characters such as Nicodemus appear confusing and not clarifying. The focus, however, of the Gospel of John is on Christology. In the Gospel, Jesus is divine. | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
10 |
11 - Johannine Christianity: the Gospel | The Gospel of John is a gospel dramatically different from the Synoptic Gospels. It is full of long dialogues, it speaks of "signs" rather than exorcisms or miracles, and its narrative differs at many points from the Synoptics. Themes in the Gospel ... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
11 |
10 - The Acts of the Apostles | The speech that Stephen gives before his accusers in Acts shows how the author of Luke-Acts used and edited his sources. So, also, does the description of the destruction of Jerusalem in Luke, as compared to that in Mark. The major themes of Luke-Acts.. | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
12 |
09 - The Gospel of Luke | Luke and Acts, a two-volume work, are structured very carefully by the author to outline the ministry of Jesus and the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles. The Gospel of Luke emphasizes the themes of Jesus' Jewish piety, his role as a rejected prophet. | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
13 |
08 - The Gospel of Thomas | We've known of the existence of the Gospel of Thomas from ancient writers, but it was only after the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Codices that the actual text was available to us. The Gospel of Thomas is basically a collection of sayings, or logia... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
14 |
07 - The Gospel of Matthew | The Gospel of Matthew contains some of the most famous passages that both Christians and non-Christians are familiar with. However, Matthew also presents itself paradoxically as preaching a Torah observant Christianity and a Christian mission... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
15 |
20 - The "Anti-household" Paul: Thecla | The Acts of Paul and Thecla has a narrative quite similar to those in ancient Greco-Roman novels: Thecla becomes enamored of Paul and they share a number of adventures. However, the Acts redirects eroticism towards a belief in a gospel of purity... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
16 |
17 - Paul’s Disciples | Early Christianity presents us with a wide diversity in attitudes towards the Law. There were also many different Christologies circulating in different communities. The book of James presents one unique perspective. It seems to be written in ... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
17 |
18 - Arguing With Paul? | In the undisputed Pauline epistles, marriage is seen as a way to extirpate sexual desire - neither as a means for procreation nor as the preferred social status. The Pastoral Epistles, written to instruct in the pastoring of churches and appointing of . | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
18 |
16 - Paul as Jewish Theologian | The Apostle Paul's description of the Jewish Law in his letter to the Galatians demotes from being an expression of Jewish faith to an object of idolatry and one that imprisons those who follow it. Paul is careful to nuance this position, however, in .. | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
19 |
15 - Paul as Pastor | 1 Corinthian and 2 Corinthians give us several snapshots of the development of the Corinthian church and Paul's relationship to it. In 1 Corinthians Paul is concerned with controversies that have been dividing the church, most probably along social ... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
20 |
13 - The Historical Jesus | It is obvious that certain narratives in the New Testament contradict each other and cannot be woven into a historically coherent whole. How, then, do scholars construct who the "historical Jesus" was? There are several principles that historical ... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
21 |
06 - The Gospel of Mark | The Gospels of the New Testament are not biographies, and, in this class, we will be reading them through a historical critical lens. This means that the events they narrate are not taken at face value as historical. The Gospel of Mark illustrates how.. | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
22 |
04 - Judaism in the First Century | Of the four kingdoms that arose after Alexander's death, those of the Seleucids and the Ptolemies are most pertinent to an understanding of the New Testament. Especially important is the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who forced the issue ... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
23 |
03 - The Greco-Roman World | Knowledge of historical context is crucial to understanding the New Testament. Alexander the Great, in his conquests, spread Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean world. This would shape the structure of city-states, which would share ... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
24 |
02 - From Stories to Canon | The Christian faith is based upon a canon of texts considered to be holy scripture. How did this canon come to be? Different factors, such as competing schools of doctrine, growing consensus, and the invention of the codex, helped shape the canon of ... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
25 |
05 - The New Testament as History | The accounts of Paul's travels in The Acts of the Apostles and Galatians seem to contradict each other at many points. Their descriptions of a meeting in Jerusalem--a major council in Acts versus a small, informal gathering in Galatians--also differ... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
|
26 |
01 - Introduction: Why Study the New Testament? | This course approaches the New Testament not as scripture, or a piece of authoritative holy writing, but as a collection of historical documents. Therefore, students are urged to leave behind their pre-conceived notions of the New Testament... | 12 10 2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 26 Items |
Customer Reviews
Interesting Collection of Modern New Testament Criticism
There is, in modern scholarship since the 1700's, the tendency to "doubt everything" except your own arrogance. As a man who believes that the Bible was inspired as well as preserved through the generations by the will and providence of God, I have no sense of shock left for those who say, "Surely this wasn't written by a guy named Mark" and "Surely the people who recorded this parable had reworked it to meet the need of their immediate community."
I appreciate Dale Martin's knowledge and integration of Ancient Near Eastern and Early Roman culture into his interpretation of passages of the New Testament - something we Christians often fail to do. There is much light to be shed there. Sometimes he falls into the trap of popular integration whereby some scholars may import sexist (Paul's Christianity was a Male Fraternity) or political nuances due to silence within a short epistle.
Like Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, this course may lead a member of the "Jesus haunted" culture (European and American) into believing everything he says as though his observations are the "new Gospel." I wanted to be in the audience so I could participate - it was depressing to discover that those in the classroom truly were ignorant of the contents of the New Testament and thus vulnerable to be lead into the ditch with the instructor.
I would recommend this course for people who wish to be affirmed in their confidence that "there is nothing of significance in the New Testament except for a collection of eclectic, contradictory, biased, pseudepigraphal propoganda about a misunderstood apocalyptic rabbi - and thus there is no reason to repent or obey Acts 2:38 because I will NOT have to give an answer for my sins in the afterlife - whew!"
Christians with a Masters Degree in Early Christian and Jewish Studies might find this both confronting and illuminating. I enjoyed the challenge!
A great series!
I found this very informative, and enjoyable. In particular I appreciated the descriptions of historical evidence, or lack thereof, and the wider contexts considered. Highly recommended.
