Introduction to the New Testament

The New Testament, the product of a Jewish social movement two thousand years ago, remains one of the most interesting and important collections of texts in history. This course explores the origins of these texts in their social context, and through close readings, the development of the various theologies contained within them. Comparisons will also be made to ancient Jewish, Greek, and Roman texts and the non-canonical Christian texts that were contemporary with the New Testament. In addition, the modern appropriation of the “Jesus paradigm” in film and pop culture will be discussed.