Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion you should be able to:

• Read and understand the Gospels in context

• Assess historical accounts and more easily determine biblical authors valuation of included cultural elements

• Better relate information about Jesus in the gospels to our need for Him in the present

Course Outline

Introduction

• Introducing the Speaker and the Course

Unit 1: What Are the Gospels?

• Genre

• A Formal Resemblance to Graeco-Roman Biography

• A Substantive Resemblance to Graeco-Roman Biography

• Using Louw-Nida to Study Geographic Settings

• Distinctions from Graeco-Roman Biography

• Implications for Interpreting the Gospels

Unit 2: Reading the Gospels as Wholes

• Literary Context

• Investigating the Textual Variant in Mark 16:9–20

• The Two Levels of a Gospel

• The Story Level

• The Discourse Level: Themes

• Discovering Repeated Terms in the Gospels

• The Discourse Level: Sequencing

• The Discourse Level: More Sequencing Strategies

• The Discourse Level: Point of View

• Finding Specific Characters’ Speeches

• The Implied Reader

Unit 3: Other Methods for Reading the Gospels

• A Range of Methods

• Historical Criticism

• Identifying Genres and Subgenres in the Gospels

• Source Criticism

• Form Criticism

• Redaction Criticism

Unit 4: Reading the Gospels in Their First Settings

• Two Potential Time Frames

• The Two Worlds of the First Century

• Political Background of First-Century Judaism

• Roman Occupation during the Time of Jesus

• Working with a Graeco-Roman Setting

• Identifying Historical Figures in the Gospels

• Rome and Jesus’ Crucifixion

• Core Beliefs of First-Century Judaism

• Expectations within First-Century Judaism

Unit 5: Examples of Working with a Jewish Setting

• Torah Adherence in Exodus and the Psalms

• Torah Adherence in the Prophets

• Purity Laws

• Pharisees

• Messianic Expectations

• Locating Early Interpretations of Isaiah 11:1–3

• The Royal Messiah

• Other Figures and Terms

Unit 6: Reading Matthew as a Whole

• Keeping Three Values in View

• The Title of Matthew’s Gospel

• Genealogy as a Subgenre

• Comparing Old Testament Genealogies

• The Pattern of the Genealogy in Matthew 1:2–17

• Breaks in the Pattern

• Themes in Matthew 1:2–17

• Themes Reiterated in Matthew 28:16–20

Unit 7: The Scramble for Status

• An Example from Matthew 20:20–28

• Backing Up Slightly: Matthew 20:17–19

• Backing Up Further: Matthew 20:1–16

• Backing Up to the Key Juncture: Matthew 16:21

• Themes That Emerge

• Checking Themes across Matthew as a Whole

• Historical Assessment of Themes: Status Reversal

• Historical Assessment of Themes: The Servant of the Lord

• Returning to Matthew 20:20–28

Unit 8: John’s Prologue

• A Look at the Passage

• Themes

• Historical Setting

• John’s Prologue and Genesis 1

• John’s Prologue and Exodus

• Exodus and John 1:17

Conclusion

• Tools to Use When Reading the Gospels as Wholes

Details

• Title: BI271 Interpreting New Testament Narrative: Studies and Methods

• Instructor: Jeannine K. Brown

• Publisher: Lexham Press

• Publication Date: 2015

• Product Type: Logos Mobile Education

• Resource Type: Courseware, including transcripts, audio, and video resources

• Courses: 1

• Video Hours: 5