Introduction to the New Testament

The first century of the Common Era introduced Jesus, a Galilean Jew. His life and teachings are described in the gospels, the spread of his teaching is described in the Acts of the Apostles, and together with epistles of Paul, epistles attributed to Paul, and Revelation, they compose the New Testament, the basis of the rising Christian religion. In this course we will survey the different compositions, the process of the formation and canonization of the New Testament, and the relation between these compositions and parallel compositions of the era. We will discuss the historical and theological background of different issues in the New Testament and the relation of the New Testament to the Old Testament and Qumran Literature on the one hand, and to Hellenistic and Roman literature on the other.