NEW TESTAMENT 1: GOSPELS NS500 (Best viewed using Internet Explorer or Netscape 7)

Fuller School of Theology Santa Barbara Fall 2003 Bruce N. Fisk

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This introduction to the four gospels introduces students to (1) the content of each of the Gospels; (2) the historical setting of the gospels and of the life of Jesus; and (3) the various methods appropriate to studying the gospels, and their implications for interpreting and understanding these beloved and familiar texts. [Prerequisite: None. Meets M. Div. core requirement in New Testament "1" (NT1).]

MY GOALS FOR THIS COURSE AND FOR YOU

I'd love for this course to lay for each of you foundations for a lifetime of studying the Gospels and a lifetime of following Jesus. As we read together, discuss passages, evaluate ideas and complete assignments, we'll watch the Gospels shape our imaginations, transform our vision and solidify us as a community of disciples. Along the way, we'll gain confidence in reading, studying and teaching the Gospels, and we'll grow in our appreciation for the role of New Testament scholarship in the life of the church.

More concretely, I want you increasingly to know your way around the Gospels, and to be able to associate major ideas, themes and arguments with each of the four. I'll be looking for signs that you can recognize the portraits of Jesus depicted in each Gospel, that you are growing in your understanding of the social world of Jesus' day, and that you are refusing to insulate Jesus from cultural, historical and political reality. Toward that end, I hope you'll discover the (mixed) value of contemporary debates about the historical Jesus.

I especially hope that "biblical scholarship" becomes one of your favorite terms. In my experience, untethered biblical scholarship can be destructive, but the same is true for untethered passion and intellectual laziness. Rigorous study in the service of the church, however, will raise exciting new questions, supply useful reality checks, introduce fresh ways of reading, ground private faith in public reality, and supply a roadmap to get past the glib cliches we sometimes mistake for thinking Christianly. Church leaders need not be professional scholars, but they should be amateurs (= "lovers") of the best of biblical scholarship, and should see themselves on a journey that involves both heart and mind, both library and parish, both hands and head, both Spirit and Truth.

COURSE FORMAT

The principal elements will be lecture and discussion, based on our reading of the New Testament and secondary sources. We will meet once weekly for three-hour sessions. Along the way, we'll incorporate group work, presentations, film, music, art, and pretty much anything else that can enrich our exposure to the Gospels and open our eyes to their message.

REQUIRED TEXTS

RECOMMENDED READINGS AND RESOURCES

The following books will be useful for additional background reading, in preparing papers, and in study for the final examination. Wise students will consider acquiring, or at least regularly consulting, these various tools.

ASSIGNMENTS (all of which need to be completed to receive a passing grade)

SCHEDULE