Introduction to New Testament B (Letters) orients students to the epistolary literature of the New Testament in its various literary, historical, and theological contexts, and to the interpretation of these documents in service of Christian practice.
Students will learn to identify a range of questions (e.g., historical, literary, canonical, theological, experiential) that might be addressed to the New Testament letters and explore these questions in the process of interpreting particular New Testament texts. They will learn to take into account the varied contexts of both the biblical materials and their contemporary interpreters, while seeking to read these new testament texts in ways that foster faithful Christian practice.
Studying the New Testament letters can and should be a life-changing experience. They were written at a time when the gospel was reaching ever-new areas, occasioning new situations and requiring novel responses in the encounter between the nascent church and the surrounding world. As students of these letters we are invited to enter the new world they envision, to take on the identity of God’s people that they hold out for us, and to be transformed accordingly in our thought, lifestyle, and actions.
- Teacher: Steven Young
