BK502.3‒ Christian Origins: The Gospels & Story of God: Description
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Utilizing the same textbook and workbook, this course covers PART 6 of the textbook: The Gospels & the Story of God.
As students of the New Testament, we’re called to make sense of the New Testament and early Christianity. One key is understanding its overall original context‒ the era of Jesus and the first Christians.
This course offers a transformative journey into the New Testament and early Christianity by exploring its historical, cultural, and theological contexts. Students rediscover the excitement of what it was like to live as Christians in the first and second centuries within the framework of Second Temple Judaism and Greco-Roman society.
Incorporating decades of ground-breaking research, the textbook authors bring the New Testament books and themes to life through historical and cultural insights and their enduring implications for the Christian faith.
While focusing on the historical Jesus, Paul’s theology, the first-century understanding of the Kingdom of God, and the development of the New Testament canon‒ the course integrates maps, illustrations, and commentary helping students experience the vibrant world of the early church.
REQUIREMENT DESIGNATION:
Bridge Requirement
✓ MDiv Requirement
MDiv Elective
DMin Requirement
✓ DMin Elective
No Prerequisite
✓ Prerequisite: BK502.2 ‒ Christian Origins: Victory & Resurrection of Jesus
CREDIT HOUR DESIGNATION:
✓ 1 Credit
E‒ Easy
✓ C‒ Comfortable
R‒ Sizable
R‒ Rigorous
F‒ Formidable
✓ Textbook or Books
Video or PowerPoint Lessons
Video Intro or Commentary
Online Text Lessons
RETENTION & ASSESSMENT:
Study Guides
Quizzes
✓ Workbook
Forum Posting
Written Submission
EXPECTED
EXPENDITURES:
✓ Tuition
✓ Educational Materials
Admin or Instructional Support Fee
Optional Mailing Cost
N.T. Wright
Michael F. Bird
DEPARTMENT: Bible Knowledge
N.T. Wright
An English New Testament scholar, Pauline theologian and Anglican Bishop, Wright served as Bishop of Durham from 2003 to 2010, and Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at St Mary’s College in the University of St Andrews in Scotland until 2019, when he became a senior research fellow at Oxford University. Author of over 70 books, Wright is highly regarded in academic and theological circles for his “Christian Origins and the Question of God” series.
SSS COURSES
BK502‒ Christian Origins & The New Testament In It’s World SERIES
TEXTBOOK BOOK: • The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians
DEPARTMENT: Bible Knowledge
Michael F. Bird
A leading academic on New Testament studies and Christian Theology, Bird is Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia. Michael F. Bird is a prominent scholar in New Testament studies and Christian theology. He currently serves as a Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia. Bird has made significant contributions to biblical scholarship, particularly focusing on the New Testament’s historical and theological contexts. Ph.D. from the University of Queensland, where he specialized in New Testament studies. He has authored and edited numerous books and articles on the New Testament, including works on Christology, the historical Jesus, and Pauline theology.
SSS COURSES
BK502‒ Christian Origins & The New Testament in It’s World SERIES
TEXTBOOK BOOK: • The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians