Code
BN8002W
Level
Postgraduate
Discipline
New Testament (BN)
Field
Biblical Studies (B)
Prerequisites
Nil
Faculty
Danny Zacharias
Class Time
Four day face-to-face intensive, with subsequent online component
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Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this unit, it is expected that students will be able to:
- Describe the complex religious, social, and historical circumstances in which Jesus and the early church lived and ministered.
- Apply a method for interpreting the different types of New Testament literature.
- Apply New Testament teachings to our lives in culturally appropriate ways.
- Use the tools for biblical interpretation: dictionaries, commentaries, journals, monographs, along with primary sources.
- Identify contemporary applications of NT texts by noting similarities and differences between ancient contexts and various contemporary contexts, including but not limited to Indigenous contexts.
- Adapt these skills and cultural insights to further studies of the New Testament.
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Assessment
- Interpretive Journey paper (narrative) (1,250 words) (20%)
- Interpretive Journey paper (epistle) (1,250 words) (20%)
- Cultural Engagement Project (2,500 words) (40%)
- Reading comprehension quizzes (1,000 words) (20%)
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Recommended reading
Set texts recommended for purchase are highlighted in blue
- Mark Allan Powell, Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009. (Includes extra material online: www.introducingnt.com)
- J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Journey into God’s Word. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008
- Carter, Warren, Seven Events that Shaped the New Testament World. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013.
- Croy, N Clayton, Prima Scriptura: An Introduction To New Testament Interpretation. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011.
- Sugirtharajah, Rasiah S, The Bible and the Third World: Precolonial, Colonial and Postcolonial Encounters. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
- Musa W. Dube Shomanah, Andrew Mũtũa Mbuvi, and Dora R. Mbuwayesango (eds), Postcolonial Perspectives in African Biblical Interpretations. Global Perspectives on Biblical Scholarship, Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2012.