Greetings!!
I’d like to welcome you to the Introduction to the New Testament Gospels course!
The purpose of this course is to help you read the New Testament Gospels critically and provide a deeper understanding of the origins, content, development, and purpose of the Gospels. You will also develop a deeper understanding of Jesus’ life, message, sayings, miracles, death and resurrection.
In the five weeks we will be together we will focus on five different themes:
1. Jesus in the Gospels
2. The World and Daily Life of Jesus
3. The Birth and Message of Jesus
4. The Sayings and Miracles of Jesus
5. The Death and Resurrection of Jesus
Every week a different theme will be addressed, although I have combined the first two themes in the first week in the hopes of saving some time by focusing less on the world and daily life of Jesus so that we can have more time to talk about the other themes. With this goal in mind, I’ve enclosed the first two packets for your review.
Included in these PDF files (see below) are outlines of my lectures to help you follow along, as well as supplemental material (e.g. lists, graphs, pie charts, maps, additional readings) that you may find helpful for the class. I’ve also included a bibliography of the books I’ve used for the development of this class over the past twenty five years.
My suggestion to prepare for this week’s discussion is to listen to the lectures while looking at the handouts outlining my talks, familiarize yourself with the passages I reference (always keep a Bible handy and bring one on Thursday!), and take a look at the supplemental material.
I will see you on Thursday, September 25th!
Jeff Waters
Jeff has a MA in Divinity, and has taught Scripture courses over many years for schools, colleges, and churches, in the US, France. He lives with his family in North London.