Life of Jesus
Ms. Gail Risch
3 Semester Hours
8 written reflections, 6 integrating essays
This is an introduction to understanding the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke in the way they were understood by their first audiences. This course seeks to develop methods to facilitate and test such critical and historical understanding of the Gospels. The basic question in the course is, "What did the authors say and mean to say to their contemporaries, and how do we know it?"
Texts: The Bible. (Both Jewish and Christian writings) New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). Duling, Dennis C. The New Testament: History, Literature and Social Context, 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2003. Malina, Bruce J. The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology. (3rd ed. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2001. Malina, Bruce J. and Richard L. Rohrbaugh. Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels. 2nd ed., Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003.