Who wrote the books of the New Testament and why? What can be known historically about Jesus of Nazareth, the apostle Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and other early believers? If Jesus and his earliest followers were Jews, then why did Christianity emerge as a distinct religion, sometimes even with antisemitic attitudes? This course investigates these questions by studying the New Testament books as historical documents from the first century CE, giving us our earliest windows into the birth of the Christian religion, first as a Jewish sect, then as an illicit religion in the Roman Empire. Special emphasis is placed upon the diversity of perspectives represented across the twenty-seven books now included in the New Testament.
This course is open to first-year students.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU Hum; AS HUM; AS LCD; FA HUM
