Lesson 2: The New Testament Message; The Gospel of Jesus and the Faith of Israel

Learning objectives:

Identify key political/religious elements of the Jewish world at the time of Jesus.

Lesson 6: The Bible and Biblical Criticism

Learning objectives:

Identify what scholars mean by the following terms: textual criticism, form criticism, source criticism, redaction criticism, modernism, post-modernism, critical realism, the Synoptic Problem.

Assignments to deepen your understanding:

Think about how you would explain a critical approach to the Bible to someone who knows the Bible well, yet for whom this would be a new process.

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Lesson 13: The Gospel According to John, part 1

Preparing for your seminar:

The phrase eternal life appears frequently in the Gospels and especially in the Gospel according to John. The text suggests that this is about ‘living the life of God’ and emphasizes a certain quality of life rather than a comment on the length of life. What do you think? What does eternal life mean to you? How is this interpreted in our culture?

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Lesson 16: The Ministry of Jesus, part 1

Assignments to deepen your understanding:

What does the term ‘kingdom of God’ mean to you? Worship traditions differ. How is the ‘kingdom of God’ most clearly expressed in your tradition and where you worship regularly? Where else have you experienced what you experienced what you might describe as the ‘kingdom of God’?

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Lesson 21: Paul’s Theology, part 1; Paul’s Letters and Paul in Acts

Learning Objectives:

Identify how letters were used to communicate in the early church and the Roman Empire; the style letter writers used in the early church; the criteria for deciding which epistles might be Pauline and which might have only been attributed to him but have different authors.

Assignments to deepen your understanding:

Paul, in part, was giving advice to communities that were in conflict. Consider how you would write a letter to a church you know to be in conflict. What would you say to its members? How would our style differ today? What would modern technology do to the message?

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Lesson 29: The Second Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians; The Letters of Paul to the Colossians and the Ephesians

Preparing for your seminar:

The social and cultural advice given in these epistles, especially in Ephesians, may differ from points of view in our society and in the church. Do you agree with this advice? How would you teach about the relationship of men and women in these epistles? Take into consideration questions we face about these relationships in the 21st century.

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Lesson 34: The Revelation to John

Learning objectives:

Some possible interpretations of the symbols of the Revelation to John; the use of apocalyptic literature by the early church; the misuse of apocalyptic literature; the historical debates about the Revelation to John.

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