Introduction to the New Testament I: From the Gospel to the Gospels

A historical and theological introduction to the four Gospels. We will study the Gospels from a multi-dimensional perspective as a fourfold witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will ask historical questions: about the origin of the Gospels in Jesus' ministry and the women's Easter experience, the setting of the Gospels in early Judaism and in the Roman Empire, and the process by which the Gospels emerged as a fourfold proclamation of Jesus Christ. We will ask literary and source-critical questions about the literary origins and narrative shape of the Gospels. And we will ask canonical and theological questions, considering the Gospels in their character as a fourfold and scriptural witness to Jesus Christ, reading them in relation to each other and to the Old Testament scriptures on which they draw.