Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary COURSE DESCRIPTION COURSE OBJECTIVES

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1 Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary NT 917 Mission in the Early Church Spring Mondays, 2:00 5:00 pm Eckhard J. Schnabel. COURSE DESCRIPTION The centrality of Jesus mission as Israel s Messiah and Savior of the world explains the centrality of missions for the early church: all the authors of the various New Testament books, perhaps with the exception of James and Jude, worked as missionaries at one point. The course thus explores not one among many issues relevant for understanding the New Testament, but a central reality of the church in the first century. We will study the impetus, the character, the scope, and the goals of the missionary work of the early church as it is presented in the New Testament. We will focus on historical presuppositions, geographical realities, cultural and religious contexts, communicative strategies and the content of the early Christian mission, integrating historical, social, rhetorical, exegetical, and theological approaches to the study of the New Testament texts, with occasional queries into the ecclesiological and missiological significance of the missionary work of the early church for the church in the 21st century. COURSE OBJECTIVES Students will be able to understand the realities of the early Christian mission in terms of the strategy and tactics of the first missionaries of the church. Students will be able to survey the history of the church in the first century in terms of key turning points and in terms of the church s geographical expansion. Students expand their knowledge of the world of Second Temple Judaism and of the Greco- Roman world as the context for an authentic understanding of the New Testament. Students will consolidate expertise in the study of the New Testament, as they encounter various approaches to New Testament exegesis. Students will be able to articulate the centrality of Jesus for the early church. Students will understand the relevance of cultural and social realities for the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. REQUIREMENTS 1. Read the texts indicated for each class session in the original language (is possible) and in translation; consult the required texts on the passage and, as time permits, two commentaries. Be prepared to discuss the text in class. 2. Read the following texts: Köstenberger, A. J., and P. T. O Brien. Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A Biblical Theology of Mission. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001 (ISBN ) Marshall, I. Howard, and David Peterson, eds. Witness to the Gospel: The Theology of Acts. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998 (ISBN ) Schnabel, E. J. Early Christian Mission. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004 (ISBN ) 3. Three Short Papers, two pages single spaced each, on the required reading; for due dates see Course Calendar: [1]

2 Short Paper I interacting with one chapter on one of the Gospels from Köstenberger/O Brien Short Paper II interacting with one chapter on Acts from Marshall/Peterson Short Paper III interacting with one chapter on Paul from Schnabel 4. Research Paper, 12 pages, single spaced, on a chosen topic (which may need to be made more specific), from the following list. For due date see Course Calendar. The SBL Handbook of Style should be followed for style, bibliographical citations, and abbreviations. The Research Paper will be presented in class, see Course Calendar. 1. Jesus as a missionary in Galilee 2. Jesus and Herod Antipas 3. Jesus and the sinners 4. The significance of Pentecost 5. Stephen as a missionary in Jerusalem 6. Philip as a missionary in Samaria 7. Peter and the church in Jerusalem 8. Peter as a missionary in Caesarea Maritima 9. Peter as a missionary after AD The origins of the church in Rome 11. Paul s mission to Nabatea and Syria 12. Paul s mission to Southern Galatia 13. Paul s mission to Macedonia 14. Paul s mission to Achaia 15. Paul s mission to Spain 16. Paul and his coworkers 17. Peter and Paul: Conflict or cooperation? 18. Paul and James: Conflict or cooperation? 19. Paul and polytheists 20. Was Paul a cross-cultural missionary? 21. Paul and ethnic identity 22. Paul and missionary contextualization 23. Paul and Graeco-Roman society 24. Paul s missionary communication and rhetoric 25. Paul and the Jewish people 26. Paul and conversion 27. Paul and politics 28. Thomas and an early Christian mission to India 29. The origins of the church in Egypt 30. Early Christian eschatology and missions Summary of assignments relative to final grade: Oral participation 20%; Short Papers 30%; Research Paper 50% Grading scale: A: A-: B+: B: B-: C+: C: C-: D+: D: D-: F:65-0. [2]

3 COURSE CALENDAR Jan 25 Introduction Feb 1 Mission in the Old Testament and in Second Temple Judaism Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, Köstenberger / O Brien. Salvation to the Ends of the Earth, Marshall / Peterson :: Squires, Bock, Nolland, Green 8 Jesus Ministry Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, Köstenberger / O Brien. Salvation to the Ends of the Earth, Marshall / Peterson :: Buckwalter, Stenschke, Witherington 15 Reading Week 22 The Twelve Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, Marshall / Peterson :: Clark, Bolt, Rosner, Rapske 29 The Missionary Work of the Twelve: Priorities, Convictions, Strategy, Methods Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, Köstenberger / O Brien. Salvation to the Ends of the Earth, , Mar 7 The Missionary Work of the Twelve: Stephen, Philipp, Peter Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, Köstenberger / O Brien. Salvation to the Ends of the Earth, Marshall / Peterson :: Bayer, Neudorfer 14 The Missionary Work of Paul from A.D. 32/33 57 Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, Köstenberger / O Brien. Salvation to the Ends of the Earth, Marshall / Peterson :: Towner, Wall 21 Reading Week Apr 4 The Missionary Work of Paul: Strategy, Tactics, Communication Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, Köstenberger / O Brien. Salvation to the Ends of the Earth, Short Papers I-III due 11 The Mission of the Early Church: Identity, Praxis, Message Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, Köstenberger / O Brien. Salvation to the Ends of the Earth, Marshall / Peterson :: Turner, Seccombe, Peterson Research Paper due 18 Class Presentations 25 Class Presentations [3]

4 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY Ådna, Jostein, and H. Kvalbein, ed. The Mission of the Early Church to Jews and Gentiles. WUNT 127. Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 2000 Ådna, Jostein, ed. The Formation of the Early Church. WUNT 183. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005 Bakirtzis, Charalambos, and Helmut Koester, ed. Philippi at the Time of Paul and after His Death. Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 1998 Barnett, Paul W. Paul: Missionary of Jesus. After Jesus Volume 2. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008 Bauckham, Richard J., ed. The Book of Acts in its Palestinian Setting. The Book of Acts in Its First-Century Setting Vol. 4. Exeter: Paternoster, 1995 Bock, Darrell L. and M. Glaser, eds. To the Jew First: The Case for Jewish Evangelism in Scripture and History. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2008 Bormann, Lukas, K. Del Tredici, and A. Standhartinger, eds. Religious Propaganda and Missionary Competition in the New Testament World. FS Dieter Georgi. Leiden: Brill, 1994 Bosch, David. Transforming Mission. Paradigm Shifts in the Theology of Mission. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1991 Bowers, Paul W. Studies in Paul's Understanding of His Mission. Ph.D. Dissertation. Cambridge, 1976 Burke, Trevor J., and Brian S. Rosner, eds. Paul as Missionary: Identity, Activity, Theology, and Practice. Library of New Testament Studies 420. London: T & T Clark, 2011 Chesnutt, Randall D. From Death to Life: A Descriptive and Comparative Study of Conversion in Joseph and Aseneth. JSPSup 16. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995 Chester, Stephen J. Conversion at Corinth: Perspectives on Conversion in Paul s Theology and the Corinthian Church. Studies of the New Testament and Its World. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2003 Crossan, John Dominic. The Birth of Christianity. Discovering what Happened in the Years Immediately after the Execution of Jesus. San Francisco: Harper, 1998 Dunn, James D. G. Beginning from Jerusalem. Christianity in the Making II. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009 Dunn, James D. G. The Partings of the Ways: Between Christianity and Judaism and their Significance for the Character of Christianity. London and Philadelphia: SCM and Trinity Press, 1991 [1996] Dunn, James D. G., ed. Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135. WUNT 66. Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, Reprint Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999] Feldman, Louis H. Jew and Gentile in the Ancient World. Attitudes and Interactions from Alexander to Justinian. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993 Flemming, Dean E. Contextualization in the New Testament: Patterns for Theology and Mission. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2005 Flemming, Dean. Recovering the Full Mission of God: A Biblical Perspective on Being, Doing, and Telling. Grand Rapids: IVP Academic, 2013 Freyne, Seán. The Jesus Movement and Its Expansion: Meaning and Mission. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014 Gill, David W. J., and C. Gempf, ed. The Book of Acts in Its Graeco-Roman Setting. The Book of Acts in Its First-Century Setting. Vol. 2. Exeter: Paternoster, 1994 Goodman, Martin. Mission and Conversion: Proselytizing in the Religious History of the Roman Empire. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994 Goulder, Michael D. Paul and the Competing Mission in Corinth. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, Hahn, Ferdinand. Mission in the New Testament. London: SCM, 1965 Harnack, Adolf von. The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries. 2nd ed. New York: Putnam, 1908 Hemer, Colin J. The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History. Edited by C.H. Gempf. WUNT 49. Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1989 Hengel, Martin / A.M. Schwemer. Paul Between Damascus and Antioch: The Unknown Years. London: SCM, 1996 Hengel, Martin. Saint Peter: The Underestimated Apostle. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010 Keown, Mark J. Congregational Evangelism in Philippians: The Centrality of an Appeal for Gospel Proclamation to the Fabric of Philippians. Paternoster Biblical Monographs. Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2008 Kok, Jacobus, Tobias Nicklas, Dieter T. Roth, and Christopher M. Hays, eds. Sensitivity Towards Outsiders: Exploring the Dynamic Relationship Between Mission and Ethics in the New Testament and Early Christianity. WUNT Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014 Konradt, Konradt. Israel, Church, and the Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew. Baylor: Baylor University Press, 2014 [4]

5 Laansma, John C., G. R. Osborne, and R. Van Neste, eds. New Testament Theology in Light of the Church s Mission. FS I. H. Marshall. Milton Keynes / Eugene, OR: Paternoster / Cascade, 2011 Lane, Thomas J. Luke and the Gentile Mission: Gospel Anticipates Acts. EUS 23/571. Frankfurt: Lang, 1996 Legrand, Lucien. Unity and Plurality. Mission in the Bible. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1990 Lietaert Peerbolte, Lambertus J. Paul the Missionary. Leuven: Peeters, 2003 Magie, David. Roman Rule in Asia Minor to the End of the Third Century after Christ. New York: Arno, 1975 [1950] Marshall, I. Howard. New Testament Theology: Many Witnesses, One Gospel. Downers Grove: IVP, 2004 Matson, David Lertis. Household Conversion Narratives in Acts. Pattern and Interpretation. JSNTSup 123. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996 McKnight, Scot. A Light Among the Gentiles. Jewish Missionary Activity in the Second Temple Period. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991 Meyer, Ben F. The Early Christians: Their World Mission and Self-Discovery. GNS 16. Wilmington: Glazier, 1986 Mitchell, Stephen. Anatolia: Land, Men, and Gods in Asia Minor. Vol. 1. The Celts and the Impact of Roman Rule. Vol. 2. The Rise of the Church. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1995 [1993] Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome. Paul: A Critical Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996 Núṋez Regodón, J. El Evangelioi en Antioquía: Gál 2,15-21 entre el incidente antioqueno y la crisis gálata. Plenitudo Temporis 7; Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia, Okure, Teresa. The Johannine Approach to Mission: A Contextual Study of John 4:1-42. WUNT 2/31. Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1988 Park, Eung Chung. The Mission Discourse in Matthew's Interpretation. WUNT 2/81. Tübingen: Siebeck, 1995 Penney, John M. The Missionary Emphasis of Lukan Pneumatology. JPTSup 12. Sheffield: Academic Press, 1996 Plummer, Robert L. Paul s Understanding of the Church s Mission. Paternoster Biblical Monographs. Bletchley: Paternoster, 2006 Plummer, Robert L. and J. M. Terry, eds. Paul s Missionary Methods: In His Time and Ours. Edited by. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2012 Riesner, Rainer. Paul's Early Period: Chronololgy, Mission Strategy, Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998 Rothschild, Clare K., and Jens Schröter, eds. The Rise and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries of the Common Era. WUNT 301. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013 Schnabel, Eckhard J. Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies, and Methods. Downers Grove: IVP, 2008 Scott, James, M. Paul and the Nations: The Old Testament and Early Jewish Background of Paul's Mission to the Nations with Special Reference to the Destination of Galatians. WUNT 84. Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1995 Strelan, Richard E. Paul, Artemis and Jews in Ephesus. BZNW 80. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1996 Svartik, Jesper. Mark and Mission: Mk 7:1-23 in its Narrative and Historical Contexts. CB.NT 32. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 2000 Tuckett, Christopher M. Q and the History of Early Christianity: Studies on Q. Peabody / Edinburgh: Hendrickson / T. & T. Clark, 1996 Uro, Risto. Sheep Among the Wolves: A Study on the Mission Instructions of Q. AASF.DHL 47. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1987 Weaver, Dorothy J. Matthew s Missionary Discourse. JSNTSup 38. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990 Wilckens, Ulrich. Die Missionsreden der Apostelgeschichte. Form- und traditionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen. WMANT 5. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1974 [1961] Wilk, Florian. Jesus und die Völker in der Sicht der Synoptiker. BZNW 109. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter, 2001 Wilson, Stephen G. The Gentiles and the Gentile Mission in Luke-Acts. SNTSMS 23. Cambridge: CUP, 1973 Wright, Christopher J.H. The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible s Grand Narrative. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006 ATLASES AND MAPS Talbert, Richard J. A., ed. Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Map-by-Map Directory. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000 Tsafrir, Yoram, L. Di Segni, and J. Green, Iudaea. Palaestina. Eretz Israel in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Periods. Maps and Gazetteer. Tabula Imperii Romani. Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1994 [5]