HRS 122 Sections 1 and 2 (GE Area C2) INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT SPRING 2016 DR. NYSTROM M 5:30-8:20 LIBRARY 53 CONTACT INFORMATION: Office: 2011 Mendocino Email: nystromb@csus.edu Office Hours: MW 1:00-2:00, 5:00-5:30, 8:20-8:50, and by appointment Office: 278-5334 COURSE TITLE: Introduction to the New Testament COURSE DESCRIPTION: Study of the New Testament literature in its historical and cultural setting. Topics covered include the literary relationships of the four Gospels, the historical Jesus, the evolution of early Christianity, and the diverse theologies represented in the letters of and other canonical and non-canonical writings. LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Students who successfully complete this course will be able to: describe the contributions of various ethnic and religious groups to the formation of early Christianity; describe the approaches of historians and religious studies scholars to issues related to the New Testament; evaluate the merits of contemporary arguments concerning issues such as the historical Jesus, and the dates, authorship, and content of the New Testament texts; explain how New Testament conceptions of humankind compare with non-christian views in the first century C.E.; describe how ideas and values found in the New Testament reflect developments in the wider culture of the Roman world in the first century C.E.; explain the characteristics and purposes of the literary genres found in the New Testament. GE AREA C2 LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students who have completed a GE subarea C2 course should be able to: demonstrate knowledge of the conventions and methods of the study of the humanities; investigate, describe, and analyze the roles and effects of human culture and understanding in the development of human societies; compare and analyze various conceptions of humankind; demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the historical development of cultures and civilizations, including their animating ideas and values.
TEXTS: S.L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction (8 th edition) The New Testament of the Jerusalem Bible ATTENDANCE: This is a hybrid course in which students in sections 1 and 2 are invited to attend Monday evening class sessions, watch archived video recordings of class sessions, or both. For this reason, there is no attendance policy. You will be required to come to campus only for the midterm and final examinations. The midterm will be given on March 14 at 5:30 p.m. and the final on May 16 at 5:15 p.m. EXAMS: The midterm and final will be worth 100 points each and consist of a multiple-choice section (50 points) and an essay section (50 points). There will be 50 multiple-choice questions on the midterm and final exams. You will be asked to write one essay on each exam. The questions in the multiple-choice section of the final will be based exclusively on lectures and readings from the post-midterm half of the course. Some of the Big Issues (see below) for the final involve material from the entire course. SHORT PAPERS: There will be two short papers (50 points each). You may choose any one of the Big Issues (see below) for the Midterm for Short Paper #1 and any one of the Big Issues for the Final for Short Paper #2. Short Papers must be between 2 full pages and 3 full pages in length, written in 12-point Times Roman (or Times New Roman) font, with 1-inch margins on all sides. Do not include illustrations, diagrams, or anything else along these lines. Short papers will be graded for both content and the quality of the writing itself. Short papers should be submitted via Turnitin. Short Paper #1 is due by 5:00 p.m. on March 11. Short Paper #2 is due by 5:00 p.m. on May 13. CSUS instructors who use Turnitin are asked to include the following statement on their syllabi: Consistent with Sacramento State s efforts to enhance student learning, foster honesty, and maintain integrity in our academic processes, instructors may use a tool called Turnitin to compare a student s work with multiple sources. The tool compares each student s work with an extensive database of prior publications and papers, providing links to possible matches and a similarity score. The tool does not determine whether plagiarism has occurred or not. Instead, the instructor must make a complete assessment and judge the originality of the student s work. All submissions to this course may be checked using this tool. Students should submit papers to Turnitin assignments without
identifying information included in the paper (e.g. name or student number), the system will automatically show this info to faculty in your course when viewing the submission, but the information will not be retained by Turnitin. SCHEDULE OF LECTURES, EXAMS, AND DUE DATES: January 25: Introduction; NT Backgrounds (Read Harris, chapters 3-5) February 1: NT Backgrounds (Read Harris, chapters 3-5) February 8: The Making of the NT The Gospel Genre and the Synoptic Problem The Gospels (Begin reading Harris, chapters 6-10, and Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) February 15: February 22: February 29: The Gospels The Gospels Gnosticism Non-Canonical Gospels Non-Canonical Gospels The Historical Jesus (Read Harris, chapter 11) March 7: March 11: March 14: March 21: March 28: April 4: The Historical Jesus SHORT PAPER #1 (50 points) due by 5:00 p.m. MIDTERM (100 points; multiple-choice and essay). You are responsible for all lectures since the beginning of the semester; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; and Harris, chapters 3-11). SPRING BREAK Acts of the Apostles (Read Acts and Harris, chapter 12) (Begin reading 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Begin reading Harris, chapters 13-16)
April 11: April 18: The Late ine Tradition (Read Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus. Read Harris, chapter 17) April 25: Hebrews and the Catholic (General) Epistles (Read Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, Jude, 1-3 John. Read Harris, chapter 18) May 2: May 9: Catholic (General) Epistles Revelation (Read Revelation. Read Harris, chapter 19) May 13: May 16: SHORT PAPER #2 (50 points) due by 5:00 p.m. FINAL (100 points; multiple-choice and essay). The multiplechoice questions will be based exclusively on lectures given since the midterm; all NT texts except the gospels; and Harris, chapters 12-19. For the essay portion of the exam, you are responsible for all lectures and readings assigned since the beginning of the semester because because some of the Big Issues (see below) involve pre-midterm material. COURSE GRADES: Your course grade will be based on your scores on the short papers, midterm, and final. Grades will be based on the percentage you earn of the 300 points possible in the course: A 93-100% B- 80-82.99% D+ 68-69.99% A- 90-92.99% C+ 78-79.99% D 63-67.99% B+ 88-89.99% C 73-77.99% D- 60-62.99% B 83-87.99% C- 70-72.99% F below 60% Please do not tell me at any point during the semester the grade you need in the course.
THE BIG ISSUES: You will be well prepared for the midterm and final essay questions if you can demonstrate a thorough knowledge of what the New Testament texts, lectures, and the Harris book have to say about the following big issues. Midterm: What was the influence of Jews, Greeks, Romans and their cultures on the world in which Christianity first emerged and on the New Testament texts themselves? Describe the portrait of Jesus in each of the four gospels. What are the main points that each gospel wants to make about Jesus? What are the main ideas/themes in the teachings of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels (taken collectively)? How do these compare with the main ideas/themes in Jesus teachings as represented in the Gospel of John? What do scholars mean when they speak of the historical Jesus? How do they make judgments about the authenticity of the sayings of Jesus found in the gospels? Describe the two very different ways scholars have of understanding the historical Jesus. What are the main points on which most scholars agree about the historical Jesus? Final: What were the major problems/issues faced by? How did he deal with them? In what ways do his solutions reflect his theology? You may draw your examples of important issues/problems from all thirteen of the letters attributed to? Describe the teachings of on human nature, sin, faith, salvation, Torah, and the Christ. In which of the New Testament texts do we see eschatological expectations? Describe and compare. What were the major problems/issues faced by the authors of the Catholic (General) Epistles? How did they deal with them? ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND POLICIES: HRS 122 is a GE course (Category C2) Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. See the campus policy on academic dishonesty at www.csus.edu/admbus/umanual/uma00150.htm.
Students who leave the room during exams will not be allowed to return. If this policy creates a difficulty for you, please make necessary arrangements with the Testing Center. Students with disabilities who require special arrangements will need an accommodation letter from Services for Students with Disabilities.