NES 2629 - [New Testament and Other Early Christian Literatures]

(crosslisted) CLASS 2613, JWST 2629, RELST 2629
(GHB) (ALC-AS, HA-AS, HST-AS) (CU-ITL)

Spring. Not offered: 2022-2023. Next offered: 2023-2024. 3 credits. Student option grading.

K. Haines-Eitzen.

This course provides a literary and historical introduction to the earliest Christian writings, especially those that eventually came to be included in the New Testament. Through the lens of the Gospel narratives and earliest Christian letters, especially those of Paul, we will explore the rich diversity of the early Christian movement from its Jewish roots in first-century Palestine through its development and spread to Asia Minor and beyond. We will give careful consideration to the political, economic, social, cultural, and religious circumstances that gave rise to the Jesus movement, as well as those that facilitated the emergence of various manifestations of Christian belief and practice. The course will address themes like identity and ethnicity, conversion and debate, race and slavery, gender and sexuality, and the connections between politics and religion.