One thought we have had is to teach the course around issues. I have always thought that students enjoy my course more once we get to Acts and start to dig into issues. But as I went through the class this time, I kept the question in the back of my mind--how could I pair up the whole New Testament to all kinds of Christian issues both practical and theological.
If you took my NT course, boiled the non-issue material I cover of, what would it look like? I think it could look something like this (following my May term syllabus):
- Why are there so many different interpretations of the Bible?
- How would a non-Christian Jew read the OT differently than a Christian?
- Why are there so many different translations of the Bible?
- What do the things Jesus did say about him?
- What kinds of people do we see in the Parable of the Soils?
- What does the Parable of the Good Samaritan say about Jesus' teaching?
- How does the Parable of the Prodigal Son capture the response to Jesus?
- How did we get the New Testament?
- Why does Jesus hide his identity in Mark?
- Why aren't the Apocrypha in most Protestant Bibles?
- Why did Jesus die on the cross?
- Do Christian Jews have to keep all the OT laws?
- Can a Christian do anything contrary to love of others?
- What should a Christian's attitude be toward money and the poor?
- Why are Matthew, Mark, and Luke so similar and John so different?
- Do the gospels give precise or artistic presentations of Jesus' ministry?
- What are the unique contributions of each gospel?
- What was the essence of Jesus message and mission before he went to Jerusalem?
- What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit in Acts?
- How important is water baptism? When should it be done and how?
- Was becoming a Christian a change of religion for a first century Jew?
- Was Paul tortured by a guilty conscience before he came to Christ?
- Did the early Christians believe more in resurrection or the immortality of the soul?
- How should a Christian view pre-marital sex, adultery, homosexuality, divorce, and remarriage?
- Should a Christian sue another Christian?
- What are the basic principles to follow when Christians disagree over issues?
- What is the Lord's Supper all about?
- What are tongues and how should they be practiced if at all?
- What arguments does the NT provide for Christ's resurrection?
- Should sin be a normal part of a Christian's life?
- Can a believer "lose" their salvation?
- What does the NT mean when it speaks of predestination?
- How cultural or universal are the household codes of the NT?
- Is it appropriate for women to be in ministry and leadership?
- Are there pseudonymous writings in the NT?
- How frequently is Jesus flat out called God and flat out worshipped in the NT?
- What is the role of works in a Christian's life?
- How do you fit together biblical teaching that seems to conflict with itself?
- How will it all end?
Most of them are surfing the web during class... but those who are both mentally and physically present discuss almost all of these in the course of a semester in my class.
6 comments:
Sounds like these would be good posts in and of themselves, where readers could contribute.
Fun idea. Could even take the material and archive it for people to refer to.
Ken,
What is your opinion on the question of Paul's conscience? Scripture doesn't seem to say that he was wracked with a guilty conscience like Luther was while he was a Pharisee, but perhaps under the conviction of the Spirit (like in Romans 7) he felt the pull of the law of sin and death?
Is it easier to assess where the student's denominational commitment is in answering some of the questions? Do the students come away with an understanding that some things are not so absolute? And how many of them understand the Bible within the context of a wider history and political scene? That is a weakness on my part in understanding ancient history.
In regards to "conscience", since the Methodist/Catholic tradition underlines communal aspects of "Church", how do you understand conscience collectively, like Jung? As an individual, certainly a "cleansed conscience" does not refer to freedom to sin, or not to love. When Hebrews speaks of a cleansed conscience, what is your understanding? (That was what I had understood the "good news" to be about....freedom from performance, which is freedom from the judgment of others)....
I would love to have a New Testament Survey book that dealt with your list, since I can't audit your class.
Perhaps in your spare time you could produce such a tome.
Seriously,is there any current work that deals with these issues? At a lay level?
I actually have already written a New Testament Survey textbook that addresses all these issues in the course of the book. It's not completely formatted as an issues book, but several chapters are.
It's a whopping 68 dollars though.
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