SUBJECT CONTENT

1. An introduction to the Acts of the Apostles, with special reference to its theological teaching and its historical character.
2. The birth and character of the Jerusalem church.
3. Early Christian preaching, its method and content.
4. Stephen and the Hellenists.
5. The Council of Jerusalem.
6. Paul’s missionary strategy and career.
7. External threat to, and internal schism in, the apostolic church.
8. Paul the letter-writer.
9. The historical setting, literary character, theological content, and general significance of several NT epistles (e.g. 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Romans, Galatians, 1 & 2 Corinthian, Ephesians, Colossians, Hebrews, 1 Peter, Johannine epistles, Revelation)

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the subject students should:

1. be able to describe and evaluate the schematic character of Luke’s presentation of apostolic history.
2. be able to identify the theological motivations in Luke’s record and evaluate its historical character and value, with reference to the text of Acts and contemporary interpretation.
3. be able to delineate and discuss the major critical issues confronted in the modern study of Acts
4. be able to delineate and discuss the major critical issues confronted in the modern study ofselected New Testament epistles, and describe the main teaching of these same documents.
5. have reflected on and evaluated the implications of the New Testament records of the apostolic church for contemporary Christian ministry.
6. have researched in greater depth at least one major theme in apostolic Christianity and presented a written essay on it.

ASSESSMENT

a) Completion of weekly exercises (at the end of each lesson) (10%)

c) Research Essay of 2000 - 2500 words (40%)

d) Two hour examination (50%)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Textbooks

The required texts for this semester are:

Achtemeier, Green & Thompson, Introducing the New Testament: Its Literature and Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001)

Barnett, P., Jesus and the Rise of Early Christianity (Illinois: IVP, 1999)

Marshall, I. H., Acts (Tyndale NT Commentaries; Leicester: IVP, 1980).

Two other NT Introductions that are referred to in the reading on a regular basis are:

Drane, J., Introducing the New Testament (Oxford: Lion, 1999).

Carson, D.A., Moo, Douglas J., and Morris, Leon, An Introduction to the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992)

Also worth having is:

Ladd, G. E., A Theology of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993)

Other Useful Reading

Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament (New York:Doubleday, 1997)

Hawthorne, G.F et al (eds.) Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (Downers Grove: IVP, 1993)

Martin, R.P. & Davids, P.H. (eds.) Dictionary of the Later New Testament & its Developments (Downers Grove: IVP, 1997)

Jeffers, J.S., The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era: Exploring the Background of Early Christianity (Illinois: IVP, 1999).

Worth Consulting

Allen, R. Missionary Methods. St Paul’s or Ours? (London: Lutterworth, 1968)

Barnett, P. Bethlehem to Patmos: The New Testament Story (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1989)

Bruce, F.F. Men and Movements in the Primitive Church Studies in Early Non-Pauline Christianity, (Exeter: Paternoster, 1979)

Bruce, F.F. Paul, Apostle of the Free Spirit (Exeter: Paternoster, 1977).

Bruce, F.F The Acts of the Apostles: Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary (Grand Rapids:Eerdmans, 1990-)

Caird, G. The Apostolic Age (London: Duckworth, 1955).

Cassidy, R.J. Society and Politics in the Acts of the Apostles (New York: Orbis, 1987)

Conzelmann, H. & Lindemann, A Interpreting the New Testament An Introduction to the Principles and Methods of NT Exegesis (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1988)

Conzelmann, H. History of Primitive Christianity (Nashville: Abingdon, 1973)

Doty. W.G. Letters in Primitive Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1973).

Dunn, J.D.G. The Parting of the Ways between Christianity and Judaism and their Significance for the Character of Christianity (London: SCM, 1991)

Gasque, W.W. “A Fruitful Field: Recent Study of the Acts of the Apostles", Interp. 42 (1988),117-131

Gill, D.J. & Gempf (eds.), The Book of Acts in its first Century Setting: Volume 2 Greco-Roman Setting (Carlisle/Grand Rapids: Paternoster/Eerdmans, 1993)

Green, M. Evangelism in the Early Church (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1970)

Guthrie, D. New Testament Introduction (Leicester: IVP, 1990 rev.ed.)

Harrison, E.P. The Apostolic Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984)

Hengel, M. Acts and the History of Earliest Christianity (London: SCM, 1979)

Hengel, M. Between Jesus and Paul (London: SCM, 1983)

Hill, C.C. Hellenists and Hebrews: Reappraising Division within the Earliest Church (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992)

Kee, B.C. Good News to the Ends of the Earth. The Theology of Acts (London: SCM, 1990)

Keener, C. The Spirit in the Gospels and Acts (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1997)

Longenecker, R.N. “The Acts of the Apostles", in F.E. Gaebelein (ed.), The Expositors Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), IX.206-573

Marshall, I.H. The Acts of the Apostles (London: Tyndale 1980)

Martin, R.P. New Testament Foundations (Exeter: Paternoster, 1978), Vol.2

Metzger, B.M. The New Testament Its Background, Growth and Content (Nashville:Abingdon, 1983)

Morris, L. New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986)

Powell, M.A. What Are They Saying About Acts? (Mahweh: Paulist Press, 1991)

Rapske, B. The Book of Acts in its First Century Setting: Vol 3 Paul in Roman Custody (Carlisle/Grand Rapids: Paternoster/Eerdmans, 1993)

Rosenblatt, M-E. Paul the Accused: His Portrait in the Acts of the Apostles (Collegeville: Michael Glazier Liturgical Press, 1995)

Wengst, K. Pax Romana and the Peace of lesus Christ (London: SCM, 1987)

Williams, D.J. Acts (San Francisco: Harper & Rowe, 1985)

Winter B.W. & Clark A.D. (eds) The Book of Acts in its First Century Setting: Vol l Ancient Literary Setting (Carlisle/Grand Rapids: Paternoster/Eerdmans, 1993)