Course info

The purpose of this module is to build a fundamental understanding of the historical and theological significance of the life and teachings of Jesus, particularly as represented in the four ‘canonical gospels’ of the Christian ‘New Testament’. (Tradition comes to call these the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.) The module thus lays the foundations for modern academic study of the canonical Gospels and the historical Jesus. The module introduces pressing issues in modern Gospel research, pressing issues related to the historical Jesus, and pressing issues of historical and interpretive method. Students will thus explore, articulate, and confront hermeneutical issues involved in reading ancient texts in a modern world and, of course, explore, articulate, and confront a particular executed Jewish peasant who has affected this world in manifold ways.