Many people remain unaware of how the New Testament was written and transmitted. This course is designed to introduce the writings of the New Testament—the most widely read, studied, debated, disputed, maligned, and believed book in the history of Western civilization.

This course explains what light purely historical research can shed on the New Testament:

• its form
• the methods of its composition
• its authors and their original audiences
• the larger historical context.

While mindful of the limitations imposed by the available historical evidence and methods, it brings expertise to bear on the task of reconstructing the life of Jesus and the early Christian community.