Assessment

Continuous assessment 100%

Module Aims

Aims: To explore early Christian theology through the critical study of sections from the Acts of the Apostles and the letters of Paul against their Jewish and Hellenistic backgrounds and within an Imperial Roman context; and to develop exegetical skills.

Indicative Syllabus:

• Paul's role in the formation of the New Testament
• Paul the Pharisee: world view and religious expression
• Paul's Gospel in an Imperial context
• Luke's portrait of Paul and Paul's portrait of himself
• Reading a Pauline letter: methodological considerations
• Exegesis of selected passages in proto-Pauline letters
• Key elements of Pauline theology: covenantal, cruciform, pneumatic, apocalyptic
• Pauline ethics and spirituality
• Reception and reaction: key readings of Paul

Learning Outcomes

• — Situate Paul and his proclamation within Jewish, Hellenistic and Imperial Roman contexts.
• — Compare Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles as sources for the life of Paul.
• — Apply appropriate methods of textual interpretation to selected texts from the Pauline corpus.
• — Explain key concepts in Pauline theology.
• — Apply central aspects of Paul's theological, ethical and spiritual contribution to our own context.

Bibliography

• — Michael J. Gorman, Reading Paul, Eugene OR: Cascade Books, 2008..
• — Mark Allen Powell, Introducing the New Testament, 2nd Ed, Ada MI: Baker Academic, 2018.