How to Read the New Testament
How do you read a novel? What about a newspaper? How about a book on how to raise a teenager or deal with anger? Even though any of these kinds of writing may be written in the same language, the purposes are quite different. This is also true of the New Testament. Even though as Christians we confess the New Testament as “the written Word of God,” we also recognize that this is a collection of writings written in different styles for varying purposes, by human beings living within a certain culture, time and place quite different than our own. How do we read this body of writings in such a way that we don’t ignore the humanity in it, yet experience God speaking to us through it?
The focus of this course is to develop basic skills for reading the New Testament, faithful to its context and purpose, yet expectant of a Word from the Lord for the living of our lives in our own context.