Mobile Ed: NT301 The Gospels as Ancient Biography: A Theological and Historical Perspective (4 hour course)
Overview
Dr. Jonathan Pennington, a specialist in the Gospels, discusses how to interpret these ancient biographies based on their genre rather than focusing only on their content. This course shows how a literary reading of the Gospels reveals the beauty of Jesus’ life.
For more dynamic teaching on the gospels by a team of expert scholars, see the Mobile Ed: Studies in the Gospels Bundle (9 courses).
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion you should be able to:
- Explain the genre of the gospels
- Approach the account of Jesus’ life from a literary perspective
- Understand strategies for reading the gospels together
Course Outline
Introduction
- Introducing the Speaker and the Course
Unit 1: What Are the Gospels?
- The Meaning of “Gospel”
- Using the Bible Word Study to Discover Usages of the Word “Gospel”
- “Gospel” in the Gospels
- Gospels as Bios: Genre Options
- Customizing the Passage Guide to Look at Genre Coding
- Gospels as Bios: Adapting a Graeco-Roman Genre
- Gospels as Bios: Particular Aspects in the Gospels
- Gospels as Bios: Implications
- Gospels: A Fuller Definition
Unit 2: Why Do We Need the Gospels?
- The Gospels: Benign Neglect
- Why We Need the Gospels: Reason 1
- Using the Context Menu to Research “Abba”
- Why We Need the Gospels: Reason 2
- Why We Need the Gospels: Reason 3
- Why We Need the Gospels: Reason 4
- Finding Allusions to Exodus in the Gospel of Matthew
- Why We Need the Gospels: Reason 5
- Why We Need the Gospels: Reason 6
- Why We Need the Gospels: Reason 7
- Why We Need the Gospels: Reason 8
- Discovering Narrative Preaching Illustrations with the Sermon Starter Guide
- Why We Need the Gospels: Reason 9
Unit 3: How Do We Deal with Having Four Gospels?
- Introduction: To Harmonize or Not
- Four Gospel Accounts: The Angst
- Using Different Synopses to Analyze the Gospels
- Four Gospel Accounts: Harmonizing Solutions
- Four Gospel Accounts: The Joy
Unit 4: How Do We Read the Gospels?
- Cultural Hermeneutics: The Prodigal Son Goes to Russia
- Studying Background Information with the Faithlife Study Bible and Factbook
- Cultural Hermeneutics: The Crescent through the Eyes of the Cross
- Narrative Analysis: Introduction
- Narrative Analysis: A Model for the Gospels
- Narrative Analysis: Method
- Narrative Analysis: Payoff and Limitations
- Narrative Analysis: Circles of Context
- Narrative Analysis: Application (Luke 7:1–10)
- Doing Narrative Analysis with the Explorer and Sentence Diagramming Tools
Unit 5: What Is Our Goal in Reading the Gospels?
- Introduction: Why We Ask the Question
- Centrality of the Gospels: Historical Arguments
- Searching for Early Church Uses of “Gospel" with the Bible Word Study Guide
- Centrality of the Gospels: Canonical and Theological Arguments
- Centrality of the Gospels: Implications
- Using the Topic Guide to Find a Gospel’s Themes in the Rest of Scripture
Product Details
- Title: NT301 The Gospels as Ancient Biography: A Theological and Historical Perspective
- Instructor: Jonathan T. Pennington
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Publication Date: 2015
- Product Type: Logos Mobile Education
- Resource Type: Courseware, including transcripts, audio, and video resources
- Courses: 1
- Video Hours: 4
Partially includedAbout the Instructor
Dr. Jonathan T. Pennington is the associate professor of New Testament interpretation at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He also served as a visiting professor at Southeastern Seminary, as well as the Institute of Biblical Studies in Orlando, Florida and Melbourne, Australia.
Getting the most out of Mobile Ed
Logos Mobile Education is a highly effective cross-platform learning environment that integrates world class teaching with the powerful study tools and theological libraries available in Logos Bible Software. Every course provides links to additional resources and suggested readings that supplement the lecture material at the end of every transcript segment.
This course was produced with screencast videos. These videos provide tutorials showing you how to use Logos Bible Software in ways that are tied directly into the content of the course. We are now producing Activities resources as a replacement for screencast videos. We plan on updating this course to include this additional Activities resource in the future for no extra charge.
