1101 Introduction to the Bible (Prelim)

This first-year paper investigates the nature and purpose of the Bible, giving attention not only to the content of the biblical books but also to aspects of their historical setting as well as their interpretation and reception in Jewish and Christian belief and practice.
 
Two sets of 8 lectures in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and New Testament, respectively, will be given during the Michaelmas and Hilary Terms by some of the Faculty’s senior specialists in these areas.
 
Over the following two terms the Faculty will also provide four classes on the prescribed texts concerning Abraham (Genesis 12–25: Hilary Term) and four on Jesus (the Gospel of Luke: Trinity Term). Your College will additionally arrange a course of eight (2×4) tutorials, usually scheduled in the Hilary Term.
 
The paper will be assessed by three-hour examination at the end of the Trinity Term. Textual gobbets for comment will be drawn from eight specific chapters in the prescribed texts: Genesis 15–17 and 22; Luke 9, 15–16 and 22.
 
Please find following important information below: 
Schedule of New Testament Lectures and Text Classes

The following is a list of the New Testament topics covered during lectures in the Michaelmas Term.

For lecture handouts, where available, follow the links that will be provided here during the course of the term.

Michaelmas 2026: New Testament

Week
Lecturer
Topic
1
Dr  Marshall
A Survey of the New Testament
2
Prof. Downs
From Jesus to the Written Gospel
3
Dr. Muir
From Mark to Matthew
4
Dr. Muir
Luke, Acts and History
5
Dr. Muir
John and the Son of God
6
Dr. Muir
The Life and Letter of Paul
7
Dr. Muir
Worship from Hebrews to Revelation
8
Dr. Muir
The Two-Testament Bible as Christian Scripture

All eight lectures will be be given in person at the Exam Schools, 10 AM on Thursdays in the Michaelmas Term.

Lecture recordings will only be available if requested in advance on behalf of students identified with a documented Student Support Plan.

You should also plan to attend the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible lectures: both series of lectures, tutorials, and the associated text classes in the next two terms, are relevant to the Examination for this paper.

Text Classes

Trinity Term: Luke 9, 15-16, 22.

Also note for the Hilary Term: Genesis 15-17, 22

 
rev. 09/2023
1101: Suggested Tutorial Topics
 
OT 1                      What are the goals and achievements of Genesis 12-25?
OT 2                      Why are there different sources preserved in the Pentateuch?
OT 3                      Why was Abraham chosen?
OT 4                      How are covenant and faith understood in Genesis?

 

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  • Bock, Darrell L. 2012. A Theology of Luke and Acts. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
  • Green, Joel B. 1995. The Theology of the Gospel of Luke. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Levine, Amy-Jill, ed. 2002. A Feminist Companion to Luke. London: Sheffield Academic Press.
  • Neyrey, Jerome H, ed. 1991. The Social World of Luke-Acts: Models for Interpretation. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.
  • Parsons, Mikeal C. 2007. Luke: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist. Peabody: Hendrickson.
  • Squires, John T. 2006. “The Gospel according to Luke” in The Cambridge Companion to the Gospels. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Shillington, V. George. 2007. An Introduction to the Study of Luke-Acts. T & T Clark Approaches to Biblical Studies. London/New York: T & T Clark.

 

  • Bock, Darrell L. 2012. A Theology of Luke and Acts. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
  • Buckwalter, Douglas. 1996. The Character and Purpose of Luke’s Christology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Gaventa, Beverly Roberts and Richard B. Hays, eds. 2008. Seeking the Identity of Jesus. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
  • Green, Joel B. 1995. The Theology of the Gospel of Luke. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Henrichs Tarasenkova, Nina. 2016. Luke’s Christology of Divine Identity, LNTS, Bloomsbury.
  • Johnson, Luke Timothy. 1999. “The Christology of Luke-Acts” in Who Do You Say That I Am?: Essays on Christology. ed. Mark Allan Powell and David R. Bauer. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, p 49-65.
  • O’Toole, Robert F. 2004. Luke’s Presentation of Jesus: A Christology. Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute.
  • Rowe, C. Kavin. 2006. Early Narrative Christology: The Lord in the Gospel of Luke. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter. 
  • Tuckett, Christopher M. 1999. “The Christology of Luke-Acts” in The Unity of Luke-Acts, ed. Joseph Verheyden. Leuven: University Press, p133-64.
  • Watson, Francis. 2016. The Fourfold Gospel: A Theological reading of the New Testament Portraits of Jesus. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

 

  • Bock, Darrell L. 2012. A Theology of Luke and Acts. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
  • Brown, Raymond E. 1994. The Death of the Messiah: From Gethsemane to the Grave: A Commentary on the Passion Narratives in the Four Gospels. New York: Doubleday. This is a massive commentary with references to Luke’s passion narrative spread throughout the text (it is also 2 volumes).
  • Doble, Peter. 1996. The Paradox of Salvation: Luke’s Theology of the Cross. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Garrett, Susan R. 1990. “Exodus from Bondage: Luke 9.31 and Acts 12.1-24,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly (52), p 656-80.
  • Jipp, Joshua W. 2010. “Luke’s Scriptural Suffering Messiah: A Search for Precedent, a Search for Identity.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly (72).
  • Kloppenborg, John S. 1992. “Exitus clari viri: The Death of Jesus in Luke,” Toronto Journal of Theology (8), p 106-20.
  • Marshall, I. Howard. 2011. “The Place of Acts 20.28 in Luke’s Theology of the Cross” in Reading Acts Today: Essays in Honour of Loveday A.C. Alexander. ed. Steve Walton, Thomas E. Phillips, and Lloyd Keith.London: T&T Clark. p 154-70.
  • Parsons, Mikeal C. 2007. Luke: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist. Peabody: Hendrickson. 
  • Senior, Donald. 1990. The Passion of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. Collegeville, MN: Glazier.
  • Sterling, Gregory. 2001. “Mors Philosophi: The Death of Jesus in Luke,” Harvard Theological Review (94), p 383-402.
  • Tabb, Brian J. 2015. “Is the Lucan Jesus a ‘Martyr’? A Critical Assessment of a Scholarly Consensus,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly (77), p 280-301.

 

  • Barrett, C.K. 1988. “Luke/Acts” in It is Written: Scripture Citing Scripture, ed. D.A. Carson and H.G.M. Williamson, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 231-44.
  • Fitzmyer, Joseph A. 1998. “The Use of the Old Testament in Luke-Acts” in To Advance the Gospel (2nd ed), Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.
  • Green, Joel B. 1994. “The Problem of a Beginning: Israel’s Scriptures in Luke 1-2” Bulletin for Biblical Research 4: 61-85.
  • Kimball, Charles A. 1994. Jesus’ Exposition of the Old Testament in Luke’s Gospel. JSNTsup 94. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
  • Litwak, Kenneth D. 2005. Echoes of Scripture in Luke-Acts: Telling the History of God’s People Intertextually. London:T&T Clark.
  • Moyise, Steve. 2010. Jesus and Scripture: Studying the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.
  • Pao, David W. and Eckhard J. Schnabel. “Luke” in Beale, G.K. and D.A. Carson, eds. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.  251-414.
  • Porter, Stanley E. 2006. “Scripture Justifies Mission: The Use of the Old Testament in Luke-Acts” in Hearing the Old Testament in the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.104-126.
  • Rowe, C. Kavin. 2006. Early Narrative Christology: The Lord in the Gospel of Luke. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter.