ANCH 040. The New Testament in the Greco-Roman World

This course will treat the New Testament as historical documents. We will consider the writings of Paul, the accounts of the life of Jesus, and related texts. The texts of the New Testament, though written in Greek, invariably intersect with Jewish traditions and with Christian thought, but this course will consider them above all as artifacts of the Roman empire in which they were produced, focusing particularly on the influence of Greek thought (e.g. Platonism, Stoicism, Cynicism). We will also give some attention to some Jewish texts influenced by Greek thought (Philo, Maccabees, The Wisdom of Solomon), and to the pagan response to both Judaism and to the early Christians.
Social Science.
1 credit.
Catalog chapter: Classics
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/classics

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