As I consider the content of this course, I think that what really stuck out to me was the highlighting of the larger world at the time of Jesus. I certainly enjoyed the study of the canonic, and consideration of the non-canonic, gospels; I found the examination of thoughts on resurrection among the peoples of Jesus’ time helpful; the consideration of the early church was delightfully refreshing. What really stuck out to me was the highlighting of the larger world at the time of Jesus.
The reason for this is probably multi-faceted. A number of years ago I did take a course that studied the literature from the period between the testaments. My memories of it are somewhat vague, and centre around the particular happenings within the actual geographical area of Judea, and how that specific history related to the literature produced. So on the one hand, I found this course to refresh some of those memories. More than that, however, I would say that the historical view taken here was of a somewhat wider-angle – and so expanded upon that to some degree. Further to these, I think that this kind of background information is incredibly valuable for people who seek to understand, to interpret, and/or to communicate the Gospel to others. And so this section really stuck out to me.
I found Dr. Bock’s piecing together of the different gospel-traditions around the resurrection and ascension of Jesus to be encouraging. I suppose that I’ve always kept, just in my mind, a vague chronology of how the different resurrection appearances and ascension stories all fit together. I’ve generally just allowed whichever particular story/account I am working with to speak for itself (to say what it means to say). I appreciate the effort he made to bring these together.
I would certainly recommend this course to others. It speaks to the context of the New Testament in very helpful ways.