New Testament Theology: Mark and Matthew

The overall objective of this course is to lay the foundation for a lifetime of work in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, introducing the student to all of the essential processes and resources necessary to frame in a biblical theology of the Gospels of Mark and Matthew and to a process of moving from biblical theology to theology in culture.  Specifically, this means that each person studying the course will:

• Develop an overall understanding of Mark and Matthew, including the development of a canonical intent statement that integrates the overall intention and literary design for Mark and Matthew as a canonical section and the role that Mark and Matthew play in relation to the other sections of the New Testament canon.

• Develop skill in handling the special literature of Mark and Matthew, majoring on the gospel genre and the interpretation of parables.

• Develop an author’s intention statement for each book, which pays careful attention to the literary design; develop a theology of each book, which develops the author’s emphasis of crafting his theological ideas.

• Develop a theology of Mark and Matthew as a whole, which again, respects the literary design of Mark and Matthew as a section of the New Testament canon and identifies the careful crafting of the author’s theological ideas, identifying both themes and rhemes.

• Develop a framework for beginning to use Mark and Matthew in both life and ministry, including framing in a couple of ideas for preaching from Mark and Matthew in future series.