Course Review: Reading the New Testament with New Eyes

 Information about the Course

This course, entitled "Reading the New Testament with Fresh Eyes" is offered by Be A Disciple. It is a required course for those seeking CLM certification in the Great Plains Conference.  The course Instructor is Rev. Richard Fitzgerald, an elder in that conference.  The course requires the purchase of a textbook called Reading the New Testament as Christian Scripture by Constantine R. Campbell and Jonathan T. Pennington. My review of the text is here.

The course lasts four weeks and requires daily participation. It is asynchronous, unless you participate in optional zoom sessions.  It includes daily writing, daily posting and responses, and two "larger" projects.

Summary

From BeADisciple: “Reading the New Testament with Fresh Eyes” is for anyone who has wanted to understand the Bible more effectively. Over four weeks, learners will learn methods for interpreting the New Testament so that it gives life to us and to those in our ministry scope. Students will learn how to study the Scriptures thoughtfully and critically, developing Biblical interpretation skills for future teaching and preaching while understanding their context for reading the Scriptures. Optional Zoom sessions will support the learning process. 

Impressions

My response to this course is different that other ones.  First of all, I found the daily interactions to be hard to manage during more busy times. In other courses, there are weekly postings and responses (that are usually more involved that the ones for this class) so that you can write and post when your schedule allows it during the week. I felt the pressure of daily posting.

One of the high points of the class was the involvement of the Instructor. He posted with us daily, providing additional questions for consideration. This helped me to find additional ways to respond to posts and expanded my knowledge of the topic.

The course requires two projects.  In the first day, students chose a scripture for these projects.  At the end of the first two weeks (I think - is it three?) students submit an exegesis of their chosen scripture.  At the end of the class, students use the exegesis to prepare a Bible Study or a sermon (students's choice). This was involved work.

There were times I regretted enrolling for the course because of my schedule and the work involved. That said, I always had the feeling that the course was "good for me" - a good choice, helping me to develop skills I hadn't explored before. I had never written an exegesis. I have, of course, written a Bible study, but rarely from scratch, without curriculum. 

I'm glad I took this course, and I would recommend it. I'm glad I'm finished with it.

Posts about the Class

Posts about the class will have the tag Reading NT