+ The Gospel according to Matthew (Click for Description)

The Gospel according to Matthew opens the New Testament, functioning as a swinging door between the Old and the New Testaments. Written by a Jew for a Jewish audience, Matthew begins with a genealogy: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham . . .” (Matt. 1:1). The first verse swings back to the Hebrew Scriptures and God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3, picks up God’s covenant with David in 1 Chronicles 17:10-14, and brings both forward to introduce our story.

+ The Gospel according to Luke (Click for Description)

The Gospel according to Luke and The Acts of the Apostles are two parts of a single work, the Luke-Acts narrative. In this course we’ll discuss their unity to better understand their relationship, but the majority of lessons in this course will focus exclusively on Luke’s gospel. The Acts of the Apostles is a separate course.

Matthew was a Jew and an Apostle, and he wrote his gospel for a predominantly Jewish audience; Mark was a Jew (though not an Apostle), and he wrote his gospel for a predominantly Gentile audience in Rome; and Luke was neither a Jew nor an Apostle, and he wrote his gospel—and The Acts of the Apostles—for a man named Theophilus. Luke was also St. Paul’s personal physician, traveling companion and biographer who met St. Paul in A.D. 50 during Paul’s second missionary journey, and Luke continued with Paul until St. Paul’s execution in Rome, c. A.D. 64-68.

Here’s how Luke begins his gospel:

In as much as many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed good to me also, having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1-4, Dr. C.’s translation)

St. Luke’s gospel is a brilliant narrative that draws on both Matthew and Mark, but Luke adds considerably more to the story, filling in the gaps and shining a bright light on Jesus’ teaching, especially on Jesus’ use of parables. The Gospel according to Luke is a delightful gospel, told in a brilliant narrative voice that reveals the unique personalities of the characters who people his tale.

You’re going to love this course!

+ The Gospel according to John

As a literary work, The Gospel according to John stands shoulder to shoulder with the greatest works of ancient literature. In its final form, it is a remarkably unified work with a simple narrative strategy and a deceptively simple prose style. Yet, of all the writings in the New Testament, John is the most subtle and multi-layered, moving us into profoundly intimate moments with Jesus and his disciples. In it we see Jesus through the eyes of an old man remembering precious moments from long ago, moments shaped through decades of reflection and recalled with a Proustian longing. In The Gospel According to John, we probe the very depths of who Jesus is. In biblical iconography, Matthew appears as a lion, Mark as an ox and Luke as a man. John rightly appears as an eagle, for in so many ways, he soars above the rest.

The Gospel according to John is truly world-class literature of the highest order. You are going to love this course!

+ The Acts of the Apostles

The Gospel according to Luke and The Acts of the Apostles are two parts of a single work, the Luke-Acts narrative. In this course we’ll discuss their unity to better understand their relationship, but the lessons in this course will focus exclusively on The Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel according to Luke is a separate course.

The Acts of the Apostles continues the story Luke began in his gospel. Recall that St. Luke addresses both his gospel and Acts to a man named Theophilus, and in his gospel he tells us why:

In as much as many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed good to me also, having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1-4, Dr. C.’s translation)

Luke’s gospel ends with the risen Christ instructing his Apostles, educating them for their task of taking the gospel message to the very ends of the earth. The Acts of the Apostles picks up where Luke’s gospel ends. In Acts, Jesus tells his Apostles that he will be leaving and that they are to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit, who will guide, shape and nurture them. With that, Jesus bodily ascends into heaven from the Mount of Olives, disappearing in the clouds. Ten days later—on the Jewish feast of Pentecost, A.D. 32—the Holy Spirit arrives in Jerusalem like a freight train . . . and on that day the Church is born!

The opening chapters of Acts tell the story of the birth of the Church and of its early days in Jerusalem. Let by St. Peter, the Church grows quickly, from 120 to 3,000 to 5,000 and upward. And with that growth comes persecution, led by a brilliant young Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus. As the vicious Saul is on his way to Damascus to round up believers there, he encounters the risen and glorified Christ. Blinded by a sudden flash of light and knocked to the ground, Saul—the greatest of sinners—takes his first steps toward becoming St. Paul—the greatest of saints.

The rest of Acts follows St. Paul on three missionary journeys: A.D. 46-48, 50-52 and 54-57. The Acts of the Apostles is a dazzling tale of adventure and missionary zeal, with a host of fascinating characters.

This is a GREAT course . . . and it’s our introduction to St. Paul!

+ St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans

St. Paul’s epistle to the church at Rome—or Romans—is the most important of all Paul’s thirteen epistles and letters, and for Christians it is arguably the most important book in the entire Bible. We know from the Gospels that Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God who went to the cross on our behalf, who died, who was buried and who on the third day rose from the dead, enabling our salvation. That is who he is and what he did.

But how do we appropriate who Christ is and what he did? How do we reach out and take hold of it? That is the issue Paul addresses in Romans.

It is said that St. John Chrysostom (A.D. 347-407) had Romans read to him twice each week, and the English poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), called it the most profound writing that exists. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of the great 20th-century bible teachers, began a systematic exposition of Romans at his Friday evening Westminster Chapel Bible study in October 1955; he finished in March 1968—and he said that he had only scratched the surface!

Well, this course won’t last thirteen years, but we will dig well beneath the surface of Romans to gain a solid understanding of St. Paul’s great thesis that we are “saved by grace through faith” in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ!

+ St. Paul’s "Early Epistles"

St. Paul traveled over 10,000 miles by sea and by land during three missionary journeys: 1) A.D. 46-48; 2) A.D. 50-52; and 3) A.D. 54-57; Paul evangelized all of Asia Minor and a good portion of Macedonia and Greece; Paul wrote 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament; and during his many years of travel, Paul suffered greatly for Christ and for the Church:

“Five times at the hands of the Jews I received forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a day on the deep; on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own race, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fastings, through cold and exposure. And apart from these things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches.”

(2 Corinthians 11: 24-28)

On his second missionary journey, Paul (traveling with Silas, Timothy and Luke) arrived in Corinth in early A.D. 51, and he spent eighteen months there forming a church community in what was a diverse, modern and very large center of commerce. Because of its vibrant maritime trade, Corinth hosted a large transient population from the many cultures that surrounded the Mediterranean, and as one would expect, those cultures exerted significant social, religious, political and economic influences on the resident population. In Corinth temples to Poseidon, Apollo, Hermes, Aphrodite and Isis co-existed with a Jewish synagogue and with the embryonic Christian “house” churches founded by St. Paul.

Corinth was, in fact, nothing but trouble for St. Paul! While there, Paul wrote his first epistles: 1 & 2 Thessalonians and Galatians, and when Paul left Corinth for Ephesus, the Corinthian correspondence began.

This course on St. Paul’s Early Epistles takes us inside St. Paul’s missionary activities, and it highlights the people, places and difficulties Paul faced in his mission to evangelize the Gentiles of the first-century Roman Empire.

You are going to love Dr. C.’s twenty-six 45-60 minute video lessons in this course!

+ St. Paul’s “Prison Epistles"

As a Roman citizen, St. Paul spent two years at Caesarea Maritima under protective custody—not in prison, but at the governor’s palace—awaiting resolution of the accusations brought against him by the Jewish Sanhedrin. But when Governor Felix’s term expired and the newly appointed Governor Porcius Festus replaced him, Paul asserted his right as a Roman citizen and appealed his case directly to the Imperial court in Rome.

After numerous adventures at sea—including being caught in a nor’easter off the coast of Crete and being shipwrecked and snake-bit on the island of Malta—St. Paul finally arrived in Rome, the two-week journey having taken three months! While in Rome (A.D. 60-62), Paul was emphatically not in prison; he was free to come and go, to meet with friends and to live in his own rented quarters, accompanied by a protection detail as he awaited his hearing. In Rome, St. Paul wrote three epistles (Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians) and one personal letter to a man named Philemon.

+ St. Paul's "Pastoral Letters"

After his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, St. Paul worked tirelessly as the Apostle to the Gentiles, traveling for over a decade (A.D. 46-60) more than 10,000 miles by sea and land on three missionary journeys throughout Asia Minor and the Mediterranean world. By the end of St. Paul’s third missionary journey to Ephesus, Luke writes that “all the inhabitants of the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord, Jews and Greeks alike” (Acts 19: 10). Indeed, during that time, St. Paul evangelized all of Asia Minor, a good portion of southern Europe and he wrote thirteen of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament.

But St. Paul did not do it alone. Among his primary traveling companions we include Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Titus, Mark, Erastus, Aristarchus and Gaius, Trophimus and Tychicus and Luke, along with many others that played local roles. St. Paul only wrote personal letters to two of his companions, however: Timothy and Titus.

And those personal letters are the subject of this short, nine-lesson course.

+ Hebrews (PLUS, the “General Epistles and Letters”)

Hebrews is by far the most complex book in the New Testament. Written in elegant first-century Greek, it is deeply rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures (the “Old Testament”). One critic observes that the Old Testament is the “bone and marrow” of Hebrews and another that from beginning to end Hebrews is an expository “sermon” that rests on careful Old Testament interpretation. Clearly, if we’re to understand Hebrews we must have a thorough understanding of the Old Testament Scriptures.

In addition, Hebrews relies heavily on Hellenistic Neo-Platonic thought, in which the present ever-changing material world in which we live is but an imperfect reflection of the eternal, immaterial and perfect world of “ideas.” Thus, the world in which we live is but an ever-changing copy of the eternal, unchangeable ideal. In Christian terms, that unchangeable ideal is “heaven,” the supra-natural, eternal realm of God. In Neo-Platonic thought, when we die our souls ascend to that eternal, unchangeable world where they dwell in happiness forever. Hebrews differs from Neo-Platonic thought, however, in that Christianity insists upon a physical, bodily resurrection at some time in the eschatological future; in Neo-Platonic thought, there is no physical, bodily resurrection, simply because the material world—including our physical bodies—is but an imperfect and mutable reflection of the perfect and immutable spiritual realm.

Hebrews invites us to think deeply on these profound philosophical issues . . . and it is a treat to do so. If St. Paul offers us “solid food” in his epistles and letters, Hebrews offers us an extravagant banquet!

James

James follows Hebrews, and whereas Hebrews probes deep philosophical issues, James speaks directly as “the red-headed Dutch uncle” of Scripture: no nonsense; just plain talk. James is the “brother (ajdelfovß, ah-del-fos’) of the Lord” mentioned in Matthew 13: 55, and he is the leader of the mother church in Jerusalem. James is very clear on one especially important issue. St. Paul states eloquently in Ephesians that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (2: 8-9). James then asks: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save them” (2: 14)? The answer, of course, is a resounding: “No!” There is no contradiction between Paul and James here. James is simply saying that a genuine saving faith will always—100% of the time—result in a life of active love, or a life of “good works.” So, if one claims to have faith but has no works to show for it, either he/she is a liar or delusional. Faith and works go hand-in-hand, like breathing in and breathing out. Good works are the natural and inevitable byproduct of a genuine saving faith.

We’ll tackle James’ very practical thinking in this course.

1 & 2 Peter

We learn much about St. Peter in the Gospel stories, but very little about him after his appearance in the initial chapters of The Acts of the Apostles, for the latter chapters of Acts focus primarily on St. Paul. We do know that Peter escaped from prison in Jerusalem in A.D. 44 and “he went to another place” (Acts 12: 17b), and we meet him again briefly at the Council of Jerusalem in A.D. 50. After that he more or less disappears from our story.

Tradition holds that sometime after A.D. 62, Peter arrives in Rome, and during the persecution under Nero (A.D. 64-68), Peter is arrested and crucified, while St. Paul, as a Roman citizen, is beheaded.

St. Peter does, though, write two epistles: 1 & 2 Peter. We will take a close look at them in this course.

1, 2 and 3 John

After the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the Jewish feast of Pentecost in A.D. 32, the gospel message spread throughout the Roman Empire through the missionary work of the Apostles and others. By the end of the 1st century—the time of the Johannine compositions (John’s gospel; 1, 2 & 3 John; and Revelation)—hundreds of “church” communities had taken root throughout the Roman Empire in the very fertile soil of the gospel message. But the Roman Empire was an extraordinarily diverse population, incorporating a multitude of cultures, languages, customs and religious beliefs. Consequently, although the core gospel message was the same, each community experienced and understood that message differently.

Dissention and conflict inevitably emerged, as autonomous communities contrasted their understanding of the person and work of Christ with other autonomous communities. Indeed, conflict erupted even within communities, fracturing them into opposing factions, each insisting on the “truth” of their understanding. Even the Johannine communities—those founded by or influenced by the Apostle John and his followers—were subject to such dissension.

John’s epistle (1 John) and his two letters (2 & 3 John) address such dissensions, and John insists that his understanding of the issues is the only correct one . . . and he speaks with authority as the last living Apostle.

We’ll have a look at what he has to say in this course.

Jude

Jude is a brief epistle (25 verses) addressed to “those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept safe for Jesus Christ” (Jude 1); that is, to all genuine believers. Like John, Jude addresses false teaching propagated by “some intruders, who long ago were designated for their condemnation” (Jude 4).

Interestingly, Jude has much in common with 2 Peter, especially Jude 5-16 and 2 Peter 2: 1-18.

Finishing this course will put us on the doorstep of the book of Revelation, the final book in our verse-by-verse, 450-lesson study of the entire Bible, Genesis through Revelation!

+ Revelation

Our task at hand is the Book of Revelation, the final book in the Christian canon and the concluding narrative in the story of redemption. No other book in the Bible seems so cryptic as Revelation, no other book so extravagant in its symbolism and wild visions, and no other book so given to misreading and misinterpretation. From the 2nd century through the 4th, debate raged as to its inclusion in the canon, finally being accepted at the Council of Hippo in 393 and affirmed at the Council of Carthage in 397. As far back as the 2nd century, Syrian Christians rejected Revelation as heretical; in the 4th century Gregory of Nazianzus viewed it as difficult and dangerous; Martin Luther held it in contempt as being “neither apostolic nor prophetic”; and it is the only New Testament book for which John Calvin did not write a commentary.

In modern times Thomas Jefferson omitted Revelation from his Jefferson Bible, considering it “the ravings of a maniac”; Friedrich Engels dismissed it as no more than “a political and anti-Roman” work; and George Bernard Shaw thought it “a peculiar record of the visions of a drug addict.”

Yet, Revelation was and is wildly popular. Although written nearly 2,000 years ago, Revelation still grips our imagination with its drama, nightmare visions, exotic imagery, stunning colors, full-tilt sound, and over-the-top, blood-soaked violence. Yet, most who read Revelation come away baffled and bewildered, scratching their heads.

After this course (one of Dr. C.’s best), you won’t!