INSTRUCTOR
Jeff Matas was born and raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He received a BA in Religious Studies with a minor in Psychology from Anderson University in Anderson, Indiana. He also has an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After earning his MBA, he was employed by Electronic Data Systems (EDS) for seven years holding various positions in marketing cost analysis, financial reporting, and information system support. He left EDS to follow God’s call to pastoral ministry. He has been a pastor since 1993. He served as pastor to the Stroh Church of God in Stroh, Indiana. And since 1995, he has served as the Senior Pastor of the Connellsville Church of God. He and his wife Carla have two children, Joseph and Kelley.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Objectives:

 I.                      Background of the New Testament.

a.        History between the Old and New Testaments

b.        Secular setting of the New Testament

                                                               i.      How did people in the first century live, think, speak, work, eat, dress, travel, learn and entertain themselves?

                                                             ii.      What differences existed between daily life inside and outside Palestine?

c.        Religion setting of the New Testament

                                                               i.      What were the religious beliefs and practices among pagans?

                                                             ii.      What occurred in Jewish religious institutions between the Old and the New Testaments?

d.        Formation of the New Testament Canon

                                                               i.      How did the early church first manage without the New Testament?

                                                             ii.      How did the New Testament come to be considered the authoritative Word of God?

                                                            iii.      How do we know that the modern New Testament is substantially accurate to the original autographs?

II.                    The Gospels: The Life and Ministry of Jesus

a.        For each gospel, the following questions will be answered:

                                                               i.      Who wrote the gospels?

                                                             ii.      How is their authorship determined?

                                                            iii.      How close did the authors stand as eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life and teaching?

                                                            iv.      When were they written?

                                                              v.      To what audience, what perspective, and what purpose where they written?

                                                            vi.      What are their distinctive characteristics and emphasis?

III.                   Acts of the Early Church

a.        What was the relationship of Acts to the gospel of Luke?

b.        Where did Luke get the information?

c.        Why does Acts end abruptly?

d.        The development of Christianity in the context of the Roman Empire, paganism and Judaism.

e.        How did Christianity separate from Judaism?

f.          The sources of early persecution and the legal status of Christianity.

g.        How and why Paul was key to the history of the early church.

IV.                 The Early Epistles of Paul

a.        Styles, contents, and techniques used in writing letters in ancient times.

b.        Why Galatians is crucial in the history of Christianity?

c.        Who were the letters written to, what are the dates, occasions and purposes of the letters?

V.                   The Major Epistles of Paul

a.        1 Corinthians

                                                               i.      What had been Paul’s connections and communications with the Corinthian church prior to the writing of 1 Corinthians?

                                                             ii.      How did the church in Corinth come to such a deplorable condition?

                                                            iii.      What were the specific problems and what were Paul’s solutions?

b.        2 Corinthians

                                                               i.      What led Paul to write this second letter to the church in Corinth?

                                                             ii.      What was the mood of the Corinthian church?

                                                            iii.      How Paul viewed his apostolic authority.

c.        Romans

                                                               i.      What was the origin and composition of the church in Rome?

                                                             ii.      What led Paul to write the church in Rome although he never visited there?

                                                            iii.      Main doctrines in Romans.

VI.                 The Prison Epistles of Paul

a.        >From which of his various imprisonments did Paul probably write these letters?

b.        What are the interrelationships between the letters?

c.        What circumstances led Paul to write the letter known as Philemon?

d.        Why did Paul write the church in Colossae, although he was unacquainted with them?

e.        Who was the audience for the letter known as Ephesians?

f.          What prompted the writing of Philippians?

VII.                The Pastoral Letters of Paul

a.        Where do these letters fit in the chronology of Paul’s life?

b.        What instructions does Paul give for the ongoing life of the church and maintenance of Christian beliefs?

VIII.              Hebrews

a.        Who are the leading candidates for the authorship of Hebrews?

b.        To whom was Hebrews written, where did they live, and what was their spiritual state?

c.        How does the Christ-centered emphasis of Hebrews persuade its readers from apostasy?

IX.                  The General Epistles

a.        Why are these known as the catholic or general epistles?

b.        Which James wrote the epistle that bears that name?

                                                               i.      Whom did he address?

                                                             ii.      What is the practical value of the letter?

                                                            iii.      How does his doctrine of faith and works compare with Paul’s teaching?

c.        What was the nature of persecution being suffered by the readers of 1 Peter?

                                                               i.      How does Peter encourage them?

d.        What common theme does 2 Peter share with Jude?

e.        Who was Jude?

f.          To whom did John address his first epistle?

g.        According to John, what are the criteria of Christianity?

h.        Who are the “elect lady and her children” whom John warns in the second epistle?

i.          In 3 John, what roles do Gaius, Diotrephes, and Demetrius play?

X.                    Revelation

a.        Why does the style of Revelation differ from the gospel of John and the epistles of John, if they share the same author?

b.        What historical circumstance evoked the writing of Relevation?

c.        What are the major interpretive approaches to Revelation and their strengths and weaknesses?

INSTRUCTOR
Jeff Matas was born and raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He received a BA in Religious Studies with a minor in Psychology from Anderson University in Anderson, Indiana. He also has an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After earning his MBA, he was employed by Electronic Data Systems (EDS) for seven years holding various positions in marketing cost analysis, financial reporting, and information system support. He left EDS to follow God’s call to pastoral ministry. He has been a pastor since 1993. He served as pastor to the Stroh Church of God in Stroh, Indiana. And since 1995, he has served as the Senior Pastor of the Connellsville Church of God. He and his wife Carla have two children, Joseph and Kelley.