Introduction to the New Testament History and Literature — Open Yale Curriculum Study

This study pathway follows the 26-lecture sequence of Yale University's Open Yale Courses RLST 152, Introduction to the New Testament History and Literature, taught by Professor Dale B. Martin. The Yale course studies the New Testament and early Christianity historically, emphasizing ancient literature, historical context, and diversity within early Christianity rather than theological appropriation of the texts as scripture.

Students access the Yale lectures directly on the official Open Yale Courses website. This bulk-course file does not reproduce Yale's full lecture transcripts, audio, or video files.

Attribution: Dale B. Martin, Introduction to the New Testament History and Literature (Yale University: Open Yale Courses), http://oyc.yale.edu (Accessed September 20, 2026). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.

Independent program notice: Quizzes, assignments, progress tracking, grading, and any certificate issued through this implementation are independently administered by Immanuel USA Ministry Training. They do not constitute Yale credit or Yale certification and must not imply Yale endorsement.

Learning Objectives

• Study the New Testament as ancient literature and historical evidence.
• Describe the Greco-Roman and Jewish contexts of early Christianity.
• Identify distinctive features of the canonical Gospels, Acts, Pauline literature, Johannine literature, Hebrews, Revelation, and selected non-canonical early Christian texts.
• Explain major areas of diversity and debate among early Christian movements.
• Use historical and literary methods while recognizing their evidentiary limits.
• Distinguish an ancient text, historical reconstruction, theological interpretation, and later reception.
• Evaluate claims using specific textual and historical evidence.

Study Method

For each lesson, follow the official Yale link, study the lecture on OYC, complete the assigned biblical or early Christian readings, make notes in your own words, take the original Immanuel USA quiz, and submit the written assignment.

Course Structure

This implementation contains 26 lessons corresponding to the 26 official RLST 152 sessions. Yale's original graded papers, attendance requirements, and discussion-section work are not reproduced as Immanuel USA assessments. Instead, this implementation provides newly written quizzes and assignments.

Rights and Access

Open Yale Courses states that most lectures and course materials are licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. Third-party material can carry separate restrictions. Yale also restricts OYC materials to non-commercial use. For that reason, this implementation links students to the official OYC lecture pages instead of copying full transcripts, video, audio, textbook material, or third-party content into the LMS.

Any Yale-derived material that is reused or adapted must retain required attribution and applicable share-alike licensing. Review the Credits section of individual OYC lectures before reusing embedded third-party material.

Open Yale Courses Terms of Use | CC BY-NC-SA 3.0