An introduction to the books of the New Testament and the methods and principles guiding its academic study. Emphasis is placed on Jesus’ and his disciples’ Jewish heritage and the relationship and interactions between Judaism and Christianity over the decades the NT books were written and compiled. Attention is give to the character of the Roman world in which Christianity grew and found the bulk of its converts. Finally, stress is given to the texts that were not accepted into the canonical NT, the Christians whose views those texts represent, and their differences from those Christians whose views became orthodox. Recommended: REL_ST 1500.