Primary Authors & Sources
THEO-301 builds its reading list from required primary and classical sources in synoptic/johannine exegesis and christological harmony. The authors below are read as teachers across the centuries, not as entries in a bibliography. John Calvin stands among the great exegetes of the Reformation, modeling careful attention to the text, covenant structure, and pastoral aim of Scripture, notably in Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists. Alfred Edersheim contributes The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, offering firsthand access to the arguments, methods, and assumptions that shaped this period of study.
Taken together, these readings form a coherent conversation across centuries — students encounter real arguments, not flattened summaries. Frederic Louis Godet contributes A Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, offering firsthand access to the arguments, methods, and assumptions that shaped this period of study. Brooke Foss Westcott contributes The Gospel According to St. John, offering firsthand access to the arguments, methods, and assumptions that shaped this period of study.
What You Will Study
Students exegete the Synoptic Gospels and John with Greek language support, examining Christological portraits, kingdom proclamation, parabolic teaching, passion narratives, and resurrection accounts in canonical harmony and distinctive emphasis. The course treats each evangelist's theological purpose while resisting harmonistic flattening that ignores Johannine and Synoptic differences legitimately understood as complementary witness. Readings employ Reformed commentaries on Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John with attention to Old Testament fulfillment formulas and New Testament church formation in Gospels. Students prepare exegesis papers and sermons on representative pericopes including Sermon on the Mount, parables, I AM discourses, and resurrection appearances. Weekly work integrates Greek syntax study with homiletical application for pastoral use.
Course Objectives
Objectives include exegeting Gospel passages with Greek grammatical support, explaining Synoptic relationships and Johannine theology without speculative source criticism dominating confessional exegesis, preaching Christ's person and work from narrative and discourse texts, and harmonizing Gospel witnesses at the level of theological truth rather than forced literary merger. Students will defend historicity of miracles and resurrection against skeptical readings. The course cultivates Christ-centered preaching from the evangelists' own literary strategies. Students will apply kingdom ethics to church discipline and discipleship. Assessments include Greek exegesis papers, Gospel harmony charts on passion week, and sermon manuscripts.
Ministry & Life Application
Gospel exegesis forms the heart of Christian ministry, equipping pastors to proclaim Christ's life, death, and resurrection from the primary witnesses with textual integrity. House church gatherings across the Florida Keys center on Gospel reading and exposition when leaders can teach Matthew, Luke, and John with depth. Pastoral ministry gains inexhaustible preaching resources from four inspired portraits of the Savior. This course builds directly on GREK-101 and supports Lord's Supper catechesis, baptismal instruction, and evangelistic witness. Congregations behold Christ clearly when elders preach Gospels as apostolic testimony inviting faith and obedience.