The Biblical City II | The New Testament
This course covers more than a dozen biblical references to the city in The New Testament. It is commonly accepted there is anti-urban religious stereotype, which has contributed in radically remaking our cities over the last 200 years. But is God really anti-urban? There are approximately 150 generic references to the ‘city’ in The New Testament, which means there are more than 850 in the Christian Bible. Can they tell us anything about urbanism today, given the innumerable problems of language, translation, interpretation and our own evolving conception of the city over time? The course attempts to answer this question. In The Old Testament, God was not anti-urban. Quite the opposite, there was evidence of God as the architect, designer, and planner. God’s plan for humanity begins in a garden without sin but concludes in a redeemed city. Christian writings of The New Testament intimately broaden and deepen this theme (1.25 hour course).