This class takes an interesting perspective on the New Testament. Gamble is not the most dynamic professor but it is clear he knows his stuff.
Grade Distribution
17 Reviews
This class looks at Christianity within its historical context and allows you to better understand the New Testament. Prof. Gamble can be monotone but the material really is interesting. Kyle Hughes was a great TA and gave lots of extra credit opportunities. Overall it's a great class--pretty easy but very interesting.
This class was not as hard as everyone said it would be. The midterm and final are VERY predictable if you complete the study guides. I learned so much in this course and would recommend it to anyone interested in an academic approach to the New Testament. Gamble does have a monotone, but if you can get past that, the lectures are incredibly interesting.
This was perhaps my worry class of the semester. This was a great class, don't get me wrong. Professor Gamble knows his stuff and I think if you really listen you can get something useful out of it! The course itself was pretty difficult considering the amount of readings and what the final and midterm demanded. Know the basics and build up from there (and then some). It's hard, but not impossible!
Gamble is the most boring lecturer I've ever had. Class is very dependent on your midterm and final grade, and material tends to blend together so you better know your stuff. One of my least favorite courses, but I suppose it's a good overview.
I don't think I fully appreciated Gamble for how incredibly intelligent he is until halfway through the semester, but looking back on it now, I'm extremely glad I took this class. A fair bit of reading, but it truly is fascinating. It's a perspective of the Bible that you don't often see, and it's so rewarding to come out of the class knowing you truly learned something. Gamble is precious, and although some people thought he was a bit boring, I never thought so. Go in to the class knowing that this man has so much to teach you, and you'll find yourself hanging on to every word he says.
Although Gamble is exceptionally knowledgeable about the new testament, he can be fairly dry at times. He tends to speak in a monotone and uses no visual aids for lectures, making it difficult to keep up with him, especially if you get lost for even a minute. With only a midterm, final, and discussion grade, one bad grade can definitely mess up your average for this class. Overall, unless you are very interested in the subject matter, I would not recommend this class.
Professor is quite boring and hard to listen to. Material is interesting but it is difficult to keep up with the amount of readings. Midterm and Final are unnecessarily hard. Not an easy grade by any means. Griffin was an awesome TA.
This class was pretty easy--don't bother doing the textbook readings because he says the same things in class. But definitely pay attention in lecture because that's the most important for the midterm/final (even if it's easy to tune out his monotonous way of speaking). If you're familiar with the New Testament already you can get by without doing the readings out of the Bible as well, though it certainly helps to review the specific ones for discussion. David is a fantastic TA. This class is nice because there's not too much work throughout the semester (no weekly papers or anything), though that does put considerable pressure on the midterm/final grades. Some people though the midterm/final was challenging, but I didn't really think it was too bad--though I recommend forming a study group and splitting up the study guide he gives out before each and covering that thoroughly. Also, David held a review session for the midterm/final that was incredibly helpful so if a TA has one of those you should definitely go to it.
This class was way too hard for a 1000 entry class to the subject. The average for the midterm was a 78. The final was quite difficult with tricky T/F and MC questions as well as obscure passage IDs.