The course introduces the New Testament (NT) from a historical, literary, and theological perspective. It focuses on the Canonical Gospels’ distinct nature: the authorship, the key themes, issues the authors addressed, the theological teachings, and their relevance for ministry today.
Instructor: My name is Laurent Okitakatshi, the instructor for the course on parables. I am a Roman Catholic Priest and I hold a doctorate in Biblical Studies from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. The New Testament is my primary area of concentration with a particular interest in the letters of St. Paul. My doctoral dissertation is entitled: “Not a slave, But a Beloved Brother in the Flesh and in the Lord: the Construction of a Koinonia-Space in the Letter to Philemon.” Ordained for the diocese of Tshumbe, I am originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo (Central Africa). English is my second academic language and my fourth spoken language after Otetela, Lingala, and French. I currently serve as the chaplain of the Catholic Campus Ministry (St. John Henry Newman Center) at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In the past two years, while a PhD candidate, I served as a teaching assistant to Professor Peter Ajer for the courses of Introduction to the New Testament at CDSP.