Reading the Gospels as a Grown-Up: What I Hope My Students Take Away from this New Testament Course

 

Reflections at the End of the Semester (April 2026)

At the end of every New Testament course I teach, I find myself asking a simple but important question:What do I most want my students to take away from this course? There are many possible answers, but if I had to name one central goal, it would be this:

To learn how to read the New Testament critically, using what I often call the “Three Worlds” approach.

The Three Worlds of the Text

Throughout the course, we worked with a framework that I hope you will carry far beyond this classroom:

1. World #1: The world within the text – reading the New Testament as literature

2. World #2: The world behind the text – exploring the historical circumstances that produced it

3. World #3: The world in front of the text – examining how the text is interpreted and received

This method is not only useful for biblical studies—it can be applied to many areas of life. It teaches us to read a "text" carefully, endeavour to see what has and is going on "behind" that text, and remain aware of how interpretation works. REMEMBER! A "text" in the broadest sense can apply to anything and anyone that has meaning and that can be interpreted! It can refer to a text (in the strict sense) like a book or a "text" (in the broad sense) such as a friend of yours!

Where Our Images of Jesus Come From

Many students enter this course already with a deeply formed image of Jesus and Christianity. For those from Christian backgrounds, that image often comes from the particular Christian church where they were raised, for example, the typical Roman Catholic image of Jesus (for many of us). For others (who were not raised in a church tradition), it comes more indirectly—from Western culture,where Christianity has played a major historical role.

But here is the key insight:

Most of the images we carry of Jesus come from the “world in front of the text.”

These images of Jesus that we have are shaped by:

• Church traditions

• Two thousand years of interpretation

• Cultural influences

In other words, what we “know” about Jesus is already a 2000+year old interpretation of the Christian community (church) and a once-upon-a-time deeply Christian Western society.

Learning to Read More Critically

One of the major goals of this course has been to teach you to engage more deeply with the following two worlds:

• The world within the text (literary analysis-World #1)

• The world behind the text (historical study-World #2)

These are dimensions that are often overlooked in everyday religious settings. In the university classroom, however, we intentionally grapple seriously with those frequently overlooked dimensions. We:

• Study the New Testament as literature

• Investigate the historical processes that produced it

• Develop a critical lens rather than passively receiving interpretations

The Shock of Historical Study

For many students—especially those from Christian backgrounds—this leads to a moment of shock.

Why? Because a common assumption that students bring is that the Gospels and Acts are like video recordings of what happened. That is simply NOT TRUE! By the end of the course, however, it becomes clear:

The gospels (and also Acts) are not video recordings. They are already theological interpretations (written in the 70s to the 90s of the first century CE) of the figure of Yeshua of Nazareth who lived in the 20s. 

Consider this:

• Mark was written roughly 40 years after Jesus

• Matthew and Luke about 50+ years later

• John about 60+ years later

Each Gospel reflects decades of interpretation within early Christian communities. This means:

• The texts are not straightforward historical reports

• They are shaped by theological aims

• They include embellishment, creativity, and interpretation

The Gospels as Creative Theology

The authors of the New Testament were not modern historians or journalists. They were:

• Theologians

• Preachers

• Missionaries

Their goal was not really to report what happened, but to proclaim meaning, to proclaim the good news about Jesus, the Christ (aka, the "Kerygma").

At times, this meant:

• Expanding, reshaping, or embellishing things about Jesus 

• Even including "made-up" stories about Jesus to convey theological truths. If Jesus created parables using the realities/chracters of his world (such as sheep, wayward sons, mustard seeds, lost coins, etc.) to convey important messages about the reign of God, his earliest followers imitated him by creating "parable-like" stories and teachings about Jesus!

• Using Jesus as a focal point to communicate their message

Let me repeat for emphasis: Just as Jesus told parables (not literally true but conveying deep truth), early Christians effectively told “parables about Jesus” (embellished or even "made-up" stories).

The Way Up is Down! Raising the Level of Education by Grounding It in Spirituality

 

(These were the opening remarks that I delivered on the occasion of a workshop jointly organized by Wonkwang University in South Korea and the Society of Buddhist-Christian Studies-SBCS)

Good morning to everyone there in Korea. Good evening to those joining us here in North America. I am Prof. Julius-Kei Kato, president of the Society of Buddhist-Christian Studies (or SBCS) based here in North America.

 It is my great honour to give these opening remarks and welcome everyone to this workshop organized by Wonkwang University with the collaboration of our society for Buddhist-Christian Studies

Today's topic is crucially important and very urgent, especially for us who are involved in various ways in the teaching, research, and learning of religion. It is about the Future of Religious Education, focusing particularly on the pivotal roles of values and spirituality in higher education. We are very blessed to have esteemed panelists who will help us through their reflections and insights on the religious spirit and founding philosophies that have guided higher religious education in the places where we work. 

Personally speaking, throughout my life, I have been privileged to have lived and worked in places and institutions where the founders and their founding spirit and philosophy are given much importance. That continues to be true about my present university of affiliation, King's University College here in London, Canada, where the Catholic intellectual tradition broadly speaking is the clear founding spirit and vision of our university. This is brought to bear on the institution's present-day vision and day-to-day operations. Hence, I am very familiar with this theme and consider it of utmost importance.

When I reflect on the theme of religious spirit and founding philosophy, several concrete images come to mind. The first one is that of a construction site. It is said that when a building is about to be constructed, if you want to know how tall the building will be, look very well at how deep they are digging, in order to lay the foundation of the building. The deeper the foundation is, the taller the building will be. I'd like to highlight two key words from this image: depth and height. These two ideas are deeply linked to our theme today. 

There is another insightful image I'd like to offer at this point. It originally comes from a scholar of world religions I much respect, the late Huston Smith.

I'm sure all of you have seen majestic mountains. I used to live in Japan years ago, a very mountainous
country when I was in my 20s and 30s. I loved going mountain hiking on various occasions. I know that Korea as well has many beautiful mountains. In Canada where I live at present, we have the famous "Canadian Rockies," a mountain chain found mainly in our Western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia and which extends down south into the United States.