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:
World #1: The world within the text – reading the New Testament as literature
World #2: The world behind the text – exploring the historical circumstances that produced it
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).
