I have recently put the finishing touches on my syllabus, lectures, discussions, and assignments for my introduction to the New Testament class I will be teaching this semester. Classes start for me this week and I will be beginning a semester with students who want to learn more about the New Testament. I will treat every student as if they have had no exposure to any of the New Testament texts before, though this will certainly not be true for many of them. Many will have grown up in churches, going to Sunday school, and will have already formed opinions about what the texts say and mean.
I was in just this boat as a freshman in college when I began taking religious studies courses. I was not yet a religious studies major, but already had plans to attend seminary and work in the church. These plans came to fruition – I did earn a Master of Divinity and worked in churches for almost a decade – but the end result was not what I was expecting as a freshman sitting in my NT class. Much of what I was learning in my college courses was at odds with what I had been taught growing up. I was in trouble. Did I stick with what I had been taught and try to ignore what I was learning? Did I turn my back on what I had been taught in church and accept everything my professor said?
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