How to Read the Gospels: An Introduction

by Yung Suk Kim

Overview

This accessible introduction to the Gospels examines the distinctive messages offered by the texts, giving students a better understanding of methods and interpretations. It explores a close reading of each Gospel and encourages students to approach texts from their own perspectives, from postcolonialism to environmentalism. The discussion questions included will help students focus their reflections on the gospel narrative, its theology, and methods of reading it. How to Read the Gospels is an ideal textbook for undergraduate and seminary classrooms.

The book aims to reach seminary and graduate students who study the Gospels critically and comprehensively. It provides user-friendly summaries such as the basics of each Gospel—authorship, history, important parables, etc. —the Jesus of each Gospel, and notable interpretation and translation issues. Without reading the entire story, readers often focus on only specific passages. This book aims to foster close reading of each entire text, sensitizing students to historical and literary issues that commonly arise—and helping them better understand various ways to interpret these formative stories.

What makes this book unique is that it also engages various readings of the Gospels from traditional to deconstruction approaches, including womanist interpretation, disability interpretation, ecological interpretation, and many more. For example, how can readers understand the story of Jesus’ surprising conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4 through the lens of feminism? Or postcolonial criticism? By providing alternative ways to think about these stories and various methods of approaching texts that may be new to the student, the book opens up how such passages can be interpreted and appreciated.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538186084
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	05/31/2024
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.95(h) x 0.85(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Yung Suk Kim (PhD, Vanderbilt University) is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University. He has written seventeen books in the area of biblical interpretation, Pauline studies, and the Gospels, including Monotheism, Biblical Traditions, and Race Relations (2022), How to Read Paul (2021), and Resurrecting Jesus (2015). He co-authored Toward Decentering the New Testament (2018) with Mitzi Smith. He also edited Paul's Gospel, Empire, Race, and Ethnicity (2023), among other volumes. He serves as a member of the Bible Translation and Utilization Committee (BTU) to assist in the Bible publishing activities of the National Council of Churches.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

PART I: A Historical, Literary Introduction

1. Introduction

What Is a Gospel?

How to Read the Gospels

As the Story of Jesus

As the Story of the Evangelists Reflecting on the Significance of Jesus

As the Story of Jesus and Evangelists for Contemporary Readers

Transmission of the Story of Jesus

The Synoptic Problem

Two-Source Hypothesis

What Is Q?

Redaction Criticism

2. The Gospel of Mark

Mark’s Gospel at a Glance

Outline

The Markan Jesus

Distinctive Theological Themes

Parables in Mark

Notable Interpretation Issues

A Close Reading of Mark

1:1-13, Prologue

1:14-8:26, Public Ministry

8:27-10:52, Jesus on the Way to Jerusalem

11:1-13:37, Ministry in Jerusalem

14:1-15:47, Passion Narrative: Last Supper, Trials, Crucifixion

16:1-8, The Resurrection of Jesus

Questions for Reflection

Further Reading

3. The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew’s Gospel at a Glance

Outline

The Matthean Jesus

Distinctive Theological Themes

Parables in Matthew

Notable Interpretation Issues

A Close Reading of Matthew

1:1-2:23, Infancy Narrative

3:1-4:25, Ministry of Jesus

5:1-7:29, First Discourse: Sermon on the Mount

8:1-9:38, Jesus Heals Many People

10:1-10:42, Second Discourse: Missionary Instructions

11:1-12:50, Jesus’s Ministry Continues While Opposition Arises

13:1-53, Third Discourse: Collections of Parables

13:54-17:27, Jesus Continues with His Mission and Foretells His Death and Resurrection

18:1-35, Fourth Discourse: Community Instructions

19:1-20:34, Jesus Continues to Teach on the Way to Jerusalem

21:1-23:39, Jesus Enters Jerusalem and Confronts Leaders

24:1-25:46, Fifth Discourse: Sermon on Eschatology

26:1-27:66, Passion Narrative

28:1-20, The Resurrection of Jesus

Questions for Reflection

Further Reading

4. The Gospel of Luke

Luke's Gospel at a Glance

Outline

The Lukan Jesus

Distinctive Theological Themes

Parables in Luke

Notable Interpretation Issues

A Close Reading of Luke

1:1-4, Preface

1:5-2:52, Birth and Childhood of Jesus

3:1-4:13, Preparation for the Ministry of Jesus

4:14-9:50, Jesus’s Ministry in Galilee

9:51-19:27, On the Way to Jerusalem

19:28-21:38, Jesus’s Teaching in Jerusalem

22:1-23:56, The Suffering and Death of Jesus

24:1-53, The Resurrection of Jesus

Questions for Reflection

Further Reading

5. The Gospel of John

John’s Gospel at a Glance

Outline

The Johannine Jesus

Distinctive Theological Themes

“I Am” Sayings of Jesus

Notable Interpretation Issues

A Close Reading of John

1:1-18, Prologue

1:19-5:47, Jesus’s Ministry

6:1-12:50, Jesus’s Ministry Grows and Faces Opposition

13:1-17:26, Farewell Discourses

18:1-20:31, Suffering and Glory

21:1-25, Addendum

Questions for Reflection

Further Reading

PART II: Reading the Gospels from Various Perspectives

6. Overview of Interpretive Approaches to the Gospels

Author-Centered, Historical Approach

Historical-Critical Method

Social Science Criticism

Text-Centered, Literary Approach

Textual Criticism

Narrative Criticism

Reader-Centered, Comprehensive Approach

Reader-Response Criticism

Feminist Criticism

Womanist Interpretation

Ekklesia-Centered, Theological Interpretation

Jewish Interpretation

Inter(con)textual Interpretation

Queer Criticism

Postcolonial Criticism

Deconstruction Interpretation

Minoritized Criticism

Disability Studies

Ecological Criticism

7. The Gospel of Mark from Various Perspectives

Author-Centered, Historical Approach

Historical-Critical Method

Social Science Criticism

Text-Centered, Literary Approach

Textual Criticism

Narrative Criticism

Reader-Centered, Comprehensive Approach

Reader-Response Criticism

Feminist Criticism

Womanist Interpretation

Ekklesia-Centered, Theological Interpretation

Jewish Interpretation

Inter(con)textual Interpretation

Queer Criticism

Postcolonial Criticism

Deconstruction Interpretation

Minoritized Criticism

Disability Studies

Ecological Criticism

8. The Gospel of Matthew from Various Perspectives

Author-Centered, Historical Approach

Historical-Critical Method

Social Science Criticism

Text-Centered, Literary Approach

Textual Criticism

Narrative Criticism

Reader-Centered, Comprehensive Approach

Reader-Response Criticism

Feminist Criticism

Womanist Interpretation

Ekklesia-Centered, Theological Interpretation

Jewish Interpretation

Inter(con)textual Interpretation

Queer Criticism

Postcolonial Criticism

Deconstruction Interpretation

Minoritized Criticism

Disability Studies

Ecological Criticism

9. The Gospel of Luke from Various Perspectives

Author-Centered, Historical Approach

Historical-Critical Method

Social Science Criticism

Text-Centered, Literary Approach

Textual Criticism

Narrative Criticism

Reader-Centered, Comprehensive Approach

Reader-Response Criticism

Feminist Criticism

Womanist Interpretation

Ekklesia-Centered, Theological Interpretation

Jewish Interpretation

Inter(con)textual Interpretation

Queer Criticism

Postcolonial Criticism

Deconstruction Interpretation

Minoritized Criticism

Disability Studies

Ecological Criticism

10. The Gospel of John from Various Perspectives

Author-Centered, Historical Approach

Historical-Critical Method

Social Science Criticism

Text-Centered, Literary Approach

Textual Criticism

Narrative Criticism

Reader-Centered, Comprehensive Approach

Reader-Response Criticism

Feminist Criticism

Womanist Interpretation

Ekklesia-Centered, Theological Interpretation

Jewish Interpretation

Inter(con)textual Interpretation

Queer Criticism

Postcolonial Criticism

Deconstruction Interpretation

Minoritized Criticism

Disability Studies

Ecological Criticism

11. Conclusion

The Importance of Various Readings of the Gospels

Criteria for Solid Interpretation

Reader’s Critical, Imaginative Role

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Yung Suk Kim has gifted us with a much-needed resource for studying the Gospels. Thanks to his exceptionally lucid writing style, this book presents the complex textual and historical issues around the Gospels, as well as their diverse interpretations, in an easy-to-follow way. Students and teachers of the New Testament will find this book useful and insightful.

Ekaputra Tupamahu

Dr. Yung Suk Kim's How to Read the Gospels offers informative, in-depth, and inclusive guidance on each Gospel. Dr. Kim invites the reader to engage with and interpret the Gospels through close, careful, and critical reading. This well-organized and well-balanced book will enrich any discussion on the Gospels, whether in seminary or parish.

Demetrius K. Williams

Dr. Yung Suk Kim's How to Read the Gospels offers informative, in-depth, and inclusive guidance on each Gospel. Dr. Kim invites the reader to engage with and interpret the Gospels through close, careful, and critical reading. This well-organized and well-balanced book will enrich any discussion on the Gospels, whether in seminary or parish.

Jeehei Park

With How to Read the Gospels, Yung Suk Kim has once again written a comprehensive and accessible primer for the study of the New Testament. The introduction to each gospel, diverse array of interpretive methodologies presented, and insightful bibliographical references will make this an essential resource for any class engaging the gospels.

Nicholas Elder

Dr. Yung Suk Kim’s brilliant and meticulous textbook How to Read the Gospels offers a refreshing approach to reading the gospels that exceeds most introductions. I appreciate that he encourages readers to read the gospels closely for themselves. Readers are also encouraged to read multiple interpretative approaches to the gospels in conjunction with learning how to read them contextually and critically, even though the various methods are situated in the second half of the book. Kim’s book rises above the many textbooks on the gospels that either ignore or provide shallow and marginalizing introductions to queer, disability, postcolonial, feminist, womanist, ecological, ekklesia, and minoritized criticisms. This contribution to biblical studies is revolutionary.

Mitzi J. Smith

In the age where academic biblical studies was catapulted into a vortex of diverse methods, readers, contexts and concerns, Yung Suk Kim’s How to Read the Gospels: An Introduction, is a rare-jewel, for it is research-intensive, reader-friendly and thorough-going in its faithfulness to the ancient context and content of the gospels, while exposing the student reader to various ways of interpreting the Gospels. Not only does it show case diverse ways of reading the Gospels, but it also makes the work of biblical teachers much easier without sacrificing quality. I highly recommend this book for all beginning readers of the Gospels and their teachers.

Musa W. Dube