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About The New Testament around the World
An interview with editor Mariam Kamell Kovalishyn
EV: What led you to put this book together? What problem or issue(s) are you seeking to address?
MKK: At SBL a number of years ago, our group had a session on “reading the letters of James, Peter, and Jude from global perspectives,” and I left the session wanting both those essays and similar ones through the whole New Testament available for my students somehow. As I teach New Testament courses, I want my students (who are from all over the world) to hear examples of people from all over the world reading the Bible exegetically from their context. But I didn’t want a whole commentary through the texts, since those are available and wonderful resources. So I simply asked authors to choose something from their respective book that they felt that the lens of their culture intersected with, and the book ended with a delightful variety! I hope my students, and others in North America who may not be exposed to different cultures as widely, discover how enriching and vital it is to hear how Christians around the world encounter the same texts.ed.
EV: What’s the thesis of your book?
MKK: Inasmuch as there is one, it would be the idea of “situated exegesis,” wherein our context intersects with the historical-linguistic work of exegesis, whether by raising questions of the text, being challenged by the text, or challenging other readings of the text. The goal is to show how deeply valuable it is to be aware of our contexts while we read Scripture, and invite the global church to the table to read with us, helping to correct where our own vision might be too narrow. For instance, even something as technical as arguments about another translation can help raise our awareness of the theological import of the translations we use.
EV: Who’s your target audience, and what are you most hoping they hear from it?
MKK: At the first level, the target audience would be Christians in North America who might just be waking up to the importance of reading Scripture with the Global Church but may not know how to begin accessing such writings. I plan to use it in my New Testament courses, and hope seminary students would all read it (or something like it!) as they do their training. But Langham also has hopes to make it a more broadly accessible book globally, and as such I deeply hope it can spur ongoing global conversations and enrich all of our Bible reading!
EV: Did you have any “aha” moments while editing the book?
MKK: More than I can count! Since my work was in reading and editing other people’s work, I was learning constantly! Speaking as an editor, one challenge I had to navigate was how to bring people’s writing into clearer English without changing their own writing style—something that may well be reflective of their cultural way of writing and thinking. How ought I make writing clearer for Western readers without prioritizing Western thought patterns? Since most of the authors had studied in the West, this was not as great a challenge as it might be in another project, but it is something I’ve been thinking about since taking this project on.
EV: What was the most challenging part of the book project?
MKK: COVID! Seriously, the first plan for the book was to have essays come in sometime in early summer of 2020. Obviously, the world dramatically changed shape in early 2020, and the challenges that individuals faced impacted the book substantially and many of my initial authors had to withdraw for a wide variety of reasons that were complicated by the pandemic. Additionally, there were cultural challenges to navigate. As the pandemic caused complications from lockdowns that lasted for several years, some authors struggled culturally from shame about asking for extensions or to leave the project. Since my sole contact with many of the authors was via email, I had to interpret whether silences meant authors were abandoning the project or they were simply busy (don’t ask about the emails I have sitting in my inbox, to which I still intend to reply…).
Moreover, war and cultural events around the world impinged on other authors, and caused other hardships that necessitated withdrawal. Over the 4 years this project developed subsequent to the pandemic, I had to replace multiple authors multiple times, and I am grateful beyond words to those who stepped in toward the end and wrote under significant time pressure, and I am also thankful to those who let me hold on to their essays for several years hoping the project would come to completion!
EV: If your book was made into a movie, what actor/actress would play the lead role?
MKK: It would be a rich global cast—but it would be a very episodic movie! 🙂
EV: What kind of seminary/church classes should assign your book?
MKK: Everyone! Ok, more seriously, I am using it in my graduate school New Testament introduction course, and I think it is very appropriate to MA level courses, but it is intended for upper level undergraduate or MA level teaching. Additionally, any of the essays would be great in stand alone book study class both at college or graduate level. Moreover, the goal is also for pastors to read it and let it shape their imagination as they are preaching, and my sister—with no particular theological training—stepped in as a copy editor and found it fascinating. Some essays are more stereotypically “academic” while others veer more pastoral, so I think there is something for everyone here, inviting us all to read with each other!
About the Editor
Mariam Kamell Kovalishyn (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is Associate Professor of New Testament Studies at Regent College.