in this culture, especially in a multivalent,

特别是在当下的多元文化
poly-ethnic situation like Yale,

就像耶鲁一样一个多种族聚集的地方
that everybody here is going to be Christian.

不是每个人都得信仰基督
So we're in this kind of situation

所以如今我们所处的环境是
where we have the hangovers of Christianity still

基督教仍主导着主流文化
occupying the culture, without necessarily knowing a lot about it.

我们因此会多少受它影响但并不见得要深入了解
So I'm going to ask you to come at the New Testament, though,

所以现在我请你和我开始阅读这本书
from the outside.

以一个全新的视角
If you feel like you know something about it,

假如你认为你多多少少知道些东西
put those aside for the moment,

那请你把这些想法放在一边
because when we do the class we'll be trying

因为这门课程的目的
to get you to see this document as if for the first time,

是想让你们像初读一样去研习这本读物