DAVID ADAMS reports on the creation of a new resource developed by a team in Geelong to increase Bible literacy among school students by providing some context to the stories of the Old and New Testament…
Motivated by growing Bible illiteracy among young people, a Geelong Christian school has created an interactive electronic ‘book’ which takes students to the real-life locations behind the Old and New Testaments.
The Fifth Gospel, the creation of which was funded by Covenant College in the Victorian city, is a 400 page electronic book which takes the reader on a textual and visual journey behind the scenes of the Bible narrative, exploring the geographical and cultural context in which the Holy Word was written.
TOP: The team behind The Fifth Gospel at Petra, Jordan – L to R: Rev Alistair McEwen, Alvin Johnson, Michael Nair and Matthew Cox. FAR BELOW – Jerusalem, taken from the Tower of the Redeemer.
“I feel there is a growing illiteracy of Scripture, especially among the young and so I thought, ‘[I]f I could make the Bible come alive in my lessons, that would be a good idea’.”
– Michael Nair
Michael Nair, a senior secondary teacher at the school and the coordinator of the project, says the project came about after he went on a scholarship to Israel in 2011 as part of a group learning how to teach students about the Holocaust.
While on the trip, he visited various Christian sites in Jerusalem as well as places like Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee.
“It all became alive and it really impacted me that I was standing in a place where Jesus actually walked and taught and did His ministry,” says Mr Nair, a former Hindu who became a Christian in 1998, having come to Australia to study a couple of years earlier from Singapore.
“[After] I came back…and I was teaching Bible and I thought to myself, ‘Not everyone can go to Israel, [so] how can I bring this and have a similar sort of impact for my students’?”
Particularly so, given the lack of knowledge of the Bible he was seeing among his students. “I feel there is a growing illiteracy of Scripture, especially among the young and so I thought, ‘[I]f I could make the Bible come alive in my lessons, that would be a good idea’.”
The idea – initially of creating a DVD resource – was presented first to Covenant College’s principal, Sue Cox, and then to the school’s board who agreed it should be pursued and Mr Nair assembled a team which included Alvin Johnson, a former teacher and high school chaplain who has taught church history at Geelong’s Reformed Theological College (RTC) and who had, in 1990, spent six months living and studying in Jerusalem, Matthew J Cox, a film director and cinematographer, and Rev Alastair McEwen, an adjunct lecturer in the Old Testament at the RTC.
In January, 2012, the group spent a month in Israel and Jordan, researching and creating film for the project. Mr Nair says it was while there that they heard about some new Apple software for creating e-books which contained text supported by film and audio and which were specifically tailored for the iPad – and decided that would be the best platform for getting their project into the hands of students.
Returning to Australia, he then began the task of putting the project together, a task which involved hours of work. Looking back now, Mr Nair says “actually going there, seeing the sites, taking the shots…that was the easy part”.
“It was a very challenging process in terms of time and effort and energy,” he says, several times when he found himself struggling to find time to complete all the tasks he needed to for the project, God had prompted him to keep going.
Divided into nine chapters, The Fifth Gospel – which features stunning original video – starts with a chapter looking at the reliability of the Bible. This is followed by a series of chapters written by Rev McEwen in which he examines the geography of Israel and provides a basic chronology of Biblical events as well as information about the Tabernacle and the Temples.
This is followed by four chapters written by Mr Johnson which focus on the life and ministry of Jesus while the final chapter, written by Mr Nair, asks readers who they think Jesus is and ends with a six minute film recapping highlights some of the key sites.
The book also includes short quizzes at the end of each section, a glossary and references where students can go for further information.
“Really at the end of the day it’s giving people a better understanding of the Gospels and how they fit together and work together…” Mr Nair says, noting that the project also aims to show “that the Bible is not some old boring book” but based on real events that took place in the real world.
“It’s alive in this place. One of the things that I get a lot from students is ‘How do I know that the Bible is real?’ And so, after my initial visit, having seen all these places, I go ‘Well, look, there is this physical, geographical, historical evidence that what the Bible talks about is real’.”
The project’s name comes from a quote from St Jerome which describes the land of Israel itself as the “fifth Gospel”. “He says that if you understand the geography – if you understand the fifth Gospel – you will understand more richly what the other four Gospels talk about,” Mr Nair notes.
Mr Nair has already used the book in his own year 10 Bible classes at Covenant College and says he is now keen to get The Fifth Gospel into the hands – or, more correctly, onto the iPads, of as many other students as possible.
“We want to see this get into the hands of many people to…increase their literacy of the Gospels, the cultural and geographical context and appreciate the depth and richness of Scripture through audio and through the video and through the teaching that we have,” he says.
While it’s been developed for middle school students who are studying the Bible, the creators say it’s could also be a useful resource for small groups, churches, individual Christians or “anyone, really, who wants to know more about Jesus”.
“I just want…people to be blessed and for them to get to their Lord even better,” Mr Nair says. “In this day and age of distraction and growing illiteracy of the Scriptures I think this is a fantastic resource to maybe help people to understand.”
The Fifth Gospel is available through iTunes for $14.99.
