About Julius-Kei Kato
Dr. Julius-Kei Kato, SSL, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies
jkato@uwo.ca / (519) 433.3491 ext. 4535
Facebook: JK Kato-Studying the Human Quest for Depth and Transcendence
Twitter: @jkkato11
Blog: JKK's Pensieve--Spiritual but not-and yet Religious
Curriculum Vitae July 2022 pdf
(in front of the remains of the Roman Theatre in ancient Ephesus, Turkey)
Research Interests:
Historical Jesus; Early Christian Texts; Hermeneutics, Hybridity and Religion; the Bible and Popular Culture; Spirituality; The Spiritual-but-not-Religious Phenomenon
At present, I have two dominant academic passions: (1) the study of Jesus and how he has been experienced and interpreted beginning from early Christianity and down through the centuries, and (2) the study of our contemporary context of globalization in which different cultural and religious worlds encounter and mix (I refer to this as “hybridity”) and what that situation may mean for the future.
In my 2012 book How Immigrant Christians Living in Mixed Cultures Interpret Their Religion: Asian-American Diasporic Hybridity and Its Implications for Hermeneutics (originally, my Ph.D. dissertation), I described how the experience of being simultaneously situated in different worlds (hybridity) influences how one interprets one’s religious traditions. There, I also expressed the conviction that such hybridity, which is becoming increasingly common in a globalized world, is actually an important key in making religions less toxic and exclusionary and more inclusive and committed to peace as envisioned by Jesus.
Since coming to King’s in 2007, I have applied these insights more specifically to the study of the New Testament and to various other theological themes. These efforts have borne fruit in my recent book entitled Religious Language and Asian American Hybridity (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).
Education:
Ph.D. (2006) - Systematic & Philosophical Theology (focus on Hermeneutics) - Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, USA
S.S.L. (1998) - Licentiate in Sacred Scriptures (focus on Synoptic Gospels and Acts) - Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome, Italy. Also studied at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
B.A., B.Ed. (1993) - Theology/English/Education - Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan / Don Bosco College, Canlubang, Philippines
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION
New Testament Studies (in particular, Synoptic Gospels, Johannine Literature, Historical Jesus, Acts of the Apostles), Systematic Theology, Hermeneutics (Biblical and Theological), Contextual Theology (particularly, Diasporic and Hybrid, Asian-North American), Christology, Contextual / Postcolonial / Postmodern Approaches to Biblical Studies, Theology, and Religious Studies
AREAS OF COMPETENCE
Hebrew Bible (in particular, Pentateuch and Historical Books), New Testament Greek, Early Christianity, Theology of Religions and Interreligious Dialogue, Liberation Theologies, Religion and Popular Culture, Asian Theologies, Contemporary Christian Theologies
Some Courses Taught:
- RS 2201 - The Hebrew Bible as Christian Scripture
- RS 2202 - The New Testament
- RS 2211 - Paul, the Apostle: Life & Message (aka, 'Paul: Follower or Founder')
- RS 2212 - One Jesus, Many Gospels
- RS 2218 - Introduction to Christianity
- RS 2161 - Jesus: From Nazareth to Hollywood
- RS 2180 - Spiritual Quests & Popular Culture (aka, 'The Gospel acc. to Harry Potter')
- RS 3180 - Censored Scriptures
- RS2267 - Spiritual but not Religious?
Selected Publications:
Religious Language and Asian American Hybridity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
“Epistemic Confidence, Humility and Kenosis in Interfaith Dialogue.” In Interfaith Dialogue: Global Perspectives, edited by Edmund Chia, chapter twenty. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2016.
“Peter C. Phan: His Life, Work, and Contributions to World Christianity.” In World Christianity and Global Theologizing, edited by Jonathan Tan and Anh Q. Tran, SJ, chapter nine. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2016.
“Interpretation.” In Asian American Religious Cultures [2 Volumes], edited by Jonathan H.X. Lee, Jane Naomi Iwamura, Fumitaka Matsuoka, Edmond Yee and Ronald Nakasone, 63-74. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2015.
“The Prophetic Call of Narrative Forms of Theology: Narrative Theology, Asian Tendencies and Roman Emphases.” East Asian Pastoral Review 51 (2014) 1, pp. 1-24.
How Immigrant Christians Living in Mixed Cultures Interpret Their Religion: Asian-American Diasporic Hybridity and Its Implications for Hermeneutics. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2012.
“‘Yes’ to Peace is ‘No’ to Violence.” The Japan Mission Journal. Spring 2004, pp. 43-53.
“In What Way Are We the Chosen People? Rethinking Christian Election in the Aftermath ofDominus Iesus.” The Japan Mission Journal. Spring 2002, pp. 26-36.
“The Delay in the Parousia, the Historical Jesus and the Lucan Corpus,” in Memory and Solidarity: Eschatological and Historical Theology. Ed. by Tsutomu Sakuma. Tokyo: San Paolo, 2002, pp. 73-107.
“Why the Quest for the Historical Jesus is Necessary.” Catholic Studies No. 69. Ed. by the Theological Society of Sophia University. Tokyo, August 2000, pp. 1-27.