3.71: What’s the Difference between the Catholic and Protestant Bible?

Kristofer Phan Coffman is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Religion and Cultures at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Kristofer is, to the best of his knowledge, the first Cambodian to receive a doctoral degree in any aspect of biblical studies or the study of the ancient world. He brings his own experience as a first generation Cambodian-American to his readings of the biblical text in an effort to help readers reframe their reading of ancient texts as a cross-cultural interaction, hoping to build skills both for the reading of the biblical text as well as the modern task of relating to people from cultures different than their own. In addition to his work in the New Testament, Kristofer writes on food, farming and sustainability. His first book, Harrowing the Gospels: A Cambodian (American) Rereading of Agriculture in Mark and Matthew will be published in the Brill Biblical Interpretation Series in Fall 2025, and he is currently writing a book on reading the Bible with cultural sensitivity for Baker Academic.