Biblical Narrative
Biblical narrative refers to the stories and accounts found in the Bible, which are often characterized by their historical and moral significance. These narratives are central to the religious and cultural heritage of Christianity and Judaism, and they are studied for their literary and theological value. The biblical narratives encompass a wide range of genres, including creation myths, historical accounts, and parables.
5 Key excerpts on "Biblical Narrative"
eBook - ePub- Bruce Corley, Grant Lovejoy, Steve W Lemke, Bruce Corley, Grant Lovejoy, Steve W Lemke(Authors)
- 2002(Publication Date)
- B&H Academic(Publisher)
...Real people struggling with real-life issues on the level of individual and community contexts are the meat of narrative genre. The Bible is often dated relatively rather than absolutely. That is, the Bible establishes the historical context for a narrative by presenting one event relative to another, such as the completion of the construction of the tabernacle on the first day of the first month of the second year after the Exodus (Exod. 40:17), or Jeremiah's call in the thirteenth year of the reign of King Josiah (Jer. 1:1–2). This chronological date provides the historical raw material and the basic framework into which are woven the literary elements to produce the Biblical Narrative. Artistic Scholars have marveled for centuries at the literary artistry of Biblical Narrative. As David Howard notes, “A writer not only asks, ‘ What do I want to say?’ but also, ‘ How do I want to say it?’ ‘What kind of artifact do I wish to make?’” (Howard, 45). This literary artistry is evident on two levels that are integral to one another. First is the level of character and plot development, in which the intricacies of human nature are artfully and skillfully presented and reflected upon, and the nature and work of God are revealed. The second level is literary structure, which is the vehicle through which the narrative is set forth. John Sailhammer notes, “Structure implies purpose which in turn suggests a central concern or integration point that gives a passage its meaning and direction” (Sailhammer, 26). Both aspects of literary artistry will be discussed at length in later sections. Entertaining The stories of the Bible have captivated audiences young and old for centuries, providing entertainment as well as valuable teaching. Miraculous deeds, heroic acts, human drama, tragic comedy, deceitful treachery, and faithless abandon are among the many kinds of human tales in Scripture...
eBook - ePub- Douglas Mangum, Douglas Estes(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Lexham Press(Publisher)
...What Alter calls “minutely discriminating attention to the artful use of language, to the shifting play of ideas, conventions, tone, sound, imagery, syntax, narrative viewpoint, compositional units, and much else” is the bread and butter of narrative criticism. 43 Narrative critics frequently speak of this as “close reading” (following the lead of early twentieth-century New Criticism). While close reading may be put in the service of exposing indeterminacy or ambiguity in the narrative, 44 it is more often an attempt to understand the interaction of, or the transactions that take place between, the (implied) author and (implied) reader—that is, it is believed to be a means of understanding the meaning/message which is the story. 45 An important prior assumption at this point that has not yet been expressly named is that the Biblical Narratives work as literature: “Biblical Narrative literature exhibits literary characteristics that are also apparent in literature in general.” 46 Attentive, close reading of the biblical stories is a reading disciplined to ask after the elements that characterize “literature [or narrative] in general,” such as plot, narrator, setting, and point of view. 7. The narrative is the meeting point between author and reader, with the result that narrative meaning is best understood as a communicative event. A Biblical Narrative work is a complex speech-act. As a result, “One of the tasks of narrative criticism … is to deal with these questions: What are the New Testament narratives doing? And, literarily, how do they do it?” 47 Frequently, narrative criticism assumes that the Biblical Narratives are labors in persuasion...
eBook - ePubWords of Delight
A Literary Introduction to the Bible
- Ryken, Leland(Authors)
- 1993(Publication Date)
- Baker Academic(Publisher)
...Each genre has its distinctive features and its own “rules” or principles of operation. As readers, we need to approach passages in the Bible with the right expectations. Our awareness of genre programs our encounter with a biblical text, telling us what to look for and how to interpret what we see. Because the Bible is an anthology of separate works, it contains a mixture of genres, some of them literary and some nonliterary. The main literary genres in the Bible are narrative or story, poetry (especially lyric poetry), proverb, and visionary writing (including both prophecy and apocalypse). Literary genres that appear less often include satire, epic, tragedy, epithalamion (wedding poem), elegy (funeral poem), drama, and encomium (a work that praises a quality or character type). Historical writing often moves in the direction of literary narrative by virtue of its experiential concreteness or the principles of pattern and artistry that it exhibits. The letters of the New Testament frequently become literary because of their artistic and poetic style. Artistry Another criterion of literature is artistry. Literature is an art form, characterized by beauty, craftsmanship, and technique. With literature, we focus not only on what is said but also on how it is said. Literary artistry includes both skill with words and patterned composition. The elements of artistic form that all the arts share include pattern or design, theme or central focus, organic unity (also called unity in variety), coherence, balance, contrast, symmetry, repetition or recurrence, and unified progression. Subsequent chapters in this book will ring the changes on these motifs. The purposes of artistry are at least two: artistry intensifies the impact of an utterance and is pleasurable for its own sake. Both of these purposes are well illustrated by Jesus’ discourse about anxiety in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt...
eBook - ePub- Antony Campbell(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- ATF Press Publishing(Publisher)
...The Nature of Biblical Narrative Something of a paradigm shift has been in the making for a while in biblical studies. A future shape has yet to jell. The old historical-critical analysis has not been generating new life for a long time. 1 Other approaches have not so far struck lasting root. The interaction of developmental (cf diachronic) reading and interpretational (cf synchronic) reading is under way, but far from any agreed integration. A resolution of tensions between critical and literary approaches is still to be achieved. The factors involved in any shift are complex; among them, the often competing needs of faith communities, university communities, and so many competent individuals. One element in the total equation may be scholarly assumptions about the nature of much Biblical Narrative text. Assumptions are unavoidable. We live with them all the time. Like routines, they help simplify life and eliminate the overburden of decisions to be faced at every turn. Like routines, assumptions can be dangerous; they can trap us in ruts we do not even realise. Those we are least aware of can be the most dangerous. Assumptions must be re-examined regularly; the outgrown need to be replaced. 2 This article is about an assumption current in biblical studies that is a candidate for re-examination and replacement. The assumption concerns the texts of stories told in ancient Israel—the relationship between oral performance and written text. Performance and narrative text Appalling assumptions can sneak up on the greatest of scholars. Susan Niditch opens by upbraiding Hermann Gunkel for portraying a naive, child-like, rural simplicity as the culture from which the Bible emerged. 3 Alas, the same Gunkel did not do much better on the timing of biblical storytelling; it was much the same assumption that got him in trouble. In the introduction to his Genesis commentary, Gunkel seriously overestimated the time for the average biblical text...
eBook - ePubReading the Synoptic Gospels (Revised and Expanded)
Basic Methods for Interpreting Matthew, Mark, and Luke
- O. Wesley Allen Jr.(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Chalice Press(Publisher)
...We see that each method we use overlaps with others, builds on the observations of others, and offers something new. The focus on the final form of the narrative as literature in this step prepares us for the emphasis on the role of the reader in the next. For Further Reading Malbon, Elizabeth Struthers. “Narrative Criticism?” In Mark & Method: New Approaches in Biblical Studies, 2nd ed., edited by Janice Capel Anderson and Stephen D. Moore, 29–58. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008. Moore, Stephen D. “Gospel Criticism as Narrative Criticism.” In Literary Criticism and the Gospels: The Theoretical Challenge, 1–68. New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 1989. Pennington, Jonathan T. “Reading the Gospels as Stories: The ‘Whatever Strikes Me’ (WSM) Hermeneutic versus Narrative Analysis.” In Reading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction, 169–82 Grand Rapids: Baker, 2012. Peterson, Norman R. Literary Criticism for New Testament Critics. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978. Powell, Mark Allan. What Is Narrative Criticism? Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990. _____. “Toward a Narrative-Critical Understanding of Matthew” “…of Mark” “…of Luke.” In Gospel Interpretation: Narrative-Critical & Social-Scientific Approaches, edited by Jack Dean Kingsbury, 9–15, 65–70, 125–31. Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 1997. Resseguie, James L. Narrative Criticism of the New Testament: An Introduction. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005. E XCURSUS 3 Select Literary Terms for Narrative Exegesis A CTION : See P LOT. A LLEGORY : A narrative in which elements of the story (e.g., characters, action, setting) have a symbolic significance as well as a literal significance within the story. Some of Jesus’ parables are allegorical. For example, the parable of the sower is accompanied by an allegorical interpretation (Mk. 4:1–8, 13–20). (See S YMBOL.) A POSTROPHE : Direct address to an absent person or to an abstract or inanimate object...
