Journal: Southeastern Theological Review
Volume: STR 12:2 (Fall 2021)
Article: Narrative Criticism In The Gospels And Acts
Author: Osvaldo Padilla

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Narrative Criticism In The Gospels And Acts

Osvaldo Padilla

Beeson Divinity School

Abstract: The essay at hand constitutes a review of the use of the discipline of literary criticism on the narrative sections of Scripture, particularly the New Testament. The essay explains how the phrase “narrative criticism” can refer both to a literary method that relies heavily on American formalism to exegete the narrative portions of the Bible as well as to a theological discipline that views narrative as a master genre that can yield fundamental insight into the works and character of God. The concentration of this essay is on the former category. A concrete example is given in a brief exegesis of Luke 7:36–50. We suggest that narrative criticism of the Gospels can be fruitful when it is practiced in connection with the socio-historical background of the Gospels as well as with an eye toward theology.

Key Words: Acts, Gospels, Hans Frei, higher-criticism, narrative criticism, narrative theology, reader-response

When the phrase “narrative criticism” is employed in the field of professional theological and biblical studies, one of two meanings is usually being conveyed. First, there is the use of the phrase that primarily has to do with method. In this first case, scholars can simply employ the rules generated by literary critics, rules that were not initially formulated for use in biblical studies but for the investigation of the novel (see “Origins and Goals of Narrative Criticism” below for further development of this). Techniques were finetuned in the process of reading in order to maximize the depth of experience when reading narrative. Although narrative criticism of this type does work with a philosophical base, its primary aim is to read.1 To be sure, there is a deep philosophical foundation for the concepts of meaning and hermeneutics that this type of narrative criticism can point to, if asked. Nevertheless, the mood no longer being controlled by modernity, this first type of narrative criticism operates within a much more Wittgensteinian ethos, where what ultimately matters is the actual

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performance of the activity in a communal context.

Thus, one approach to narrative criticism is a purely descriptive one. The practitioners simply apply to the text the methods that help in the understanding of categories such as setting, characters, plot, and so on. As such, this form of narrative criticism is essentially practical. Furthermore, it can in principle be used with any type of narrativ...