WHERE JESUS NEVER WALKED (original) (raw)
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From History to Myth and Back Again: The Historicizing of Scripture in Matthew 2
Published in Biblical Interpretation in Early Christian Gospels: The Gospel of Matthew (ed. Thomas R. Hatina; Library of New Testament Studies 310; London: T. & T. Clark, 2008) 98-118. In this contribution I aim to explain why, in Matthew 2, Scripture was connected with Jesus’ journey of escape from Bethlehem to Nazareth via Egypt. One of the most unusual features of the infancy travel story is that each of the three geographical locations (Bethlehem, Egypt, and Nazareth) is associated with a fulfillment quotation. Matthew uses place names elsewhere, and even on one occasion refers to six locations (Syria, Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and ‘beyond the Jordan’ in 4.23-25), but these are not depicted as fulfillments. I attempt to explain the use of Scripture in Matthew 2 within the broader process of mythmaking which in general terms begins with some kind of historical (or factual) event, is then interpreted within a cosmic structure, and is finally legitimized historically. It is the last two phases in the process which are of concern. I respectively divide the essay into two parts by first drawing attention to the literary artistry of chapter two, namely the mythmaking phase, and then focusing on the historical legitimization of the travel story via the embedding of Scripture. More specific to method, in the first part of this essay Matthew’s literary artistry is explored in light of Northrop Frye’s theory of mythmaking which brings attention to Jesus’ portrayal as a divine child who miraculously escapes death from a paranoid tyrannical king whose rule in turn is subverted by his intended victim. It is a narrative that contains all too many familiar features, such as revelations through dreams, a miraculous birth, divine parentage, cosmic portents, and the battle between good and evil, all of which are reminiscent of hero myths that would have been known in various forms throughout the Hellenized/Romanized Diaspora in the latter part of the first century. The second part of the essay concentrates on how the quotations containing fulfillment formulae function in the travel narrative. The term ‘function,’ is here again limited to Northrop Frye’s literary-critical insights into myth and ideology. I argue that Matthew’s appeal to scriptural quotations can be explained as an exercise in historicizing myth for the purpose of legitimization, which inevitably leads to ideology.
Religious Studies Review, 2007
Pp. 332, appendices. $135.00, ISBN 0-567-02592-6. Gmirkin proposes a new theory concerning the date of the composition of the Pentateuch that focuses upon the parallels between the Babylonian mythological materials preserved by the priest Berossus (ca. 278 BCE) and the Genesis stories, and the Egyptian historical and mythological materials preserved by the priest Manetho (ca. 285-80 BCE) and the accounts in Exodus. Because these materials closely accord with the earliest level of the biblical accounts, he proposes that the translation of the Pentateuch into Greek, the Septuagint, in 273-72 BCE in Alexandria was actually the first time that the text was written down as a whole. In presenting this hypothesis, Gmirkin summarizes archeological, epigraphic and literary evidence that would weaken the basis for the documentary hypothesis (or JEPD theory). He proposes that the biblical narratives should be seen in the light of the events of the third century BCE, primarily those of Alexander and his immediate successors.
The Elusive Jesus of Luke-Acts in Its Ancient Mediterranean Literary Context
2021
This thesis examines the elusive Jesus of Luke-Acts in its ancient Mediterranean literary context and investigates the implications of this for Lukan composition and Christology. Scholars recognising characterisations or themes of elusiveness in biblical literature have addressed some Lukan instances, but without concentrating on Luke-Acts. Other studies have struggled to identify a suitable scheme for elusiveness data in ancient Mediterranean literature or New Testament Gospels. Previous studies offering christological and thematic explanations for Jesus' paradoxical presence and absence or 'secretive'/'mysterious' conduct, particularly the (so-called) 'Messiasgeheimnis' or alternative Geheimnis-theories (e.g., 'Leidensgeheimnis' in Luke), fail to account comprehensively for related motifs. Nevertheless, this thesis demonstrates how these and other relevant motifs, also pertaining to other characters or events, contribute to a portrayal of Jesus as an elusive figure and to a broader, more comprehensive and coherent thematic emphasis on elusiveness in Luke-Acts. Concentrated analysis is devoted to four episodes: Jesus eluding his parents during childhood (Luke 2:41-52); Jesus' Nazareth visit and escape (4:16-30); Jesus' (un)recognition and disappearance on the Emmaus road (24:13-35); and Jesus' differently perceived manifestation blinding Paul on the Damascus road (Acts 9:1-19a; 22:6-16; 26:12-18). In terms of other characters and events, this exploration involves accounts of Paul's escapes and survivals, incarceration deliverances of the disciples, apostolic pronouncements on dissidents, the Philip-eunuch story, and angelic activity. This reconceptualisation in terms of elusiveness offers a fresh perspective for reading Luke-Acts. By utilising an eclectic literary-critical methodology which incorporates aspects of text-centred and reader-oriented approaches, this thesis employs an ancient reader as a heuristic device to demonstrate a characterisation of the elusive Jesus and thematic elusiveness in Luke-Acts. An ancient Mediterranean 'extratextual repertoire' of literary elusiveness offers the type of data which this reader would have invoked for reading the four focal episodes. This extratextual data also illuminates elusive characters and themes in other literature, notably gods and aided mortals in Homeric epic (especially the Odyssey), Dionysus in Euripides' Bacchae, and Yahweh, other supramundane figures, and aided mortals in Jewish texts. As a result of considering Lukan depictions of Jesus' elusiveness in the light of ancient Mediterranean analogues, this project offers several new readings and expands or reinforces some readings less recognised in scholarship. In terms of Lukan composition, this thesis proposes that Jesus is characterised as an elusive figure which principally contributes to an elusiveness theme. This involves several motifs (including those related to Geheimnis-theories) and other elusive characters or events. This study highlights how Lukan elusiveness creates entertaining stories to maintain reader contemplation, inciting intrigue for continued reader engagement. This project also determines that Lukan depictions of elusiveness involve recognisably appropriated motifs and tropes rather than specific intertextual sources. Regarding Lukan Christology, elusiveness underscores commonly acknowledged Christologies (suffering and royal Davidic Messiah; Son of God) as well as less recognised or implicit Christologies (divine visitor; judge; Wisdom) and indicates more continuity of Jesus' pre- and post-mortem physical transience or transcendence than critics normally allow. Ultimately, Jesus' elusiveness consistently indicates his exceptionally theomorphic identity whilst maintaining a degree of ambiguity inherent in Lukan Christology.
Before and After the Art of Biblical Narrative
Prooftexts, 2008
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. This content downloaded from 165.123.34.86 on Tue, 09 Jun 2015 09:46:46 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions y 191 PROOFTEXTS 27 (2007): 191-210. S t e v e n W e i t z m A n A B S t r A c t What has become of the so-called literary approach to the Bible since Robert Alter published The Art of Biblical Narrative in 1981? What gave rise to this approach in the first place? How has it been influenced by recent trends in biblical studies and literary scholarship? And what is its future, both in general and as part of the particular project that Prooftexts represents? The essay addresses these questions as a way of introducing what is at stake in the present volume.
Controversy, Mythicism, and the Historical Jesus
While the New Testament offers the most extensive evidence for the existence of the historical Jesus, the writings are subject to a number of conditions that have dictated both the form and content of the traditions they have preserved. These conditions did not disappear with the writing of the first gospel, nor even with the eventual formation of the New Testament canon. They were expressly addressed by Christian writers in the second and third century who saw an incipient mythicism as a threat to the integrity of the message about Jesus. The history of this controversy is long, complex, and decisive with respect to the -question‖ of Jesus.
Scandinvian journal of the old testament
In a 1998 paper (published in 2001 in SJOT 15:3-56) I suggested that myth is not a (literary) genre, being altogether too polymorphous to fit any such formal definition, but rather a mind-set. The opposition often discerned by biblical scholars between myth and history had led to extravagant claims concerning the non-mythic nature of Old Testament narratives, on the ground that their basis often lay in "historical fact." On the other hand, the status of history in the Old Testament has become almost as contentious in some recent scholarship. This paper raises some fundamental problems, and examines some current tendencies in both areas, and will ask whether it is possible to reach some modus vivendi, in which scholars of diverse persuasions may find some common ground, instead of continuing to talk past each other.