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Narrative Criticism of the New Testament: An Introduction
Narrative criticism is a relatively recent development that applies literary methods to the study of Scripture. James Resseguie suggests that this approach to reading the Bible treats the text as a self-contained unit and avoids complications raised by other critical methods of interpretation.
Resseguie begins with an introductory chapter that surveys the methods of narrative criticism and how they can be used to discover important nuances of meaning through what he describes as a "close reading" of the text. He then devotes chapters to the principal rhetorical setting, point of view, character, rhetoric, plot, and reader.
Readers will find here an accessible introduction to the subject of narrative criticism and a richly rewarding approach to reading the Bible.
Resseguie begins with an introductory chapter that surveys the methods of narrative criticism and how they can be used to discover important nuances of meaning through what he describes as a "close reading" of the text. He then devotes chapters to the principal rhetorical setting, point of view, character, rhetoric, plot, and reader.
Readers will find here an accessible introduction to the subject of narrative criticism and a richly rewarding approach to reading the Bible.
- GenresTheology
288 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2005
34 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 22, 2020
Excellent. It was very heavy at times, but that is to be expected from this type of work. My main complaint seems crazy, but Resseguie used so many examples that I got confused at times. Overall this work was phenomenal. The lists of questions in section 7.1, particularly, will help me later. Recommend!
September 1, 2022
An excellent tool to go along with Alter in understanding how to read Biblical narrative. Though there are several points/conclusions I disagree with (or even find him inconsistent in his interpretations of certain passages due to his biases) I do find his explanation of literary tools to be very helpful and clear. He has certainly learned to ask the text the ever-important question of "why" and has explained how to do so to the interested student. Overall, I will be returning to this book often to consult Resseguie's explanation of handling a narrative.
September 25, 2024
I have never been more surprised about a book in my life. A required reading for a seminary class, I dreaded reading it by the title alone. It was full of so many profound biblical truths! And I walked away with a better understanding of how to interpret scripture.
December 10, 2023
The first chapter is Resseguie's introduction to the concept of Narrative Criticism into the world of biblical studies. He examines its roots in the New Criticism, and then carefully shows the distinctions between the two. The most important distinctions are that New Criticism ignored the reader's response to the text and the author's intent and socio-historical location, while narrative criticism does not. In simplest terms, narrative criticism examines the Bible as literature, treating the form of a text and its content as an organic, indissoluble whole. Narrative criticism examines the complexities and nuances of the text through close readings. A narrative critic pays attention to character development, plot, structure, and other literary devices. Narrative criticism also emphasizes the effects of a narrative on the reader. How is the author trying to change or effect the reader?
Chapter 2 - Rhetoric
In chapter 2, Resseguie introduces the various rhetorical devices that an author can use to highlight the narrative. If I may synthesize his synopsis, there are a few things to be really cognizant of when you read the New Testament text. First, look for themes! Themes are key words, motifs, ideas, or images that recur throughout the book. A theme is always important, and how it is used is normally important too. Look for repetition! Second, look for bookends. If two scenes seem similar, and a different story is interjected in between them, then the bookend scenes are probably very important in how you interpret the interjected scene. Third, be on the lookout for figures of speech. Metaphors, similes, and chiastic structures are critical to understanding the text. Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, irony, double entrendre and misunderstanding are ESSENTIAL parts of the New Testament. You may miss these elements if you can't read the original languages. But it gives John 3 a LOT more depth if you know anothen (Gr.) can be either again OR above. Combine that with John 1 and you see that Nicodemus missed the point. Resseguie's explanation of irony using a house metaphor is helpful. The people on the first floor of the house know the surface level of the meaning. The people on the second floor know the deeper meaning, along with the person who is being ironic. The audience can either be fooled or not, depending on whether they are in the know or not. For example, when Philip tells Nathanael about Jesus, he replies "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" He is on the first floor, just perceiving the surface level. The audience is on the second floor because we read John 1 and we know that Jesus is really from God. The irony is completed when Nathanael meets Jesus and is convinced that Jesus is the Son of God and the King of Israel because of a rather minor miracle.
Chapter 3 - Setting
There are many different kinds of settings: geographical, topographical, religious, temporal, cultural, spatial, or even architectural. The point is that we have to be sensitive to what these settings are and what they represent. For example, there is a significant difference between day and night in John. Resseguie uses Mark 5 to illustrate many of the components of setting and how they impact the story. Most often, setting is used to amplify or strengthen existing meanings. The take away is to pay attention to what is supposed to happen in a certain type of place and what does happen there. For example, the wilderness is an important setting for the Jewish nation (it is where they wandered). It was the place that was in-between slavery and freedom. It was a place of testing, and supernatural provision. So, when Jesus is tested in the wilderness, we should immediately connect back to Israel being tested in the desert. When Jesus asks his disciples to feed the 5,000 in the wilderness, we should immediately think of God providing food and water for the Israelites in the wilderness. There is another element to setting that Resseguie calls "props". These are items of clothing or accessories that are added to the story. He makes the point that these are rarely included for realism, or just to add extra detail. They usually add something to the story. Our job as readers is to figure out what. Unfortunately, we can usually only guess at why these props appear. The example that Resseguie uses is the "water jar" in the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. Why does she leave her water jar? What does the water jar represent, if anything?
Chapter 4 - Character
Chapter 2 - Rhetoric
In chapter 2, Resseguie introduces the various rhetorical devices that an author can use to highlight the narrative. If I may synthesize his synopsis, there are a few things to be really cognizant of when you read the New Testament text. First, look for themes! Themes are key words, motifs, ideas, or images that recur throughout the book. A theme is always important, and how it is used is normally important too. Look for repetition! Second, look for bookends. If two scenes seem similar, and a different story is interjected in between them, then the bookend scenes are probably very important in how you interpret the interjected scene. Third, be on the lookout for figures of speech. Metaphors, similes, and chiastic structures are critical to understanding the text. Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, irony, double entrendre and misunderstanding are ESSENTIAL parts of the New Testament. You may miss these elements if you can't read the original languages. But it gives John 3 a LOT more depth if you know anothen (Gr.) can be either again OR above. Combine that with John 1 and you see that Nicodemus missed the point. Resseguie's explanation of irony using a house metaphor is helpful. The people on the first floor of the house know the surface level of the meaning. The people on the second floor know the deeper meaning, along with the person who is being ironic. The audience can either be fooled or not, depending on whether they are in the know or not. For example, when Philip tells Nathanael about Jesus, he replies "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" He is on the first floor, just perceiving the surface level. The audience is on the second floor because we read John 1 and we know that Jesus is really from God. The irony is completed when Nathanael meets Jesus and is convinced that Jesus is the Son of God and the King of Israel because of a rather minor miracle.
Chapter 3 - Setting
There are many different kinds of settings: geographical, topographical, religious, temporal, cultural, spatial, or even architectural. The point is that we have to be sensitive to what these settings are and what they represent. For example, there is a significant difference between day and night in John. Resseguie uses Mark 5 to illustrate many of the components of setting and how they impact the story. Most often, setting is used to amplify or strengthen existing meanings. The take away is to pay attention to what is supposed to happen in a certain type of place and what does happen there. For example, the wilderness is an important setting for the Jewish nation (it is where they wandered). It was the place that was in-between slavery and freedom. It was a place of testing, and supernatural provision. So, when Jesus is tested in the wilderness, we should immediately connect back to Israel being tested in the desert. When Jesus asks his disciples to feed the 5,000 in the wilderness, we should immediately think of God providing food and water for the Israelites in the wilderness. There is another element to setting that Resseguie calls "props". These are items of clothing or accessories that are added to the story. He makes the point that these are rarely included for realism, or just to add extra detail. They usually add something to the story. Our job as readers is to figure out what. Unfortunately, we can usually only guess at why these props appear. The example that Resseguie uses is the "water jar" in the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. Why does she leave her water jar? What does the water jar represent, if anything?
Chapter 4 - Character
March 24, 2014
This is a delightful book that not only performs on a broader scale what I tried to do in my scholarly research during my Ph.D. program, but it makes the techniques of rhetorical criticism and literary analysis available to anyone (particularly college and seminary students, but it is incredibly accessible to laypersons). And, in case one hasn’t grasped the method by the conclusion of the book, the author provides an insightful checklist on pp. 242-4.
After a brief explanation of the close reading which characterizes narrative criticism, James Resseguie offers a marvelous analogy by examining van Gogh’s The Good Samaritan (after Delacroix) and showing what one can notice just by observing the work of art itself (and he will later do the same for the parable). He notes how treatment of a painting or a text requires close attention to the work as a unity. I particularly like the way he observed that the van Gogh presents the travelers in inverse size to their socio-economic importance (p. 29) compared to a later observation that in Luke 10, the Greek text uses 60 words to describe the Samaritan compared to 26 words for both the priest and Levite (p. 193). In addition to comparing the text with works of art, Resseguie uses short stories by Hemingway and Kate Chopin to illustrate his methodology.
The first phase of Resseguie’s methodology is rhetoric (repetition, figures of speech, images, irony). For example, did you realize that the Greek word (anthrakia) for charcoal fire ties together Peter’s denial in John 18 with his reconciliation with Jesus in John 21 (p. 43). In terms of structure, he observes the chiasm in Jesus’ prayer in the garden:
A) Father, if you are willing
B) remove this cup from me;
B’) yet, not my will
A’) but yours be done (p. 59).
The second phase is considering setting. “Setting contributes to the mood of the narrative, or delineates the traits of a character, or contributes to the development of plot conflicts. Settings may highlight the religious, moral, social, emotional, and spiritual values of characters.” (p. 88) I particularly enjoyed the observation about Pontius Pilate and the way he both entered and exited the praetorium four times each, suggesting “uncertainty.” (p. 101)
The third phase is characterization. The author suggest that one pays particular attention to whether characters develop and change or stay flat, to hints of meaning in proper names and sobriquets, and what the first words of a character might be. For example, whereas the first words of most of the disciples have to do with following Jesus, the first direct speech from Judas is outrage over the expenditure of expensive perfume to honor Jesus (p. 161). I also liked the observation that the verb used for Judas “carrying” the purse can also mean that he “lifted” (as in theft) the purse (p. 161).
The fourth phase is point-of-view. Using Boris Uspensky’s four planes of point-of-view (phraseological, spatio-temporal, psychological, and ideological—p. 169), he explores how insights into the narrator’s point-of-view can clarify our understanding of the purpose and message of the text. I particularly appreciated the way he described pacing as demonstrating a point-of-view. “A narrator may accent an ideological point of view by slowing down the narration or; conversely, may attenuate the importance of an event by glossing over it rapidly.” (p. 172) He also demonstrates how a character’s interior monologue can demonstrate what the narrator really thinks.
The fifth phase is plot. Although the bulk of the chapter on plot focuses on “U” shaped structures (comedy) and reverse “U” shaped structures (tragedy), I also liked the idea from the Russian Formalists about fabula (the story itself) compared to the sjuzet (the events as they appear in the narrative, that is, plot). The fabula may be three events, but the sjuzet can put them together in any order (a chronology, a recollection, or in medias res (right in the middle)—pp. 208-209).
All in all, Resseguie presents a thorough and helpful methodology. And, even though most of my interpretive work has been in the Old Testament, I wish I had been able to read this work before I completed my dissertation. I think it would have sharpened my own work. As it is, I find this an invaluable reference work.
After a brief explanation of the close reading which characterizes narrative criticism, James Resseguie offers a marvelous analogy by examining van Gogh’s The Good Samaritan (after Delacroix) and showing what one can notice just by observing the work of art itself (and he will later do the same for the parable). He notes how treatment of a painting or a text requires close attention to the work as a unity. I particularly like the way he observed that the van Gogh presents the travelers in inverse size to their socio-economic importance (p. 29) compared to a later observation that in Luke 10, the Greek text uses 60 words to describe the Samaritan compared to 26 words for both the priest and Levite (p. 193). In addition to comparing the text with works of art, Resseguie uses short stories by Hemingway and Kate Chopin to illustrate his methodology.
The first phase of Resseguie’s methodology is rhetoric (repetition, figures of speech, images, irony). For example, did you realize that the Greek word (anthrakia) for charcoal fire ties together Peter’s denial in John 18 with his reconciliation with Jesus in John 21 (p. 43). In terms of structure, he observes the chiasm in Jesus’ prayer in the garden:
A) Father, if you are willing
B) remove this cup from me;
B’) yet, not my will
A’) but yours be done (p. 59).
The second phase is considering setting. “Setting contributes to the mood of the narrative, or delineates the traits of a character, or contributes to the development of plot conflicts. Settings may highlight the religious, moral, social, emotional, and spiritual values of characters.” (p. 88) I particularly enjoyed the observation about Pontius Pilate and the way he both entered and exited the praetorium four times each, suggesting “uncertainty.” (p. 101)
The third phase is characterization. The author suggest that one pays particular attention to whether characters develop and change or stay flat, to hints of meaning in proper names and sobriquets, and what the first words of a character might be. For example, whereas the first words of most of the disciples have to do with following Jesus, the first direct speech from Judas is outrage over the expenditure of expensive perfume to honor Jesus (p. 161). I also liked the observation that the verb used for Judas “carrying” the purse can also mean that he “lifted” (as in theft) the purse (p. 161).
The fourth phase is point-of-view. Using Boris Uspensky’s four planes of point-of-view (phraseological, spatio-temporal, psychological, and ideological—p. 169), he explores how insights into the narrator’s point-of-view can clarify our understanding of the purpose and message of the text. I particularly appreciated the way he described pacing as demonstrating a point-of-view. “A narrator may accent an ideological point of view by slowing down the narration or; conversely, may attenuate the importance of an event by glossing over it rapidly.” (p. 172) He also demonstrates how a character’s interior monologue can demonstrate what the narrator really thinks.
The fifth phase is plot. Although the bulk of the chapter on plot focuses on “U” shaped structures (comedy) and reverse “U” shaped structures (tragedy), I also liked the idea from the Russian Formalists about fabula (the story itself) compared to the sjuzet (the events as they appear in the narrative, that is, plot). The fabula may be three events, but the sjuzet can put them together in any order (a chronology, a recollection, or in medias res (right in the middle)—pp. 208-209).
All in all, Resseguie presents a thorough and helpful methodology. And, even though most of my interpretive work has been in the Old Testament, I wish I had been able to read this work before I completed my dissertation. I think it would have sharpened my own work. As it is, I find this an invaluable reference work.
March 27, 2013
This is a solid primer on the discipline of a narrative-critical reading of scripture. Resseguie shows himself a capable writer with a firm grasp of the various components of literature. This is a very enjoyable read and that's saying something for a work on critical approaches to the Bible!
March 5, 2013
This was an excellent introduction to New Testament narrative criticism. It's also a very conservative approach to the subject. I highly recommend this book as a tool for NT exegesis.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews