A Theory of Character in New Testament Narrative

A Theory of Character in New Testament Narrative

Author: Cornelis Bennema

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2014-04-01

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13: 1451484305

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In this study in three-dimensional character reconstruction, Cornelis Bennema presents a new theory of character in the New Testament literature. Although character has been the subject of focused literary-critical study of the New Testament since the 1970s, Bennema observes that there is still no consensus regarding how character should be understood in contemporary literary theory or in biblical studies. Many New Testament scholars seem to presume that characters in Greco-Roman literature are two-dimensional,”Aristotelian”; figures, unlike the well-rounded, psychologized individuals who appear in modern fiction. They continue nevertheless to apply contemporary literary theory to characters in ancient writings. Bennema here offers a full, comprehensive, and non-reductionist theory for the analysis, classification, and evaluation of characters in the New Testament.


Book Synopsis A Theory of Character in New Testament Narrative by : Cornelis Bennema

Download or read book A Theory of Character in New Testament Narrative written by Cornelis Bennema and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this study in three-dimensional character reconstruction, Cornelis Bennema presents a new theory of character in the New Testament literature. Although character has been the subject of focused literary-critical study of the New Testament since the 1970s, Bennema observes that there is still no consensus regarding how character should be understood in contemporary literary theory or in biblical studies. Many New Testament scholars seem to presume that characters in Greco-Roman literature are two-dimensional,”Aristotelian”; figures, unlike the well-rounded, psychologized individuals who appear in modern fiction. They continue nevertheless to apply contemporary literary theory to characters in ancient writings. Bennema here offers a full, comprehensive, and non-reductionist theory for the analysis, classification, and evaluation of characters in the New Testament.


Character Studies in the Gospel of Matthew

Character Studies in the Gospel of Matthew

Author: Matthew Ryan Hauge

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2024-02-08

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0567699498

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This volume examines a multitude of characters in Matthew's gospel and provides an in-depth look at the different approaches currently employed by scholars working with literary and reader-oriented methods. Beginning with an introduction on 'the properties of character' and the several aspects involved in the creation of person, the contributors provide a close reading of numerous characters and character types in the Gospel of Matthew. Including Mary, King Herod, John the Baptist, Jesus the Preacher, Jesus the Teacher, God the Father, the Roman Centurion, Peter, Women, Gentiles, Scribes and Pharisees, and Romans. Such close studies aid the understanding of different issues in Matthean characterization, while also charting the development of hermeneutical vistas that have developed in contemporary scholarship, resulting in a collection of exegetical character studies that are self-consciously working from a literary, narrative-critical, reader-oriented, or related methodology.


Book Synopsis Character Studies in the Gospel of Matthew by : Matthew Ryan Hauge

Download or read book Character Studies in the Gospel of Matthew written by Matthew Ryan Hauge and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2024-02-08 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines a multitude of characters in Matthew's gospel and provides an in-depth look at the different approaches currently employed by scholars working with literary and reader-oriented methods. Beginning with an introduction on 'the properties of character' and the several aspects involved in the creation of person, the contributors provide a close reading of numerous characters and character types in the Gospel of Matthew. Including Mary, King Herod, John the Baptist, Jesus the Preacher, Jesus the Teacher, God the Father, the Roman Centurion, Peter, Women, Gentiles, Scribes and Pharisees, and Romans. Such close studies aid the understanding of different issues in Matthean characterization, while also charting the development of hermeneutical vistas that have developed in contemporary scholarship, resulting in a collection of exegetical character studies that are self-consciously working from a literary, narrative-critical, reader-oriented, or related methodology.


Encountering Jesus

Encountering Jesus

Author: Cornelis Bennema

Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 1451470061

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Applying a comprehensive theory of character to the Gospel of John, Cornelis Bennema provides a fresh analysis of the characters and their responses to Jesus. While the majority of scholars view most Johannine characters as flat, Bennema demonstrates that many are complex, developing, and round. Johns broad array of characters correspond to people and their choices in real life in any culture and time. This book highlights how Johns Gospel seeks to challenge its readers about where they stand in relation to Jesus.


Book Synopsis Encountering Jesus by : Cornelis Bennema

Download or read book Encountering Jesus written by Cornelis Bennema and published by Augsburg Fortress Publishers. This book was released on 2014 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Applying a comprehensive theory of character to the Gospel of John, Cornelis Bennema provides a fresh analysis of the characters and their responses to Jesus. While the majority of scholars view most Johannine characters as flat, Bennema demonstrates that many are complex, developing, and round. Johns broad array of characters correspond to people and their choices in real life in any culture and time. This book highlights how Johns Gospel seeks to challenge its readers about where they stand in relation to Jesus.


Characterization in the Gospels

Characterization in the Gospels

Author: David Rhoads

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 9781841270043

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This volume examines characterization in the four Gospels and in the Sayings Gospel Q. Peter in Matthew, Lazarus in John, and Jesus as Son of Man in Q are examples of the characters studied. The general approach is narrative-critical. At the same time, each contribution takes special effort to widen the scope beyond the narrated world to include the text's ideological and real-life setting as well as its effective history. New ways of doing narrative criticism are thus proposed. The concluding essay by David Rhoads delineates the development and envisions the future of narrative criticism in Gospel studies.


Book Synopsis Characterization in the Gospels by : David Rhoads

Download or read book Characterization in the Gospels written by David Rhoads and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 1999-01-01 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines characterization in the four Gospels and in the Sayings Gospel Q. Peter in Matthew, Lazarus in John, and Jesus as Son of Man in Q are examples of the characters studied. The general approach is narrative-critical. At the same time, each contribution takes special effort to widen the scope beyond the narrated world to include the text's ideological and real-life setting as well as its effective history. New ways of doing narrative criticism are thus proposed. The concluding essay by David Rhoads delineates the development and envisions the future of narrative criticism in Gospel studies.


On Character Building

On Character Building

Author: John A. Darr

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2020-10-23

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1725283565

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This guide to interpreting the characters in Luke-Acts, the longest and most complex of New Testament narratives, uses the latest literary-critical theory and biblical scholarship to construct an understanding of how the characters are formed and how they function in the Lukan writings. It is the author’s contention that the reader plays an important role in character building. The author illustrates this process using three representative characters or character groups: John the Baptist, the Pharisees, and Herod the Tetrarch.


Book Synopsis On Character Building by : John A. Darr

Download or read book On Character Building written by John A. Darr and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2020-10-23 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This guide to interpreting the characters in Luke-Acts, the longest and most complex of New Testament narratives, uses the latest literary-critical theory and biblical scholarship to construct an understanding of how the characters are formed and how they function in the Lukan writings. It is the author’s contention that the reader plays an important role in character building. The author illustrates this process using three representative characters or character groups: John the Baptist, the Pharisees, and Herod the Tetrarch.


The State of New Testament Studies

The State of New Testament Studies

Author: Scot McKnight

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2019-11-05

Total Pages: 512

ISBN-13: 1493419803

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This book surveys the current landscape of New Testament studies, offering readers a concise guide to contemporary discussions. Bringing together a diverse group of experts, it covers research on the most important issues in New Testament studies, including new discipline areas, making it an ideal supplemental textbook for a variety of courses on the New Testament. Michael Bird, David Capes, Greg Carey, Lynn Cohick, Dennis Edwards, Michael Gorman, and Abson Joseph are among the contributors.


Book Synopsis The State of New Testament Studies by : Scot McKnight

Download or read book The State of New Testament Studies written by Scot McKnight and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2019-11-05 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book surveys the current landscape of New Testament studies, offering readers a concise guide to contemporary discussions. Bringing together a diverse group of experts, it covers research on the most important issues in New Testament studies, including new discipline areas, making it an ideal supplemental textbook for a variety of courses on the New Testament. Michael Bird, David Capes, Greg Carey, Lynn Cohick, Dennis Edwards, Michael Gorman, and Abson Joseph are among the contributors.


Satan, the Heavenly Adversary of Man

Satan, the Heavenly Adversary of Man

Author: Cato Gulaker

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-12-10

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 0567696537

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Cato Gulaker employs narrative criticism to explore where the depiction of Satan found in the Book of Revelation is positioned on the axis of two divergent roles. The literary character of Satan is commonly perceived to gradually evolve from the first divine agents in the Hebrew Bible, representing the darker sides of the divine governing of affairs (Job 1–2; Zech 3; 1 Chr 21:1; Num 22:22, 32), to the full-blown enemy of God of the post-biblical era. However, Gulaker posits that texts referring to Satan in between these two poles are not uniform and diverge considerably. This book argues for a new way of perceiving Satan in Revelation that provides a more probable reading, as it creates less narrative dissonance than the alternative of the ancient combat myth/cosmic conflict between Satan and God. From this reading emerges a subdued Satan more akin to its Hebrew Bible hypotexts and Second Temple Judaism parallels – one that fits seamlessly with the theology, cosmology and the overarching plot of the narrative itself. Gulaker explores the functions of Satan in a text written relatively late compared to the rest of the New Testament, but with strong affinities to the Hebrew Bible, concluding that Satan is characterized more as the leash, rod, and sifting device in the hand of God, than as his enemy.


Book Synopsis Satan, the Heavenly Adversary of Man by : Cato Gulaker

Download or read book Satan, the Heavenly Adversary of Man written by Cato Gulaker and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-12-10 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cato Gulaker employs narrative criticism to explore where the depiction of Satan found in the Book of Revelation is positioned on the axis of two divergent roles. The literary character of Satan is commonly perceived to gradually evolve from the first divine agents in the Hebrew Bible, representing the darker sides of the divine governing of affairs (Job 1–2; Zech 3; 1 Chr 21:1; Num 22:22, 32), to the full-blown enemy of God of the post-biblical era. However, Gulaker posits that texts referring to Satan in between these two poles are not uniform and diverge considerably. This book argues for a new way of perceiving Satan in Revelation that provides a more probable reading, as it creates less narrative dissonance than the alternative of the ancient combat myth/cosmic conflict between Satan and God. From this reading emerges a subdued Satan more akin to its Hebrew Bible hypotexts and Second Temple Judaism parallels – one that fits seamlessly with the theology, cosmology and the overarching plot of the narrative itself. Gulaker explores the functions of Satan in a text written relatively late compared to the rest of the New Testament, but with strong affinities to the Hebrew Bible, concluding that Satan is characterized more as the leash, rod, and sifting device in the hand of God, than as his enemy.


Identity Formation and the Gospel of Matthew

Identity Formation and the Gospel of Matthew

Author: Tekalign Duguma Negewo

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Published: 2024-03-13

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 3161617886

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Book Synopsis Identity Formation and the Gospel of Matthew by : Tekalign Duguma Negewo

Download or read book Identity Formation and the Gospel of Matthew written by Tekalign Duguma Negewo and published by Mohr Siebeck. This book was released on 2024-03-13 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


On Character Building

On Character Building

Author: John A. Darr

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2020-10-23

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 172528359X

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This guide to interpreting the characters in Luke-Acts, the longest and most complex of New Testament narratives, uses the latest literary-critical theory and biblical scholarship to construct an understanding of how the characters are formed and how they function in the Lukan writings. It is the author’s contention that the reader plays an important role in character building. The author illustrates this process using three representative characters or character groups: John the Baptist, the Pharisees, and Herod the Tetrarch.


Book Synopsis On Character Building by : John A. Darr

Download or read book On Character Building written by John A. Darr and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2020-10-23 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This guide to interpreting the characters in Luke-Acts, the longest and most complex of New Testament narratives, uses the latest literary-critical theory and biblical scholarship to construct an understanding of how the characters are formed and how they function in the Lukan writings. It is the author’s contention that the reader plays an important role in character building. The author illustrates this process using three representative characters or character groups: John the Baptist, the Pharisees, and Herod the Tetrarch.


Two Can Play That Game

Two Can Play That Game

Author: D. Eric Lowdermilk

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2016-12-22

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 1498208460

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John 21 portrays seven disciples fishing all night yet catching nothing. In the morning, a shoreline stranger instructs them to recast their net. Surprisingly, the disciples fail to recognize him. After a miraculous catch and subsequent breakfast, however, there is no doubt as to who this stranger is. Jesus then questions Peter about his love and commissions him to feed Jesus' sheep. Using narrative criticism, Lowdermilk examines this recognition scene, asking, "How would a reader, well acquainted with recognition and deception as portrayed in Genesis, understand John 21?" He discards "trickster" terminology and argues that biblical recognition occurs within a context of "manipulation." After proposing a detailed taxonomy of manipulation, he ventures further and argues for patterns in Genesis where manipulators are "counter-manipulated" in a reciprocal manner, ironically similar to their own behavior, providing a transforming effect on the manipulator. These findings, plus a careful examination of Greek diminutives, inform Lowdermilk's new reading of John 21:1-19. Peter withholds his identity as a disciple in John 18 and later Jesus actively withholds his identity in ironic counter-manipulation, mirroring Peter's denials. Jesus' threefold questioning of Peter continues the haunting echoes of Peter's earlier denials. Will it result in a disciple transformed?


Book Synopsis Two Can Play That Game by : D. Eric Lowdermilk

Download or read book Two Can Play That Game written by D. Eric Lowdermilk and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2016-12-22 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John 21 portrays seven disciples fishing all night yet catching nothing. In the morning, a shoreline stranger instructs them to recast their net. Surprisingly, the disciples fail to recognize him. After a miraculous catch and subsequent breakfast, however, there is no doubt as to who this stranger is. Jesus then questions Peter about his love and commissions him to feed Jesus' sheep. Using narrative criticism, Lowdermilk examines this recognition scene, asking, "How would a reader, well acquainted with recognition and deception as portrayed in Genesis, understand John 21?" He discards "trickster" terminology and argues that biblical recognition occurs within a context of "manipulation." After proposing a detailed taxonomy of manipulation, he ventures further and argues for patterns in Genesis where manipulators are "counter-manipulated" in a reciprocal manner, ironically similar to their own behavior, providing a transforming effect on the manipulator. These findings, plus a careful examination of Greek diminutives, inform Lowdermilk's new reading of John 21:1-19. Peter withholds his identity as a disciple in John 18 and later Jesus actively withholds his identity in ironic counter-manipulation, mirroring Peter's denials. Jesus' threefold questioning of Peter continues the haunting echoes of Peter's earlier denials. Will it result in a disciple transformed?