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“Luke and Yoder: an Intertextual Reading of the Third Gospel in the Name of Christian Politics”

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“Luke and Yoder: an Intertextual Reading of the Third Gospel in the Name of Christian Politics” “Luke and Yoder: an intertextual reading of the third gospel in the name of Christian politics” Niall McKay Dissertation presented for the Degree of Master of Theology, New Testament at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa Supervisor: Prof Jeremy Punt December 2011 Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za Declaration I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the work contained in this dissertation is my own original work and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it at any university for a degree. Signature: December 2011 Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za Summary Critical New Testament study has drawn on analytical techniques and interrogatory methods from a wide range of disciplines. In recent decades the dominance of historical and ecclesiologically- located approaches have been challenged by insights from literary, sociological, anthropological, cultural and ideological scholarship. These challenges have proved fruitful and opened biblical scholarship to new and generative interpretation. This plurality of interpretation has in turn challenged the reductionism of biblical scholarship, leading to the now common acknowledgement that a particular reading or reconstruction is but one of many. Unfortunately many new readings have been too tightly bound to a single method or insight. The broad interaction between these readings has been often overlooked. In contrast to this trend an epistemology of text emerging from the poststructural notion of intertextuality allows the construction of links between a range of interpretive methods. Intertextuality emerges from literary and cultural theory but spills over to make hermeneutical connections with historical, cultural and ideological theory. For the most part New Testament scholars who have appropriated the term have noted this but not thoroughly explored it. In this study an ideologically-declared overtly intertextual approach to the third canonical gospel demonstrates the interlinking hermeneutic allowed by intertextuality. John Howard Yoder's reading of the gospel of Luke underscores the development of a Christian social-ethic. This reading in turn forms the framework for the more overtly intertextual reading offered here. An intertextual reading of the New Testament Scriptures is both narratively generative and politically directive for many Christian communities. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za Opsomming Kritiese Nuwe Testamentiese studies het in die verlede gebruik gemaak van analitiese tegnieke en ondervraende metodes uit ‘n wye verskeidenheid van dissiplines. Meer onlangs is die oorheersing van historiese en kerklik-gerigte benaderings uitgedaag deur insigte vanuit letterkundige, sosiologiese, antropologiese, kulturele en ideologiese dissiplines. Hierdie uitdagings het vrugbaar geblyk en het Bybelse vakkennis toeganklik gemaak vir nuwe en produktiewe interpretasies. Hierdie meervoudige interpretasies het op hul beurt weer die reduksionisme in Bybelse geleerdheid uitgedaag, wat aanleiding gegee het tot die nou algemene erkenning dat ‘n bepaalde vertolking of rekonstruksie slegs een van vele is. Die breë wisselwerking tussen sulke vertolkings word dikwels misgekyk. In teenstelling met hierdie neiging, laat ‘n epistemologie van die teks wat te voorskyn kom uit ‘n poststrukturele begrip van intertekstualiteit toe dat verbande gekonstrueer word word tussen ‘n verskeidenheid van vertolkingsmetodes. Intertekstualiteit spruit voort uit literêre en kulturele teorie, maar vorm ook hermeneutiese skakels met historiese, kulturele en ideologie kritiek. Die meeste Nuwe Testamentici wat gebruik gemaak het van hierdie term, het kennis geneem van sulke verbande, maar dit nie altyd volledig verreken nie. In hierdie studie demonstreer ‘n ideologies-verklaarde, openlik intertekstuele benadering tot die derde kanonieke evangelie die gekoppelde hermeneutiek wat toegelaat word deur intertekstualiteit. John Howard Yoder se vertolking van die Evangelie van Lukas plaas klem op die ontwikkeling van ‘n Christelike sosiale etiek. Hierdie interpretasie vorm op sy beurt weer die raamwerk vir die meer openlik intertekstuele vertolking wat hier aangebied word. ‘n Intertekstuele interpretasie van die Nuwe Testamentiese geskrifte is beide verhalend produktief asook polities rigtinggewend vir talle Christelike gemeenskappe. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za Table of Contents Declaration Summary 0 Introduction..............................................................................................................1 0.1 Background.................................................................................................................................1 0.2 Theoretical Goals........................................................................................................................2 0.3 Declaring my location................................................................................................................3 0.4 Towards a connotative reading...................................................................................................5 0.5 Definitions..................................................................................................................................5 0.6 Structure.....................................................................................................................................7 1 Intertextuality in literature: Semiotics, structuralism, poststructuralism and meaning.......................................................................................................................10 1.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................................10 1.2 Intertextuality: a first look........................................................................................................11 1.3 Genette and structuralist intertextuality....................................................................................22 1.4 Midrash in comparison.............................................................................................................27 1.5 Roman Poetry in comparison...................................................................................................30 1.6 Boyarin and Edmunds in comparison.......................................................................................32 1.7 Towards a working intertextuality............................................................................................32 2 Intertextuality in New Testament Studies............................................................37 2.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................................37 2.2 Intertextuality and historical questions.....................................................................................39 2.3 Cultural intertexts, Warren Carter and John’s gospel...............................................................39 2.4 Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul................................................................................42 2.5 Semeia 69/70: Intertextuality and the Bible. ...........................................................................46 2.6 Towards a broad intertextual approach to the New Testament.................................................52 3 Intertextuality, Yoder and Luke............................................................................56 3.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................................56 3.2 Reading Yoder, Reading Luke..................................................................................................58 3.3 In closing..................................................................................................................................93 4 Conclusions..............................................................................................................95 4.1 Intertextuality ‘as such’............................................................................................................95 4.2 Intertextuality as a meta-hermeneutic.......................................................................................96 4.3 Yoder, Luke and the colour of a Christian social-ethic.............................................................97 4.4 Further study...........................................................................................................................102 5 Bibliography..........................................................................................................104 Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za Introduction Page 1 0 Introduction Individuals do not become moral agents except in the relationships, the transactions, the habits and reinforcements, the special uses of language and gesture that together constitute life in community.1 0.1 Background The biblical hermeneutics underlying Christian moral discourse and practice are widely contested. There is little agreement on just how the texts of ancient Scripture should be regarded as authoritative and may applied to ethical questions in the 21st century. Since the Constantinian shift, dominant interpretive frameworks have been shown to be captive to the perspectives of dominant political powers. From the relativisation of Christological moral authority under a ‘temporal’, Christian
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