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For and Against Narrative: the Hermeneutics of the Parable in Early Christian Gospels

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For and Against Narrative: the Hermeneutics of the Parable in Early Christian Gospels View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Durham e-Theses Durham E-Theses For and Against Narrative: The Hermeneutics of the Parable in Early Christian Gospels BREWER, TODD,HAMILTON How to cite: BREWER, TODD,HAMILTON (2015) For and Against Narrative: The Hermeneutics of the Parable in Early Christian Gospels, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11061/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 For and Against Narrative The Hermeneutics of the Parable in Early Christian Gospels By Todd Brewer Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Durham Department of Theology and Religion 2015 i Abstract This thesis examines the narrative and non-narrative interpretive approaches to Jesus’ parables employed in early Christian Gospels (Thomas, Matthew, Mark, and Luke) in order to understand some of the inherent tendencies of these hermeneutical approaches. Chapter One outlines the narrative and non-narrative interpretations, what I call ‘mural’ and ‘data’ approaches, with special reference to the works of Hans Frei and Rudolf Bultmann as their modern representatives. In his form criticism and hermeneutical approach, Bultmann aptly represents a ‘data’ approach to the Jesus tradition, analogous to the Gospel of Thomas. Conversely, Hans Frei represents the ‘mural’ approaches of the narrative gospels by understanding the narrative unfolding of Jesus’ life to be constitutive of his identity. Through an investigation of Thomas’ compositional history, Chapter Two justifies a comparison between Thomas and Mt/Mk/Lk by placing Thomas next to these texts as a fourth synoptic witness. As a textual tradition in constant motion, Thomas cannot be located outside of the synoptic tradition as either an early, pristine testimony to a non-narrative Jesus tradition, or a late deviation from a prior narrative trajectory. Consequently, the employment of either a ‘mural’ or ‘data’ approach by these early Christian Gospels is a hermeneutical choice reflecting these texts’ interpretive aims. Chapter Three investigates the understanding of history espoused by the ‘mural’ and ‘data’ approaches through a comparison of Matthew, Thomas, and Luke’s interpretations of the parable of the lost sheep. Existing along a common spectrum in their understandings of the relationship between the past of Jesus’ ministry and its present-day significance, Luke’s biographical hermeneutic exclusively articulates the parable’s past meaning without reference to the present, Thomas’ de-historicizing hermeneutic sacrifices the past in favor of the present, while Matthew resides between the two, narrating the past of Jesus’ ministry in an exemplary fashion with an eye toward its present-day significance. Chapter Four takes up the issue of Christology entailed by the ‘data’ and ‘mural’ approaches to the parable of the tenants. In their renderings of the parable, it is the narrative contexts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke which enable vivid Christological readings as the narrative of the parable interfaces with the narrative world of Jesus’ ministry. Without such an anchoring in a narrative of Jesus’ life, Thomas’ ‘data’ interpretation fails to assume Christological significance and reflects a wider indifference to Jesus’ particular personhood. In these ways, narrative preserves Jesus’ history, thereby providing a more fertile ground for Christological reflection, while a non-narrative approach intrinsically expresses little interest in either Jesus’ history or his identity. ii Statement of Copyright The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation of it should be published in any format, including electronic, without the author’s prior written consent. All information derived from this thesis must be acknowledged appropriately. iii Declaration This work has been submitted to the University of Durham in accordance with the regulations for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. It is my own work, and no part of it has been previously submitted to the University of Durham or in any other university for a degree. iv Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ i Statement of Copyright ............................................................................................................................... ii Declaration ................................................................................................................................................ iii Contents ......................................................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................................vi Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................................vii Chapter One - For and Against Narrative: the ‘Mural’ and ‘Data’ Approaches to the Jesus Tradition .......................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Rudolf Bultmann, the Analyst of the Jesus Tradition ....................................................... 6 1.1. History of the Synoptic Tradition: Digging for the Gospel of Thomas ...................... 8 1.2. Jesus, the Word ........................................................................................................ 12 2. Hans Frei and the Recovery of Narrative Interpretation ................................................ 15 3. Recent ‘Data’ and ‘Mural’ Approaches to the Parables.................................................. 20 3.1. Parables in Search of a (Contextual) Meaning ......................................................... 21 3.2. Narrative Frames for Parabolic Art.......................................................................... 24 4. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 26 Chapter Two - Thomas, a Fourth Synoptic Witness .......................................................................... 28 1. A ‘Family Tree’ Model and Current Positions on Thomas’ Composition .................... 32 1.1. An Early, Independent Thomas ............................................................................... 34 1.2. A ‘Rolling Corpus’ Compositional Model ................................................................ 34 1.3. A Late, Dependent Thomas ..................................................................................... 36 1.4. Which Thomas? ...................................................................................................... 38 1.5. Methodological Considerations................................................................................ 39 2. A More Orthodox Thomas (Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 654) ........................................... 40 2.1. Finding, Marveling, (Being Disturbed), Resting, and Reigning (Saying 2) .............. 41 2.2. The Evolution of the Oneness Motif (Saying 4)....................................................... 44 2.3. For and Against a General Resurrection (Saying 5) ................................................. 47 3. Stable, Migrant, and Rewritten Sayings (Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1) ............................. 50 3.1. A Sign of Stability (Saying 26) ................................................................................ 51 3.2. Forced Migration (Saying 30) ................................................................................. 54 4. A Significant Difference and a Dependent Saying (Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 655) ......... 59 4.1. Why Should One Not Worry? (Saying 36)............................................................. 60 4.2. A Test Case of Dependence upon Mt/Lk (Saying 39) ............................................. 63 5. Beyond Oxyrhynchus: the Genre and Title of Thomas Through Time ....................... 67 5.1. The One, Worthy Apostle (Saying 13) .................................................................... 69 6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 73 Chapter Three - Mediating the Past of Jesus’ Parables: the Parable of the Lost Sheep in Matthew, Thomas, and Luke ................................................................................................................ 75 1. The Father’s Care for ‘Little Ones’ - Matthew 18.12-14 ................................................ 77 1.1. General Features of the Matthean Parable ..............................................................
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