Can Narrative Criticism Recover the Theological Unity of Scripture?

Abstract

Abstract It has become increasingly difficult to talk about the unity of Scripture. Under the impact of modernist historical criticism, the Bible has seemed to fall apart into a cacophony of disparate voices. More recently, however, it has sometimes been suggested that narrative criticism might help us recover the unity of Scripture. But narrative criticism, taken by itself, cannot solve the problem of canonical unity. Instead, following the lead of the "Nine Theses" of the Scripture Project, this essay explores the claim that Scripture can be understood in light of the church's rule of faith as a complex but coherent dramatic narrative. If so, the practice of narrative criticism is necessary, though not in itself sufficient, to articulate the elusive unity of the biblical witness. This proposal is exemplified through a reading of the story of Jesus as sketched in Hebrews, Paul, Matthew, and John. Attention to the narrative pattern found in these four authors demonstrates a surprising coherence in their understanding of the purpose and effect of Jesus' death. Specifically, all four authors narrate Jesus' death on the cross as an act of radical faithfulness to God's redemptive purpose; further, in each of the four authors, this act of faithfulness provides a normative paradigm for the ongoing narratively shaped identity of all who trust in Jesus and find themselves reconciled to God through him.