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February 15, 2018
70 percent of the population were struggling farmers and fishermen or subsistence laborers working for others in fields or “factories.”
By any modern standards, these 70 percent lived in poverty. A bottom 10 percent, and sometimes more, made up the class of outcasts and expendables. They were often below even the subsistence level, with starvation a real threat.
but the fact that Zebedee and sons had more than one (Mark 1:20) may single them out as slightly more prosperous.
Most ancient slaves were not the victims of racism but of conquest—prisoners of war,
Unlike pre-Civil War America, the Roman world allowed slaves to own property, earn money, and often save enough to buy their own freedom.
A slave in a wealthy household was sometimes more prosperous than most freedmen and exercised important responsibilities, including managing his m...
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The Jewish triple tithe—10 percent to priests and Levites, 10 percent for temple festivals, and 3 1/3 percent for the poor25—came on top of the sales taxes, customs, and annual tribute paid to the Roman government, much of which went to fund its vast military machine.
30 percent of all one's income.
The Jewish world had more developed systems for distributing food or money to the poor on a daily or weekly basis, but many people still “fell through the cracks.”
For the first quarter of the century, source criticism predominated as further defense and elaboration of “Markan priority” flourished.
For the second quarter of the twentieth century, interest shifted to form criticism—an analysis of the period before the Gospels were written when stories and excerpts of Jesus' life and teachings circulated almost entirely by word of mouth.
Earlier in this century it was sometimes used synonymously with source criticism.
Rather, meaning was said to reside in the texts themselves.
At the more radical end of the spectrum, meaning was believed to be almost entirely “in the eye of the beholder.”
criticism—formalism-structuralism and poststructuralism—
the twentieth century,
“formalism” or “new criticism.”
Certainly, one does not have to deny either the historicity or the theological significance of the Scriptures to recognize that they are filled with many of the artistic devices of great works of literature.
Rather, they highlight those events that created a growing conflict with the Jewish leaders and ultimately led to his death.
Because the climax of a story usually comes near its end, how these stories culminate helps us determine which elements in them are stressed most.
Characterization
Indeed, John's Gospel uses a greater amount of symbolism and double-entendre (double-meanings) than the other three Gospels.
anōthen. This Greek word can mean “from above” or “again,”
Deliberate Johannine ambiguity illustrates both characterization and symbolism.
This last example of symbolism leads directly to another literary device—foreshadowing.
astrologers! By the end of his Gospel, Matthew makes it clear that Jesus is a king for all peoples (28:16-20) and that “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you [the Jewish leadership] and given to a people [Jesus’ followers from any ethnic background] who will produce its fruit” (21:43).
point of view
Appropriately, the Gospel narrators are omniscient, in this technical sense, although the more theological omniscience of God stands behind them too.
narrative. However much Luke sketches the progress of the Gospel from Jerusalem to the “ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8), he is not rejecting the Jews.
Literary criticism reinforces what we know theologically from the later New Testament writings: the most important aspects of Jesus' life were his death and resurrection.
We noted that formalism began primarily as a method of studying poetry, a form of literature that often seems to have “a life of its own” apart from original authorial intent.
Narrative criticism in modern biblical studies also goes one step beyond older formalism and distinguishes among the real author of a text, the implied author (the image the text discloses of the author apart from external historical information), and the narrator (the personality in the text that actually tells the story).
For example, in Luke's Gospel a good case can be made that while the narratée is merely Theophilus (Luke 1:3), the authorial readers are an entire Christian church (see below, p. 170).
Reading the Gospels as literature can prove quite valuable.
We are more sensitive to what is more central and what is more peripheral in individual stories. We understand how they function to create multiple levels of meaning—
However, these assumptions are not inherent in the method; a well-crafted piece of historical writing also promotes certain ideological concerns in an artistic and aesthetically pleasing way.
Structuralism
Short-lived interest can probably be attributed to two major factors: a highly technical vocabulary and methodology that were tedious to master, combined with little exegetical “payoff” not discernible through other methods.
Deconstruction
Parables have formed the most frequent part of the Gospels used for such deconstruction because the more cryptic forms of literature naturally lend themselves to “polyvalent” (multiple and diverse) readings.
Matthew has five large blocks of discourse material (“sermons”).
In the second, third, and fifth of these, Mark has much shorter blocks of corresponding teaching; in the first and fourth, he has virtually no parallels at all.
One attractive way of outlining Matthew's Gospel is to see each pair of discourse-plus-narrative segments as highlighting a common theme.
To this point in the narrative, Jesus has not experienced significant opposition, though the attitude expressed in 9:34 foreshadows what is to come.
Increasingly, Jesus is sifting his listeners into “outsiders” and “insiders.”
Teacher. Already, it is clear that one of Matthew's distinctive portraits, at least over against Mark, is that Jesus is the consummate Teacher.
Jesus as a new Lawgiver, or as a new Moses more generally.
It must be stressed, however, that Jesus' teaching is considerably different from pure “Law” for Matthew; it is a higher-order “righteousness” (5:20), which brings rest rather than a burden (11:28-30).
Son of David, King, and Royal Messiah. One of the most distinctive titles for Jesus in Matthew is “Son of David.” It occurs nine times, eight of which are unparalleled in any other Gospel.
in Luke four times
