Matthew

Warren Carter

Description

For ten years, the well-received first edition of this introduction offered readers a way to look at scriptural texts that combines historical, narrative, and contemporary interests. Carter explores Matthew by approaching it from the perspective of the "authorial audience"--by identifying with and reading along with the audience imagined by the author. Now an updated second edition is available as part of a series focusing on each of the gospel writers as storyteller, interpreter, and evangelist.This edition preserves the essential identity of the original material, while adding new insights from Carter's more recent readings of Matthew's gospel in relation to the Roman Imperial world.Four of the seventeen chapters have been significantly revised, and most have had minor changes. There are also new endnotes directing readers to Carter's more recent published work on Matthew. Scholars and pastors will use the full bibliography and appendix on redaction and narrative approaches, while lay readers will appreciate the clear and straightforward text.

Sujets

• Lettres et linguistique

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 février 1968
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441237187
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

© 2004 by Warren Carter
Published by Baker Academic a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-4412-3718-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Except where otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Cover Art: Makoto Fujimura. “Fire and the Rose Are One.” Mineral pigments on Kumohada paper over canvas. From the collection of Howard and Roberta Ahmanson. Photograph by Ed Gorn. Used with permission.
“Fire and the Rose are One” is one of a series of paintings by Makoto Fujimura based on verses from T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets . The title of Fujimura’s work comes from the following passage from “Little Gidding”:
And all shall be well and All manner of thing shall be well When the tongues of flame are in-folded Into the crowned knot of fire And the fire and the rose are one.
For Emma and Rebekah, two of the “little ones” (Matt 18:1–14)
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Preface to the Revised Edition
Preface to the First Edition
Abbreviations
Chapter 1: Understanding Matthew’s Gospel
Joining the Authorial Audience
Joining Matthew’s Authorial Audience
Part One: Before Reading
Part Two: Reading Matthew
Part Three: After Reading
Part One: Before Reading
Chapter 2: A Cross-Cultural Step
External References
Internal Evidence
Where Was the Gospel Written?
When Was the Gospel Written?
Why the Name “Matthew”?
Conclusion
Chapter 3: Recognizing the Gospel’s Genre
An Eyewitness Account of Jesus’ Life?
The Gospels as Theological Documents
The Gospel as Ancient Biography
Conclusion
Chapter 4: The Audience’s Religious Traditions
Matthew and Mark
Matthew’s Use of Q
Matthew’s Use of M
Conclusion
Chapter 5: The Audience’s Social and Religious Experiences: Part 1
A Minority Community
A Community Recently Separated from a Synagogue
Issues Involved in the Recent Bitter Separation
Conclusion
Chapter 6: The Audience’s Social and Religious Experiences: Part 2
A Community in Transition, Building a New Identity
An Alternative Community on the Cultural Margins of Society
Conclusion
Chapter 7: Competent to Read: Utilizing Narrative Conventions
Recognizing the Author’s Conventions
The Audience and Gaps in the Text
Conclusion
Part Two: Reading Matthew
Chapter 8: The Audience and God’s Point of View
Uspensky’s Five Aspects of Point of View
Matthew 1:1–17: Establishing God’s Point of View
Matthew 1:18–25: God’s Initiative and Jesus’ Mission
Matthew 2:1–12: Responses to God’s Initiative
Matthew 2:13–23: God’s Active Presence
Matthew 3:1–17: God’s Point of View Is Transferred to Jesus
Conclusion
Chapter 9: Maintaining God’s Point of View
God’s Point of View
God’s Point of View and Satan
The Devil Made Me Do It? “The Things of Human Beings”
Conclusion
Chapter 10: Shaping Matthew’s Plot
B. W. Bacon’s Pentateuchal Theory
J. D. Kingsbury: Repeated Formula
Attention to the Plot
Chapter 11: Matthew’s Plot: Kernels and Satellites
The First Narrative Block (1:1–4:16)
The Second Narrative Block (4:17–11:1)
The Third Narrative Block (11:2–16:20)
The Fourth Narrative Block (16:21–20:34)
The Fifth Narrative Block (21:1–27:66)
The Sixth Narrative Block (28:1–20)
Affective Impact
Chapter 12: Settings in Matthew’s Gospel
Galilee of the Gentiles: The First Four Narrative Blocks
Jerusalem
Jerusalem and Galilee in the Sixth Narrative Block (28:1–20)
Heaven and Earth
Temporal Settings
Chapter 13: Characters: Jesus Agent of God’s Saving Presence
Construction of Characters
Names of Address for Jesus
Actions and Words
Comparison (“Synkrisis”)
Disclosure
Conclusion
Chapter 14: Characters: Jesus Crucified and Risen
Jesus’ Death: The Work of His Opponents
Jesus’ Death: God’s Will
Jesus’ Death as Self-Giving
Jesus’ Death as a Model for Discipleship
Jesus’ Death Accomplished for Others
Jesus’ Death to Save from Sin
Jesus’ Death Uniting Jews and Gentiles as the People of God
Jesus’ Death and Resurrection as the Beginning of the New Age
Summary of Traits
Chapter 15: Characters: The Authorities Opponents of God’s Will
The Jerusalem Leaders
What to Call Them?
The Authorities: Opponents of God’s Action in Jesus
The Third Narrative Block (11:2–16:20)
The Fourth (16:21–20:34) and Fifth (21:1–27:66) Narrative Blocks
Conclusion
Chapter 16: Characters: The Disciples
The Other Disciples
The Disciples
The Second Narrative Block (4:17–11:1): Disciples Called and Instructed
The Third Narrative Block (11:2–16:20): The Disciples as Recipients of Revelation, Their Struggle, and Contrasts with the Authorities
The Fourth Narrative Block (16:21–20:34): The Disciples Struggle with the Way of the Cross
The Fifth Narrative Block (21:1–27:66): The Disciples’ Failure
The Sixth Narrative Block (28:1–20): Restoration and Commissioning
The Identity and Lifestyle of Disciples
Part Three: After Reading
Chapter 17: Conclusion: The Content of Matthew’s Gospel
The Identity and Lifestyle of Matthew’s Audience
Matthew and Contemporary Religious Experience
Understanding Matthew’s Gospel
Appendix: Redaction and Narrative Approaches
Redaction Criticism
Limitations of Redaction Criticism
Audience-Oriented Criticism
Who Is the Audience?
Bibliography
Index of Modern Authors
Index of Ancient Sources
Notes
Back Cover
Preface to the Revised Edition
The welcome publication of companion volumes on Mark, Luke, and John has provided an opportunity to revise this volume on Matthew. To be honest, Dr. James Ernest’s invitation has been a mixed blessing. On the one hand, since I wrote this manuscript in 1994–1995, the literary theory that I employ has become more outdated, and my understandings of Matthew have grown significantly. Influenced by the work of Gerhard Lenski on agrarian empires ( Power and Privilege: A Theory of Social Stratification [Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984] 189–296) and by work from various classical scholars on the Roman Empire, I have come to understand Matthew’s gospel as a work significantly shaped by and engaged with the Roman imperial world. The invitation to revise has presented the opportunity to incorporate a few of the exciting new insights that arise from reading Matthew in relation to the Roman imperial world.
On the other hand, I have explored some of these insights in both a full-length commentary on Matthew ( Matthew and the Margins: A Sociopolitical and Religious Reading [Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2000]) and in a collection of essays ( Matthew and Empire: Initial Explorations [Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 2001]). Hence I did not want to duplicate that material here and obscure the contribution of this book. Originally planned to demonstrate a way of reading a scriptural text that combines historical, narrative, and contemporary interests, the first edition has been well received. Matthean scholar David Garland, for example, was gracious enough to call it “the best introduction to Matthew currently available” (Online review, Review of Biblical Literature , 1998). Who would want to mess with that?
So resisting the temptation to do a total rewrite and keen to keep that which has proven to be of some value, I have tried to steer a middle course that has added a little flavor from my recent work, while preserving much of the historical and narrative interests of the first edition. The most significant revisions are found in chapters 5–6, 12, and 15, although most chapters have some minor changes. In some of the endnotes I have added references to my more recent work for those who want to explore further connections between Matthew and the Roman imperial world.
I wish to thank Dr. James Ernest of Hendrickson Publishers for offering the opportunity of a revised edition, and Shirley Decker-Lucke for her fine editorial work. I also wish to express my appreciation to my student assistant, Lee Franklin, for her excellent work on this and numerous other projects.

Warren Carter
Preface to the First Edition
The Gospel of Matthew has been the object of the church’s reflection for nearly two thousand years. Through the centuries, this gospel has guided everyday life (the Sermon on the Mount, Matt 5–7), shaped liturgy (the Lord’s Prayer, 6:9–13; the Eucharist, 26:26–29), and formed ecclesial practices (Peter the “rock” as the basis of the papacy, 16:18–19; discipline, Matt 18:15–20; monastic traditions, 19:10–12). Matthew has informed how people understand God and Jesus (the virgin birth, 1:18–25; the Trinity, 28:19–20) and shaped how people of different faith traditions regard each other (the negative treatment of Jewish religious leaders, 6:1–8; 23:1–29). Matthew’s gospel has inspired the church to missionary work (25:31–46; 28:18–20) and offered a vision of a life infused by the presence of Emmanuel, which means “God with us” (1:23). An encounter with this document can form a personal or group identity and shape a lifestyle.
The rich, diverse, and, at times, tragic history of the interpretation of Matthew is a reminder of what is at stake in seeking to understand his gospel. It cautions us against excessive haste, presumption, or certainty in the task of interpretation. The books about Matthew on my bookshelves constantly remind me of the