Narrative Dynamics in Paul: A Critical Assessment

Narrative Dynamics in Paul: A Critical Assessment. Edited by Bruce W. Longenecker. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002, vi + 253 pp., $24.95 paper.

The ubiquity of the use of "narrative" in theology and in the specifically narrative portions of the Bible has resulted in the appropriation of narrative analysis for Pauline studies. The impetus of this approach to Paul goes back to the (recently reprinted) 1983 monograph by Richard Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ: An Investigation into the Narrative Substructure of Galatians 3:1-4:11. Since Hays's work, however, relatively little has been done to advance the discussion. While a number of scholars have attempted to cast their work in a narrative frame, there has been a surprising lack of discussion concerning method of the same caliber as that of Hays, and quite often works which purport to engage Paul through narrative simply restate older findings using narrative terms (a notable exception is the work of Tom Wright, especially his New Testament and the People of God).

Into the void comes this new work edited by Bruce Longenecker, which contains contributions from twelve British NT scholars. This book is the result of a project in which five individual "stories" within Paul's writings were isolated and assigned to five scholars in order to analyze how Paul utilized these stories within two of his letters, Galatians and Romans. These five essays were then critiqued by five other scholars and a discussion was held in the autumn of 2001. Present at this consultation and responding to the project as a whole were James Dunn and Francis Watson. The five scholars who wrote the initial essays are Eddie Adams (the story of God and creation), Bruce Longenecker (the story of Israel), Douglas Campbell (the story of Jesus), John Barclay (the story of Paul), and Andrew Lincoln (the story of predecessor and inheritors). The five respondents arc Barry Matlock (responding to Adams), Morna Hooker (responding to Longenecker), Graham Stanton (responding to Campbell), David Horrell (responding to Barclay), and Howard Marshall (responding to Lincoln).

Among the benefits of the work is the overview by Longenecker, tracing the wider cultural and intellectual trends that have given rise to an interest in narrative analysis of Paul (chap. 1). Also helpful is the fact that the volume is not an attempt to advocate a narrative approach, covering over its more troublesome features, but is rather a critical engagement in order to assess its validity while the approach is in its infancy (p. 11). Because of this, the reader comes away with a sober view of the prospects of a narrative approach to Paul.

Regarding the potential benefit of a narrative approach, a few writers (Longenecker, p. 83; Lincoln, p. 202) mention that this lies mainly in the area of the contemporary appropriation of Pauline texts, especially given the current widespread employment of the category in theology and theological ethics (e.g. the work of Stanley Hauerwas). More prominent at this point is an awareness of the problems with the approach, most of which are methodological. First, there is the problem of defining the level of analysis: Is narrative to be employed as a tool to get "behind the text" in an attempt to uncover the narrative sub-structure of Paul's argumentation? If so, this inevitably becomes a subjective exercise in constructing Paul's inner thoughts when all we have are his letters and the theological arguments which he employed in contingent situations (Adams, p. 42; Matlock, p. 52; Dunn, p. 221). If narrative is employed as a "within the text" tool, analyzing the stories constructed by Paul, it is not entirely clear that this is a gain over previous interpretive methods (Longenecker, p. 83; Lincoln, p. 198). Other problems include the possibility of NT scholars employing outdated or inappropriate models and the problem of how to relate the isolated stories to each other and to one overarching story (i.e. is it appropriate to conceive of one grand story with sub-plots, or of a number of distinct stories which touch at various points?).

Highlights of the volume itself include the interaction between the contributors, which is almost always lively and engaging (the possible exception being Stanton's response to Campbell). An example is the interchange between Barclay and Horrell. Barclay argues that the narrative in Galatians 1-2 is not strictly a defense of his apostleship, but rather a testimony (or, "story") of the grace of God as it is active in his life. In fact, Barclay would go further and claim that this narrative is not merely one that illustrates the grace of God, but rather is itself the grace of God-i.e. the grace of God cannot be known apart from the narratives in which it is actualized.

In his response, Horrell takes Barclay to task for not really engaging a narrative approach, arguing that his work is quite distinct from Hays's attempt to penetrate through Paul's letter to the narrative sub-structure of Paul's theologizing. However, it does appear that Barclay's essay falls within the parameters set out for the project, which include analyzing the substructures of Paul's arguments or narratives found within the letters themselves (Longenecker, pp. 14-15). Not only are both essays excellent and powerful, but they are also instructive for how the discussion over narrative contours in Paul relates fairly directly to the debate between a "salvation-historical" reading of Paul vis-a-vis an "apocalyptic" reading (Barclay being a proponent of the latter, and Horrell reflecting more of the former).