Historical Narrative
J. Brown
Historical Narrative
A. Definition: History told for
theological purposes
B. Goal: Holistic interpretation of
narratives for authorial point
of view
Historical Narrative
C. Dangers in Interpreting Biblical Narrative
(1) Moralizing it: Ignoring the evaluative nature of narrative
(2) Allegorizing it: Giving story details central,
semantic significance
(3) Atomize it: Chopping up the narrative into individual
stories and treating them as unrelated to their contexts
(4) Historicize it: Never moving from the plot of the
story to its meaning
D. Story/Discourse Levels of Narrative
(a) Story: Level of story’s action: plot,
characters, and setting
(b) Discourse: Level of author’s
communication with reader—Includes:
Themes
 Sequence of narrative
 Other rhetorical devices

Repetition
Framing

(inclusio)
Point of View
E. Some Guidelines for Interpreting
Historical Narrative
(1) Analyze the plot and flow of the narrative
(e.g., identify the climactic points of the story)
(2) Note structural and rhetorical and devices used.
e.g. Genesis 2:15; 3:24 inclusio (and irony)
e.g. Acts 10-11 repetition
(3) Pay close attention to what occurs in
dialogue; can provide climactic moments.
e.g. Acts 16:30-31; Mark 4:41
E. Some Guidelines for Interpreting
Historical Narrative
(4) Note particularly what is spoken by the
‘authoritative speakers’ in the narrative.
This provides clear indication of point of
view.
(5) Look for author’s comments (repeated
expressions; summaries, etc.). These signal
point of view more explicitly.
e.g., Acts 5:11; 6:7—Summaries
E. Some Guidelines for Interpreting
Historical Narrative
(5) Using what you’ve observed, identify
significant themes in the narrative.
e.g., Luke/Acts—“repent/repentance”
Matt—fulfillment of OT promise
Genesis—protection of the covenant people
(6) Be sure you are bringing original social
contexts to bear in your interpretation.
F. Narrative as Normative and Theological
• “Worldviews, and the stories which
characterize them, are in principle normative:
that is, they claim to make sense of the whole
of reality” (Wright, NTPG, 41).
• Biblical narrative contributes substantially to a
biblical theology. We must take seriously the
witness of narrative books of the Bible in our
theological construction.