Narrative-patterns in Christian Hagiography

“Et in cothurnis prodit Aesopus nouis:” On the Interaction between Ancient Fable and Literary Genres

There are more fables embedded into the gospels than perhaps any other ancient corpus. These texts are seldom engaged with in the study of ancient fables by classicists. This article introduces reading the texts that biblical scholars have traditionally called “parables” as fables. Using a few illustrative examples, I show that these texts are valuable for current scholarly conversations motivating classical research into ancient fables. They offer windows into the adaptation of the fable genre in different cultural contexts and insights into the characterization of fable tellers and their audiences. Embedded into narratives, fables in the gospels offer examples of the genre’s many useful applications: from communicating insider language and subversive speech, to education and forensic rhetoric. This article serves as an introduction and invitation to future work on the fables in the gospels.

Religious Studies Review, 2007

Pp. 332, appendices. $135.00, ISBN 0-567-02592-6. Gmirkin proposes a new theory concerning the date of the composition of the Pentateuch that focuses upon the parallels between the Babylonian mythological materials preserved by the priest Berossus (ca. 278 BCE) and the Genesis stories, and the Egyptian historical and mythological materials preserved by the priest Manetho (ca. 285-80 BCE) and the accounts in Exodus. Because these materials closely accord with the earliest level of the biblical accounts, he proposes that the translation of the Pentateuch into Greek, the Septuagint, in 273-72 BCE in Alexandria was actually the first time that the text was written down as a whole. In presenting this hypothesis, Gmirkin summarizes archeological, epigraphic and literary evidence that would weaken the basis for the documentary hypothesis (or JEPD theory). He proposes that the biblical narratives should be seen in the light of the events of the third century BCE, primarily those of Alexander and his immediate successors.

2015

"Ancient Fiction," published by the "Ancient Fiction and Early Jewish and Christian Narrative Section" at the Society of Biblical Literature, as part of its symposium series, is a collection of fifteen independent papers on Hellenistic, Jewish and Christian narratives in late antiquity. Th e book is divided into three sections. Th e first, "Ancient Graeco-Roman Narrative," is limited, except for one paper on Vergil, to the Greek Novel of late antiquity; the second, "Jewish Narrative," concentrates on Helleno-Jewish compositions written in Greek (3 Maccabees is merited with two separate papers), which the exception of two papers: one on the book of Daniel and the other on the rabbinic composition Seder ʾOlam. Th e papers of the

The Biblical Annals, 2021

Book Review: R. Alan Culpepper – Jörg Frey (eds.), The Opening of John’s Narrative (John 1:19 – 2:22). Historical, Literary, and Theological Readings from the Colloquium Ioanneum 2015 in Ephesus (WUNT 385; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2017)

Retelling the Bible: Literary, Historical, and Social Contexts, 2011

Early Christian lives are a fourth-century phenomenon which later exploded and became immensely productive, as testified by the Acta sanctorum, a titanic collection which is still not finished and which only provides a portion of what was actually produced. In their own way, these lives of saints constitute a retelling of the Bible; sometimes helped by referencing done in an open manner, sometimes merely indicated in a more subtle way. Since the material is so vast, it seems necessary to somehow limit the presentation, to discuss only a pars pro toto. A reliable model of the genre is the Life of Antony, a description of an Egyptian hermit and his epic struggle with temptations on his way to holiness. The choice is rooted in the fact that this narrative “became one of the most influential examples of how to write the Life of a saint for all later hagiographers in Western as well as Eastern Christendom” (Brakke). Retelling the Bible, edited by Lucie Dolezalova and Tamas Visi, presents a collection of case studies of biblical retellings in various contexts. Every section starts with an introduction presenting a brief overview of the field, the issues treated, as well as the nature and directions of contemporary scholarly discourse. After a detailed general introduction defining the Bible itself and the concept of retelling, the notion of Apocrypha is readdressed, particularly analyzing the way they are composed. Then follow the sections Translation and Interpretation from Jerome to the Post-Holocaust period, Preaching and Teaching the Bible in the Middle Ages through the Enlightenment, Biblical Characters as Models in medieval hagiography, Biblical Poetry from Late Antiquity to Bruce Springsteen, and finally the retelling strategies and challenges of Children's Bibles and a brief treatment of retelling Beyond the Text.

The Scriptural Tale in the Fourth Gospel, 2017

Religion, 2007

The Oedipus myth and a scapegoat pattern have been central issues in both Walter Burkert's and ReneǴ irard's writings about ancient Greek religion. This article proposes the existence of a comparable pattern in the Old Testament legend about the Ark (1e2 Samuel). Together with other Old Testament narratives (David, Moses) and other ancient Near Eastern legends and rituals, these instances form a transformational network, which shows some fundamental positions in a trans-cultural scapegoat-pattern of actantial positions: king, hero, villain and scapegoat.

The Ancient Novel and Early Christian and Jewish Narratives: Fictional Intersections, ed. by Marília P. Futre Pinheiro, Judith Perkins, Richard Pervo, 2012

This innovative collection explores the vital role played by fictional narratives in Christian and Jewish self-fashioning in the early Roman imperial period. Employing a diversity of approaches, including cultural studies, feminist, philological, and narratological, expert scholars from six countries offer twelve essays on Christian fictions or fictionalized texts and one essay on Aseneth. All the papers were originally presented at the Fourth International Conference on the Ancient Novel in Lisbon Portugal in 2008. The papers emphasize historical contextualization and comparative methodologies and will appeal to all those interested in early Christianity, the Ancient novel, Roman imperial history, feminist studies, and canonization processes.

2015