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The Unnamed Woman at Bethany
"Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 'a woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head, as he sat at table.8 But when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste?9 For this might have been sold for much and given to the poor.10 But Jesus, knowing this, said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For-she has done a beautiful thing to me.11 For you always have the poor with you; but me you will not always have.12 In pouring this ointment on my body she has done it to prepare me for burial.13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her" (Matt. 26: 6-13. Material unique to Matthew is underlined.)
THIS story of the anointing of Jesus by an unnamed woman in the city of Bethany marks a crucial turning point in the Matthean passion narrative. That narrative begins in chapter 21 with Jesus' entry into Jerusalem: "And when he entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, 'Who is this?' " (21:10). With that question, Matthew reiterates the theme of the entire Gospel, which is constructed to answer the question concerning Jesus' identity.1
I
Throughout the Gospel, Matthew emphasizes the ambiguity inherent in Jesus' identity. In the early chapters (1:1-4:16), Matthew describes Jesus in highly stylized fashion, avoiding all techniques of verisimilitude
Ronald F. Thiemann is John Lord O'Brian Professor of Divinity and Dean of The Harvard Divinity School. He has written Revelation and Theology: The Gospel as Narrated Promise (1985). THEOLOGY TODAY published his contribution to a recent Barth Symposium in our October 1986 issue.
1I will use the name Matthew to refer to the author or final redactor of the Gospel. I am assuming that the redactor worked from various source materials, including the Gospel of Mark, and then reshaped those materials into a distinctive literary and theological document. When I use the word "author," the word should not be taken as referring to any specific historical person or community. Rather, I mean it in the sense of the "implied author," the "creating person who is implied by the totality of a given work when it is offered to the world." Wayne Booth, Critical Understanding (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1979), p. 269. For a further discussion of the term, see Wayne Booth, The Rhetoric of Fiction (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1983), esp. pp. 71-76.
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in order to identify Jesus with the figure, Son of God, the one who will "save his people from their sins" (1:21).2 Throughout the large midsection of the Gospel, Jesus begins to emerge as an agent in his own right, but precisely as he does his relation to God's intentions becomes unclear. Matthew signals this ambiguity by pointing to the wide range of responses to Jesus' teaching and healing ministry.
The author skillfully manipulates the reactions of the Jewish leaders,3 the crowds, and the disciples. The crowds marvel at Jesus and identify him as healer, teacher, the carpenter's son, and one who has authority, but never as Son of God. The identification of Jesus with God's saving mission is made by only a few marginal characters in the Gospel narrative: a leper (8:2), a Roman centurion (8:10), the Gadarene demoniacs (8:29), a paralytic (9:2), a hemorrhaging woman (15:28), and the centurion at the foot of the cross (27:54).
The disciples play a particularly ambiguous role in Matthew's story. Though they respond to Jesus' invitation to follow, they are constantly confused about the nature of Jesus' mission and their own discipleship. On four different occasions, Jesus characterizes them as "men of little faith" (oligopistoi). Matthew's literary skill is illustrated by the way in which he places these accounts of the disciples' faithlessness into a broader narrative context. Two of these stories (8:23-27 and 14:22-23) take place "on the sea." In both cases, Jesus and the disciples, pressed in by the crowds, set out for "the other side."4 While in transition on the sea, storms arise, the disciples' faith is tested, Jesus chides them for their doubts, and the storms are stilled.
In the first story, the disciples' response is akin to that of the crowds: "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?" (8:27). The disciples, like the scribe and the disciple in the vignettes immediately preceding this story, reveal their false understanding of Jesus' mission and call. By contrast, the Gadarene demoniacs, in the story immediately following, "coming out of the tombs" (8:28), recognize Jesus as "Son of God" (8:29). Even those foreigners possessed by
2For a more detailed account of this section of the Gospel, see my Revelation and Theology: The Gospel as Narrated Promise (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame, 1985), pp. 115-18.
3These passages in which Matthew describes the Jewish leaders' rejection of Jesus have been the source for much Christian anti-Judaism and must be interpreted with extreme caution. See Charlotte Klein, Anti-Judaism in Christian Theology (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977). Matthew's Gospel is written at a time when Christianity was an emergent Jewish sect, contending with other elements in Judaism as rival claimants to the authentic Jewish tradition. The polemic within Matthew cannot be transferred to a situation in which Christianity has become a clearly distinct and numerically dominant religious tradition. For two studies of the problem of the anti-Judaism in Matthew, see Lloyd Gaston, "The Messiah of Israel as Teacher of the Gentiles: The Setting of Matthew's Christology," Interpreting the Gospels, ed. James Luther Mays (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1981) and George W.E. Nickelsburg, "Good News/Bad News: The Messiah and God's Fractured Community," Currents in Theology and Mission 4 (December, 1977) 6, pp. 324-32.
4In chapter 8, the destination is "the country of the Gadarenes"; in chapter 14 they cross over "to land at Gennesaret."
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demons identify Jesus more easily than those who are his constant companions. In the second story, the disciples' response to Jesus and the storm is more ambiguous. Peter first seeks to join Jesus on the water, but then "seeing the wind" he begins to sink. He is rebuked as oligopistis, but the disciples "in the boat worshiped him, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God' " (14:33). At the landing, those at Gennesaret recognize Jesus and seek to "only touch the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well" (14:36).5
The theme of the disciples' confused and insufficient faith continues throughout those stories leading to the passion narrative. Peter's little faith is contrasted to the "great faith" of the Cannanite woman in 15:28. Jesus characterizes the disciples once more as oligopistoi (16:8) immediately prior to Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi. Even that bold recognition of Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the living God" (16:16) is swiftly undercut by Peter's faithless refusal to recognize that Jesus' Sonship entails that he be "killed, and on the third day be raised" (16:21). For that sudden reversal, the "blessed" (16:17) Peter becomes "Satan" (16:23), the adversary who would tempt Jesus to a false view of Sonship.
II
This unflattering depiction of the disciples becomes even more pronounced in Matthew's account of the events surrounding Jesus' passion and crucifixion. The twelve function primarily to disrupt rather than enhance Jesus' mission.6 They fall asleep in Gethsemane; one of them betrays him; another denies he even knows him; all of them forsake him and flee at the moment of his arrest. None of them is numbered among those who witness the crucifixion. By contrast, the women disciples remain the silent followers of the crucified Messiah. They are the only witnesses to the crucifixion. Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" go along to the sepulchre, hear the announcement of the angel, and then become the first witnesses of the risen Christ. Matthew describes their unequivocal reaction to Jesus' appearance: "And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him" (28:9).7
The female followers of Jesus play a more prominent role in Matthew's Gospel than is usually recognized.8 Indeed, it can be argued that the women alone function as disciples within the passion narrative,
5This phrase clearly alludes to the earlier story of the hemorrhaging woman who touches "the fringe of his garment" and is healed (9:18-22).
6Matthew's characteristic expression for those disciples who accompanied Jesus on his ministry is "the twelve disciples." He uses "the twelve" as a technical nominative construction only three times (10:5, 26:14, 26:47). The references in chapter 26 are both to Judas, "one of the twelve."
7Note the contrast with the disciples' reaction to Jesus: "And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted" (28:17).
8The only thorough analysis of the role of women in Matthew is Janice Capel Anderson, "Matthew: Gender and Reading," The Bible and Feminist Hermeneutics, Semeia 28, pp. 3-27.
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thus effectively replacing the twelve as the faithful followers of Jesus.9 As the Gospel narrative develops, there is a subtle but decisive shift in the notion of "discipleship." Precisely as Jesus' role as Son of God is progressively defined through his suffering and death, so also the disciple becomes defined as that faithful follower who identifies with Jesus' ministry and mission. This development is signalled most clearly in a crucial passage in chapter 16.
Immediately following the condemnation of Peter for his refusal to accept Jesus' destiny as crucified Messiah, Jesus clarifies the true meaning of "following":
Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow (akoloutheito) me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (16:24-25).
Discipleship and "following" are closely connected throughout the Gospel of Matthew. In each of the call narratives (4:18-22 and 9:9), the mark of discipleship is the willingness of Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew to follow. Though Matthew uses the term "disciple" (mathetes) to refer to the class of those persons who accompany Jesus during his ministry, the term remains systematically ambiguous. The central section of the Gospel is designed to display the correlative ambiguity between the identity of Jesus and the identity of those who follow. The true followers, that is, the authentic disciples, are those who recognize that Jesus' mission leads to crucifixion and embark on a journey that may lead to the loss of their own lives for his sake. Within the passion narrative, only Joseph of Arimathea and the women can be identified as authentic disciples.10
III
In light of this striking role reversal, the story of Jesus' anointing by the unnamed woman at Bethany becomes exceedingly important. This story provides the initial frame within which the events of the passion, crucifixion, and resurrection are narrated. The final frame is provided
9Norman Perrin, The Resurrection According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977), pp. 29-31, makes a similar suggestion with regard to the Gospel of Mark. Jack Dean Kingsbury, "The Verb Akolouthein as an Index of Matthew's View of His Community," Journal of Biblical Literature 97 (1978), argues, however, that the women in Matthew's Gospel are not disciples "in the strict sense." The women and other supplicants are never designated "disciples" (mathethes) but are rather described as those who "follow" (akolouthein) or "minister to" (diakonethenai) Jesus. Akolouthein, Kingsbury argues, can be used metaphorically to indicate discipleship only when Jesus speaks, summoning persons to a "personal commitment" which entails the "cost" of self-sacrifice (p. 58). Janet Capel Anderson, op. cit., pp. 18-21, agrees with Kingsbury's assessment. "Although the women play an important part in the narrative, gender seems to prevent their identification as disciples. They are an auxiliary group which can conveniently stand in for the disciples" (p. 20).
10The women who witness the crucifixion (27:55-56) are identified as the ones "who had followed Jesus" (ekolouthesan Iesou).
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by the Gospel's concluding narrative, the story of Jesus' command to the eleven to "make disciples of all nations" (28:16-20).
Because Matthew depends upon Mark in his telling of the anointing story, historical critical scholars have tended to overlook important details in Matthew's redactional reshaping of the Markan narrative.11 Matthew, who in other portions of his Gospel is a skillful realistic narrator, omits some of the detail which gives the Markan story its history-like qualities. He mentions neither the breaking of the flask nor the cost of the ointment (300 denarii; Mark 14:5).12 The story is thus similar to the tales of the opening section of the Gospel (1:1-4:16), narratives which are notable for the absence of versimilitude.13 By foregoing realistic detail, Matthew is able to highlight an important structural element within the story. In the early narratives, Matthew uses this technique to emphasize the significance of the title "Son of God." In the anointing narrative, he is able to focus upon the emblematic act of discipleship this woman performs.
Matthew also gives a more prominent role to the disciples, stressing their indignant response to the woman. Mark does not mention the disciples, but simply says "there were some who said to themselves indignantly..." (14:4). Clearly, Matthew wants to draw attention to the disciples' failure to grasp the significance of the woman's act. Once again, the disciples' lack of recognition is contrasted to a woman's insight into the true nature of Jesus' mission. "In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial" (26:12). Matthew elaborates upon Mark's much simpler "she has anointed my body beforehand for burial" (14:8) in order to point to the symbolic significance of this act. Not only does the woman recognize that Jesus' mission requires him to face death; she also tacitly acknowledges in concert with the other women of the Gospel that he will "on the third day be raised" (16:2 1). Matthew alone among the evangelists has the women approach the tomb without bearing spices (28:1), for Jesus has already been prepared for burial by this unnamed woman.
Finally, Matthew reshapes Mark's saying about the poor. In Mark, the passage reads, "For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but me you will not always have with you" (14:7). Matthew's version sharpens the contrast between Jesus and the poor. "For you always have the poor with you, but me you
11Robert Holst, "The One Anointing of Jesus: Another Application of the Form-Critical Method," Journal of Biblical Literature 95 (1976) 3, pp. 435-56, makes only two passing references to distinctive Matthean emphases in the anointing narrative in his otherwise thorough analysis of this narrative. Even Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, in her pathbreaking discussion, In Memory of Her (New York: Crossroads, 1986), fails to note Matthew's peculiar treatment of the story.
12Interestingly, Matthew alone mentions "the thirty pieces of silver" (26:15) in the story of betrayal immediately following.
13For a more complete analysis of these stories, see Revelation and Theology, pp. 115-18.
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do not always have" (26:11).14 What are we to make of this passage? Does it, particularly when combined with the earlier reference to the "poor in spirit" (5:3), indicate a callous disregard for those in poverty? While such an interpretation is surely possible, I do not think that such disregard is the focus of this text. Indeed, Matthew reconstructs this saying in order to direct the reader's attention to the contrast between "you always have" and "you do not always have." Matthew eliminates Mark's reference to care for the poor for the same reason that he eliminates mention of the broken flask and 300 denarii, namely, in order to focus attention solely upon the interlocked identities of Jesus and this quintessentially faithful disciple. The chiasmic structure of the saying allows Matthew to emphasize the question of Jesus' impending absence in language that anticipates the final verse of the Gospel, "and lo, I am with you always" (28:20).
IV
"Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her." The word gospel appears only four times in Matthew. The first two times it appears in the formulaic phrase "the gospel of the kingdom" (4:23, 9:35). Matthew does not use the word gospel again until chapter 24 when, shortly before the passion narrative, Jesus warns of the signs which will accompany "the close of the age" (24:3). "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come" (24:14).15 The final use of gospel comes in this enigmatic story of Jesus' anointing. In both these final references, Matthew modifies the word gospel with the demonstrative this.
These broadly separated uses of the word gospel capture the progression inherent in Matthew's story. In that section of the narrative in which Jesus' identity remains ambiguous, gospel refers to the message which he preaches and enacts in his teaching and healing ministry (4:23, 9:35). It refers as well to the message the disciples proclaim when they are given "authority ... to heal every disease and every infirmity" (10:1). In none of these cases is the content of the gospel specified; it is simply the "gospel of the kingdom." In the final section of the story, however, as the true identities of Jesus and his authentic disciples emerge, the content of the gospel is more clearly specified. This
14Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza has made much of Mark's inclusion of the phrase "whenever you will, you can do good to them." "Thus in remembering that a nameless woman prophet has anointed Jesus as the messianic inaugurator of the basileia, the community also remembers that the God of Jesus is on the side of the poor and that God's future, the basileia, belongs to the poor" (p. 153). This interpretation is less plausible on the basis of the Matthean text. But see footnote 16.
15Interestingly, the word gospel in both chapters 24 and 26 appears in immediate proximity to the only two uses of the word "betrayal" in Matthew. "And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another" (24:10). The story of Judas' betrayal follows immediately upon the story of the anointing.
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gospel is that good news to be "preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations" and which when "preached in the whole world ... will be told in memory of her." This memorial is accomplished when the story of Jesus, this gospel narrative, is told in the whole world. When the narrative which identifies Jesus as the crucified messiah is proclaimed as good news to all nations, this woman, whose act inaugurates Jesus' passion, will be forever remembered, for by her act she identifies herself as a true disciple of the crucified and resurrected Jesus.
V
Matthew brings his narrative to a close with a story (28:16-20) that reiterates many of the central themes of the Gospel.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (cf. 24:14) baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always (cf. 26:11), to the close of the age (cf. 24:3).16
Matthew introduces this final story by reminding his readers that the fellowship of the disciples has been reduced in number. Only eleven of those originally called to follow still remain, and some of them continue to doubt. In addition, some not originally numbered among the twelve have taken on the responsibilities of discipleship, particularly the women and Joseph of Arimathea. Discipleship is no longer limited to the twelve; indeed, some of them have forfeited their right to that designation. Rather, those who recognize Jesus as the crucified and resurrected messiah and take up the responsibilities of following are the true disciples. And those disciples can be found among "all nations." The discerning reader will recognize that the model for such discipleship is to be found in the unnamed woman and those who follow her example.
The unnamed woman thus plays a crucial role in Matthew's narrative strategy of opening the category of "disciple" to those who were not originally among the twelve. While the twelve are not entirely eliminated from discipleship, it is clear by the end of the story that they no longer define the category. Disciples are those who recognize Jesus as
16This final story is replete with references and allusions which point back to the "this gospel" passages of chapters 24 and 26. One of the most striking, but least noticed, allusions is to the "have with you/not have with you" contrast of 26:11. In this concluding scene, the one who contrasted his own impending absence to the presence of the poor now pledges, "I am with you always, to the close of the age." I am tempted to argue that the text allows us to connect chapters 26 and 28 through a dialectic play between absence and presence. The "absent" Jesus ("me you will not always have") now promises his "presence" ("lo, I am with you always") precisely in the continuing "presence" of the poor ("the poor you will always have with you"). Matthew is certainly a sufficiently skillful author/redactor to make such a subtle connection, but the textual evidence in support of this interpretation is slim. While I am attracted to the interpretation, it remains a speculation.
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crucified and risen messiah, who undertake to follow the way of the cross, and who seek to "make disciples of all nations." The opening of discipleship to the "nations" marks a radical shift in the role of the nations within Matthew's Gospel. In chapter 24, the "nations" are those whose warfare will indicate the "sign ... of the close of the age" (24:3). "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake" (24:9). At the end of the Gospel, however, those same "nations" are now candidates for discipleship, and the "close of the age" will be marked by Jesus' continuing presence. This shift in the references to the nations is occasioned by Matthew's depiction of the uncertain role of the twelve, particularly during the events of the passion. The extension of discipleship to the nations is anticipated by the opening genealogy in which the three women mentioned (Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth) are all "outsiders" who have been grafted on to the tree of Israel. The women function throughout the narrative to point toward the broader scope which "this gospel" of Jesus will have. And the unnamed woman at Bethany functions symbolically to signal the expansion of the category of discipleship, precisely as she inaugurates Jesus' passion.
This final story of Matthew's Gospel functions to open the world of the text to that of the reader. Matthew creates "narrative space" for his readers within the gospel story through his reference to "the eleven."17 The reader is reminded that the number of the original disciples has been diminished, and that new "followers" have taken their place on the mountain. Matthew devises no final vignette to provide narrative closure for the Gospel; nor does he introduce the explicit voice of the narrator. Rather, he allows Jesus to provide the final words through a statement of direct address. It is as if in this final episode Jesus directs his gaze for the first time outside the frame of the story and addresses his words directly to the reading audience. The language of this final passage resonates with earlier themes to open the possibility of discipleship to those who read this narrative. Thus the reader is urged to respond to this invitation by entering the world of the text and joining with those on the mountain who worship Jesus. In so doing, they will be following the example of that unnamed woman whose act of discipleship is remembered whenever "this gospel is preached in the whole world."
VI
The hermeneutical approach exemplified in this rather lengthy exegetical exercise is aptly described as "literary-theological." The
17Matthew's procedure here bears striking resemblance to the technique of Matthias von Grünewald in his depiction of the crucifixion on the centerpiece of the Isenheim Altar. In that painting, Grünewald uses the asymmetrical arrangement of the figures at the foot of the cross in combination with the figure of John the Baptist to break the narrative frame of the painting and extend the depiction into the world of the viewer. For a more extended account of this comparison, see Revelation and Theology, pp. 141-43.
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method seeks to identify intricate patterns of narration, characterization, and linguistic allusion within the text in order to describe the broad theological themes within the Gospel story. This approach takes seriously the literary integrity of the final text but acknowledges as well the multiple sources and strands of tradition identified by historical-critical scholarship. In that regard, it bears a close relation to redactional criticism, although it tends to grant a greater degree of literary creativity to the final redactor. In contrast to much historical biblical scholarship (including most redactional criticism), a literary-theological approach has as its primary goal not the identification of a specific historical context for an individual story or saying but the redescription of the broad literary and theological themes running throughout the Gospel. Consequently, it attends primarily to the development of plot and character and to various techniques of repetition used within the narrative. By attending to both the microscopic and macroscopic aspects of a text, this approach can help us to draw nearer to the goal of stating clear textual warrants for our use of biblical themes within theology.18 Precisely in discovering the literary art of the biblical narrative, the interpreter begins to approach the elusive goal of discerning rational controls for the theological interpretation of ancient texts.
Not only does this approach presuppose certain aspects of historical scholarship, it can also make a contribution to historical criticism by highlighting issues that might not emerge as clearly in an exegetical method than attends primarily to the individual literary unit. I have argued that the theological message of the Gospel of Matthew concerning discipleship cannot be rightly interpreted without careful attention to the role played by women throughout the narrative. The interlocking themes of the faithlessness of the twelve and the faithfulness of the women is developed with such consistency within the Gospel that it raises the important historical question of whether there is a strand of tradition used by the final redactor which highlighted the role of women and questioned or even rejected the place of the twelve within the company of post-resurrection disciples. I do not purport to have an answer to that question, but I am convinced that this literary-theological method allows that issue to be raised with some clarity.
Finally, my hermeneutical approach assumes that various themes within the biblical narratives can be relevant to contemporary Christian life and theology. The appropriation of those themes will always involve
18Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative (New York: Basic Books, 1981), has pioneered the use of this method. His comment about this method's precision is worth quoting: "Attention to such [literary] features leads not to a more 'imaginative' reading of biblical narrative but to a more precise one; and since all these features are linked to discernible details in the ... text, the literary approach is actually a good deal less conjectural than the historical scholarship that asks of a verse whether it contains possible Akkadian loanwords, whether it reflect Sumerian kinship practices, whether it may have been corrupted by scribal error" (p. 21).
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an act of critical and imaginative discernment.19 Texts are inherently ambiguous and open to multiple readings. The narratives of the Bible are particularly susceptible to variable interpretations because of their peculiar literary qualities.20 The relevance of a particular biblical theme for contemporary Christian life will depend in part upon the imaginative power of the interpretation and on the context within which that reading is offered. But such contextual factors do not condemn us to a dark hermeneutical night in which all interpretations are gray. Christian communities must still struggle to evaluate rival readings of the biblical texts and seek to determine which readings best illumine our diverse world of experience. In struggling with that ambiguity, we are simply repeating the experience of every generation that has sought to respond to Jesus' call to discipleship. As we continue that struggle, we can be sustained by the confidence that the one we seek to follow has promised to be with us "to the close of the age."
19I have been influenced on this topic by David Kelsey, The Uses of Scripture in Recent Theology (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1975), and Charles Wood, The Formation of Christian Understanding (Philadelphia: Westminister, 198 1) and Vision and Discernment (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985). For my criticisms of Kelsey and Wood, see Revelation and Theology, pp. 56-70. For my own account of the critical imagination, see "Revelation and Imaginative Construction," The Journal of Religion 61 (July, 1981) 3, pp. 242-63, and "Toward a Critical Theological Education," Harvard Theological Review 80 (January, 1987) 1.
20Erich Auerbach, Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953), has, of course, argued that the narratives of Hebrew Scripture are "mysterious and 'fraught with background"' (p. 12). Characters' thoughts and feelings are rarely expressed and thus remain layered and entangled. The narratives' meaning remains latent within the depiction and demands from the reader an act of interpretation. Frank Kermode, The Genesis of Secrecy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1979), has developed that observation into a theory of narrativity that suggests that all narratives are inherently obscure, "hopelessly plural, endlessly disappointing" (p. 145). While I find Auerbach's observation accurate, I am not convinced by Kermode's attempt to develop a theory of "narrative obscurity." For further reflections on this theme, see Ronald F. Thiemann, "Radiance and Obscurity in Biblical Narrative," Scriptural Authority and Narrative Interpretation (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987).