New Literary Criticism and Jesus Research

Since the term was once applied to what is now known as source the term literary is generally employed to classify those varied approaches to biblical materials that, since the last third of the twentieth century, and especially but not solely in the United States, focus on their literary aspects. After a sketch of some roots of new literary criticism in New Testament studies, this chapter briefly characterizes two of its strongest branches: narrative criticism and reader-response criticism, before considering directly the impact of new literary criticism in the field of Jesus research. The chapter closes with the posing of several questions for discussion between these two well-developed and not yet well-connected areas of the study of the New Testament and Christian origins: new literary criticism and Jesus research. Keywords:biblical literary criticism; Jesus research; Narrative Criticism; new literary criticism; New Testament; Reader-Response Criticism