2 New Testament Genres and Audience Expectations

In the last chapter we saw that we have the right words in the New Testament. We may consider having the right words as only analogous to looking at a picture of a map. We can tell we are looking at a map but are unsure what to make of it. Is it a map of a real country? Or is it a map of a place from a fictional story, such as Narnia or Middle-earth? What kind of map is it? The genre of the map informs us as to how to understand it. Similarly, while we can be confident that the claims we have are those made by the original authors, how are we to understand these words? Here again, it is the genre that informs us.

We can begin to understand this element by considering different genres. If, for example, we are watching a historical documentary about the events of World War II, then we know that the intention was to present accurate descriptions of the past that involved real people, real places, and real events. By contrast, if we know that we are watching Star Wars, then we know we are watching a fictional movie filled with fictional people, locations, and events. In short, “one listens to the TV News with different expectations than to a fairy story.”

Different genres create different expectations due to the different intentions of the creator. Some are seeking to inform, others to entertain. Thus, understanding the genre of a work is crucial to proper interpretation. In this chapter I discuss the genre of New Testament writings, focusing primarily on the Gospels. Doing so will help us to know what the original authors intended as well as what their audiences expected.

GOSPELS

What type of writings are the Gospels? While the Gospels were often thought to be biographies, during the 1900s several critics challenged this view. One alternative was that the Gospels were a unique literary work with no precedent. They were sui generis. This view became popular in the mid-twentieth century, and for many, whatever the Gospels were, they were not biographies.

In the 1970s the Society for Biblical Literature started a task force on Gospel genre. During the 1970s and 1980s, this topic was thoroughly analyzed, with arguments for and against the Gospels as biographies (as well as other genre considerations). Then, in the early 1990s, Richard Burridge published What Are the Gospels? A Comparison with Graeco-Roman Biography, which “called for a paradigm shift in gospel studies away from uniqueness to the biographical hypothesis.” Burridge’s work quickly became the definitive work demonstrating that the Gospels do in fact belong to the genre of Greco-Roman biographies. His work was so successful that it was rapidly accepted, and “by the end of the decade most New Testament scholars seemed to view the gospels within the literary context of Graeco-Roman Biography.”

A particularly interesting aspect of Burridge’s project is that it convinced not just other scholars but Burridge himself. He initially set out to critique and challenge those who thought, like Charles Talbert, that the Gospels were biographies. Burridge acknowledges,

I undertook this study initially because . . . I was unimpressed with the arguments put forward by New Testament scholars, especially in America, to demonstrate the biographical genre of the gospels. Therefore a negative result was expected, exposing the biographical hypothesis as untenable. However, as the work has developed, I have become increasingly convinced that . . . it is indeed the right one and that the gospels are part of the genre of ancient βίος [Bios] literature.

As Burridge looked at the evidence, he was convinced that the Gospels were consistent within the genre of ancient biographies, and moreover he highlights the seeming impossibility of any writing being a truly unique genre. After all, if a genre were wholly unique, then nobody would be able to understand the work or know what to make of it because they would not know what the author was intending to communicate. Accordingly, one of the more popular views in the twentieth century regarding the genre of the Gospels was discredited.

The Gospels began to once again to be considered biographies of Jesus. In fact, within a decade or so of Burridge’s publication, the belief that the Gospels were within the Greco-Roman biography genre was again the dominant view. Agnostic/atheist Bart Ehrman is convinced and also argues that the Gospels are within the genre of Greco-Roman biographies. Meanwhile, the late James Dunn, a New Testament scholar, points out that the “biographer’s concern was to portray the chosen subject’s character by narrating his words and deeds. Which is just what we find in the Synoptic (indeed all the canonical) Gospels, though not, it should be noted, in the other Gospels now frequently drawn into the neo-Liberal quest.” The takeaway is that Burridge’s conclusions are accepted by scholars across the theological spectrum. The Gospels are biographies.

Historical implications. That the Gospels are biographies has significant historical implications. Two of these implications need to be highlighted since the genre tells us something about these works. After all, if Burridge’s conclusion was that the Gospels were ancient novels, that would greatly affect our understanding of them. “In contrast to novels,” writes New Testament scholar Craig Keener, “the Gospels do not present themselves as texts composted primarily for entertainment, but as true accounts of Jesus’ ministry.” Thus there was “considerable historical interest” in obtaining, collecting, and presenting the material found in the Gospels.

Since these are biographies, deliberate falsifications or free composition (like that of novelists) were not the normal practice for this genre. Of course, I say not the “normal practice” because, like anything, there are exceptions. The ancient rhetorician Lucian shares a notable account where a historian tried to flatter Alexander the Great by including a fictitious battle in the historical report. What was the historian’s reward for including this fictional account? He was threatened with being tossed into the Hydaspes River for presuming to fight battles for Alexander (Lucian, How to Write History 12)!

Furthermore, the date that these biographies were written, as we will see, was relatively close to the events they report. Burridge points out, “Because this is a Life of a historical person written within the lifetime of his contemporaries, there are limits on free composition.” In other words, while ancient biographies were generally expected to avoid including deliberately false material, this would have been even more the case when the biography was written close to the time of the subject’s life, when people would still have remembered or heard of the events and people involved.

It is worth noting that there are some differences between ancient biographies and modern biographies. While modern biographies often focus on the childhood of their subject, ancient writers did not feel compelled to do so. When it comes to the Gospels, for example, Mark’s Gospel begins with Jesus in adulthood, as could other ancient biographies. Another difference is that ancient biographers had more freedom in how they arranged their material. While some were presented chronologically, others were presented more topically. In more modern biographies, we tend to expect a chronological ordering of life events.

Theological implications. Another difference is that it was acceptable for ancient biographies to be theologically and ethically motivated, an aspect not typically present in biographies today. Dunn notes that one of the “common purposes of ancient bioi were to provide examples for their readers to emulate, to give information about their subject, to preserve his memory, and to defend and promote his reputation.” Thus, ancient biographies allowed the biographer to highlight moral, political, or theological examples for readers to follow. In the case of the Gospels, it is clear that Jesus—the subject of the biography—is the one to follow. Indeed, as Ehrman points out, ancient readers would have recognized the Gospels “as biographies of a religious leader.”

However, given that there are no apparent rabbinic biographies of contemporary Jewish leaders, why is there one for Jesus? In rabbinic material, there are plenty of words and deeds of Jewish leaders, but no biographies. One reason for this is that words and deeds of various rabbis were typically recorded insofar as they helped others to follow the Torah. Thus, the accounts were intended to focus readers on how to better follow the Torah, rather than following an individual.

Another reason is that the Gospel writers appear to be making a christological claim about Jesus. Unlike the rabbis, who sought to reflect the teaching of the Torah in various scenarios, the Gospels set the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as the example to be followed. Burridge offers this helpful summary: “To write a biography is to replace the Torah by putting a human person in the centre of the stage. The literary genre makes a major theological shift which becomes an explicit Christological claim—that Jesus of Nazareth is Torah embodied.” Ultimately, then, the Gospel authors understood historical and theological claims as able to be intertwined.

I offer three takeaway points. First, the Gospels fit comfortably within the genre of ancient Greco-Roman biographies. Second, as biographies, these works had interest in historical events that other genres (e.g., novels) would not have. Third, the Gospels, within the conventions of ancient biography, are also making a christological claim as they seek to inform and persuade readers to follow Jesus.

REMAINING NEW TESTAMENT WRITINGS

Acts. As our focus has primarily been on the Gospels, I will discuss the remaining New Testament writings much more quickly. The genre of Acts has invoked some debate due to its connection and relationship to the Gospel of Luke. Nevertheless, Acts has a focus on historical events that is readily recognizable. Indeed, as Ehrman notes, Luke was intending to “write a history of early Christianity, not a novel.” Keener, who has commented extensively on Acts, similarly identifies it as fitting within ancient historiographical writings. Throughout Acts, readers see the development and unfolding of the early church along with some focus on key figures such as Peter and Paul. The focus on Paul may be in part due to Luke’s relationship with him, as indicated in the “we” passages (e.g., Acts 16:11-15).

Epistles. Following the book of Acts, there are then twenty-one letters. These epistles are significant for believers and historians alike for numerous reasons, but the one relevant for our purposes here is their genre. The New Testament letters were written from believers to other believers and reflect in-house discussions concerning earliest Christianity.

In Jesus and the Logic of History, Paul Barnett points out the value of the genre of the letters:

The letters are a literary vehicle used by Paul to address issues current at the time of writing in the life of a church or churches physically distant from him. . . . Specifically, the letters are not evangelistic tracts, seeking to win adherents or establish churches. . . . Rather, they address already existing assemblies of confessing believers, among whom the primary work of evangelism had already been done.

These comments offer a reminder of how genre affects the audience’s understanding of what is being communicated. The letters originated as a result of various situations within the church. They were thus not seeking to persuade their readers to become Christian; rather, a variety of in-house situations caused these letters to be written.

Within these letters Paul indirectly provides important historical information regarding earliest Christianity, the apostles, and Jesus. He does this with an entirely different set of motivations and intentions from the Gospel writers. “More transparently than any other writings,” writes historian Patrick Gray, “the letters disclose the transcendent hopes as well as the day-to-day realities of the earliest Christians.” Thus, while we saw that the Gospels are biographies that present Jesus as the one to follow, these letters were “written to those who are already persuaded to be Christians.”

In our world we often see leaks of internal letters and memos. They are valuable because they are considered to be genuine comments made while also revealing what is really believed, argued, and advocated. The New Testament letters were certainly not leaks, but they do provide insight into the internal workings of the early church and especially its historical and theological claims.

Revelation. Revelation begins by with the words “The revelation of Jesus Christ” or, in the Greek, Apokalypsis Iēsou Christou. It is a book unlike any other in the New Testament, though not unlike other writings in the ancient world. This work is considered to be within the broad genre of apocalyptic (apokalypsis) writing, and these types of works often included a visionary experience (e.g., a revelation) from an angelic or divine mediator, dualistic notions of good versus evil, various types of symbolism, prophecy, and concern for the end times. As a result, a function of this genre was to “encourage piety and faithfulness” in its readers.

Elements of apocalypticism can be found within other writings (e.g., Gospels), and within the genre of apocalyptic, there are various subdivisions. Apocalypses were written in both Jewish and Christian contexts. Additionally, within Revelation 1:1-4, there are references to the work as an apocalypse, a prophetic writing, and a letter. This creates a number of challenges for interpreters today. Revelation is one of the most difficult books to interpret because its understanding integrates so many different historical, symbolic, and eschatological elements.

CONCLUSION

We can summarize, then, the genre of the various New Testament texts in the following way. There are roughly four main genres collected within the New Testament. The Gospels are widely considered to be within the genre of ancient Greco-Roman biographies. While biographies may be considered a subgenre of historical writings, the book of Acts is part of ancient historiography as well. The next genre is that of letters, which provide a behind-the-scenes look at the early church from an entirely different angle from that of the Gospels or Acts. Last, Revelation is part of apocalyptic literature. This type of literature, not often found today, communicates in a vastly different mode from that of the other New Testament genres. The genre of the Gospels and epistles is a good initial indicator that these writers were writing information that was understood to be reliable.

Table 2.1. New Testament genres

Historical Writings

Letters/Epistles

Apocalyptic

Matthew

Mark

Luke

John

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Galatians

Ephesians

Philippians

Colossians

1 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians

1 Timothy

2 Timothy

Titus

Philemon

Hebrews

James

1 Peter

2 Peter

1 John

2 John

3 John

Jude

Revelation

KEY TAKEAWAYS: NEW TESTAMENT GENRES

■Genre tells us what to expect about the writing we are about to read. There are many different types of genres: historical, poetic, fictional, and so on.

■It is widely accepted that the four Gospels are ancient biographies, a subcategory of history. Ancient biographies are different from modern biographies, and authors could arrange the material as they thought appropriate.

■The New Testament is primarily made up of various epistles or letters. These letters give us important insight and understanding into the claims and beliefs of the early church. Importantly, they were written to those who already believed and reflect behind-the-scenes discussions.

2 New Testament Genres and Audience Expectations