Matthew as Story, 2nd ed. Review

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(More customer reviews)Jack Dean Kingsbury is a Lutheran (ELCA) and serves as professor of Biblical Theology at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. "Matthew as Story" is a narrative-critical analysis of the Biblical Gospel of Matthew; that is to say that Kingsbury treats this Gospel as one would treat any peace of narrative literature with plot, characters, setting, rising action, climax, etc.
The first (and longest) chapter is an introduction to literary criticism, lays out most of Kingsbury's suppositions (e.g. how Matthew is structured), and introduces literary terms even as he applies them to Matthew's Gospel. Most helpful in this chapter is his brief introductions to the "characters" (Jesus, the religious leaders, the disciples, etc.), the setting, the themes/motifs, and the overall message of Matthew. Chapters Two through Four cover the four basic divisions of the Gospel of Matthew: 1:1-4:16 (the reader's introduction to Jesus, the prophesied Son of David/Abraham), 4:17-16:20 (Jesus' teaching, preaching, and healing ministry to the Jews, his escalating conflict with the religious leaders, and his instruction of the disciples), and 16:21-28:20 (His journey to Jerusalem where he is killed and resurrected, his final commission to the disciples). The following chapters deal with aspects of Matthew's Gospel topically: The use of the term "Son of Man" (Chapter 5), Jesus' speeches (Chapter 6), a thorough analysis of Jesus' enemies (Chapter 7) and disciples (Chapter 8), and finally Kingsbury's theory about who Matthew was and to whom he wrote (Chapter 9). While the prose can be difficult at times, the author does his reader a great service by frequently using concluding paragraphs and summaries (his "Concluding Remarks" section at the end of the book even sums up the entirety of this work).
This reader found this book extremely helpful in my understanding of the Gospel of Matthew. Kingsbury treats Matthew in its own right (as opposed to finding connections with Mark, Luke, and John) and thus brings out many themes that tend to get overlooked. His analysis of the personality and motivation of Jesus, the disciples, and the other characters make them more vivid; his outline of Matthew is convincing; and his presentation of the "narrator/author" brings out the reason why Matthew wrote his Gospel (as opposed to John, Mark, and Luke). Kingsbury's analyses make me more equipped to read Matthew, teach it, and preach on it.
There were some aspects of this book that were not helpful. These include Kingsbury's treatment of Jesus' Trinitarian identity, his treatment of Jesus' major speeches, and finally, the whole of Chapter 9. As it relates to Jesus' identity within Matthew's Gospel, Kingsbury is not incorrect in what he writes, but rather fault lies in the fact that he did not write enough about Jesus' identity. He shows that Matthew viewed Jesus' birth as prophesied and his relationship with God the Father as a loving-Father-and-perfectly-obedient-son relationship, but does not advance Matthew's idea that Jesus is in fact God--coequal with the Father and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:13-17; 28:18-20). Second, Kingsbury only covered the functional aspect of Jesus' speeches (how they advance the plot and how they developed the various "characters" in the Gospel); he really didn't give the speeches' actual teachings much coverage. Finally, while aspects of Chapter 9 (the author and his audience) did point out some helpful aspects of this Gospel, he relies too much on speculation and arguments from absence. His final conclusion is that the Apostle Matthew didn't write this Gospel, this author borrowed material from Mark's Gospel, and that his audience was a wealthy, urban-dwelling, persecuted Christian community who probably lived in Antioch.
While these negative aspects are bothersome to this reader, on the whole, this book was well worth my effort. As previously mentioned, it has helped me understand and appreciate the Gospel of Matthew in its own right, distinguish Matthew's unique presentation of the Gospel, and I find it very practical and useful for my work in the parish. While the lay person may have trouble reading some of the jargon, pastors and those very interested in attaining a fuller understanding of Matthew would do well to read it. Recommended.

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