Interpreting New Testament Narratives: Recovering the Author’s Voice

Narratives are the concrete manifestation of an author’s subjectivity. They function as that person’s voice, and should be treated with the same respect that is granted to all voices. In Interpreting New Testament Narratives, Eric Douglass develops this ethical perspective, so that narratives are treated as communication, and the author’s voice is regarded as a valued perspective. Employing a cross-disciplinary approach, Douglass shows how readers engage narratives as mental simulations, creating a temporary possible world that readers enter and experience. To recover communication, readers locate the events of this world in the culture of the intended audience, and translate this meaning into the modern reader’s worldview. Using a staged reading design, this initial reading is followed by readings of critique.