Narrative Time in the New Testament: Essays on Mark, John, and Paul

Human beings live in time; time produces story, the lifeblood of narrative

• all the more so for the biblical story which has been, and continues to

be, intimately woven into the lives of countless people throughout the

generations. Narrative as a literary genre is well represented in the

Scriptures as a whole, not least in the New Testament, accounting for

approximately three-fourths of its overall content. That so much of the

Bible is expressed in this communicative mode cannot be merely incidental

to its interpretation. The essays collected here aim to illustrate how a

narrative approach applied to a number of New Testament passages,

particularly in the way they deal with time, can enhance appreciation of

the Bible’s capacity to make its message present, thus contributing a

vital and consequential dimension to the perennial endeavor of faith

seeking understanding.