Description
For the first time, one volume includes a discourse analysis of every writing in the New Testament. Discourse analysis of written texts involves examining units of language higher than the sentence and considering how the author used those units of language to accomplish communicative purposes. But discourse analysis is not a clearly defined method. Rather, it is a linguistic perspective that provides numerous ways to approach and better comprehend a discourse. For this reason, most analysts bring their own unique research questions about a discourse and, therefore, their own methodology.
Each author in this volume explains their methodology, presents a macrostructure of the discourse, and then analyzes microstructures and other aspects of the discourse that support the proposed macrostructure. The reader is able to see each methodology on display, each with their emphases, strengths, and potential weaknesses. Each chapter also provides the reader with a useful analysis of the discourse as a holistic unit, which will aid students, pastors, and scholars in studying entire New Testament writings to see how each part contributes to the whole.
Table of Contents
Preface
Contributors
List of Figures
Abbreviations
Introduction: Discourse Analysis: History, Topics, and Applications, Todd A. Scacewater
Chapter 1: Matthew, David J. Clark and Todd A. Scacewater
Chapter 2: Mark, Robert Longacre
Chapter 3: Luke, Todd R. Chipman
Chapter 4: John, Michael Rudolph
Chapter 5: Acts, Jenny Read-Heimerdinger
Chapter 6: Romans, Aaron Sherwood
Chapter 7: 1 Corinthians, R. Bruce Terry
Chapter 8: 2 Corinthians, Fredrick J. Long
Chapter 9: Galatians, Stephen Levinsohn
Chapter 10: Ephesians, Todd A. Scacewater
Chapter 11: Philippians, Thomas W. Hudgins & J. Gregory Lawson
Chapter 12: Colossians, Todd A. Scacewater
Chapter 13: 1 Thessalonians, Daniel Patte
Chapter 14: 2 Thessalonians, Michael Aubrey
Chapter 15: Pastoral Epistles, Isaiah Allen
Chapter 16: Philemon, David L. Allen
Chapter 17: Hebrews, Cynthia Long Westfall
Chapter 18: James, William Varner
Chapter 19: 1 Peter, Ervin Starwalt
Chapter 20: 2 Peter, Christopher J. Fresch
Chapter 21: Johannine Epistles, Ernst Wendland
Chapter 22: Jude, David J. Clark
Chapter 23: Revelation, Stephen Pattemore
Select Bibliography for Discourse Studies
About the Editor
Todd A. Scacewater is Assistant Professor of International Studies at Dallas International University.
Endorsements
“In the past few decades discourse analysis has been making inroads, albeit slowly, into the practice of New Testament studies, but the approaches have been anything but uniform, easily accessible, or widely applied to the process of exegesis. Yet, with this volume we have varied applications across the New Testament, with voices as diverse as Robert Longacre, Daniel Patte, and Stephen Levinsohn. The collection capitalizes on more recent developments in discourse analysis, while putting on display the power and potential of the approach. Through the years younger New Testament scholars have contacted me to ask concerning discourse analysis, “Where do I begin?” I now have a ready answer.”
George H. Guthrie
Professor of New Testament, Regent College, Vancouver, BC
“The analysis of discourse is one of the most developed branches of New Testament Greek studies at present. But it is also clear that the analysis of discourse has many kinds of methodologies. This much-needed book examines in some detail the application of discourse analysis to the books of the New Testament. Readers of this volume will immediately be struck by the diversity of approaches employed by the various contributors. Nevertheless, I believe this book succeeds in making discourse analysis immediately relevant to the modern exegete. I therefore commend it to all who believe in the integration of traditional grammar and modern linguistics.”
David Alan Black
O. Owens Jr. Chair of New Testament Studies, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
“Pastors and students frequently have some vague familiarity with Discourse Analysis (DA). They know that DA aids in determining the structure of the biblical text and thus can help us to read, preach, and teach the text more faithfully. But, where is the accessible introduction for the non-specialist? Where are understandable essays that will assist with the structure of each book in the New Testament? Todd Scacewater has assembled just such a set of essays by a team of specialists in DA. I am glad to know of Discourse Analysis of the New Testament Writings and look forward to using the volume and recommending it to others.”
Robert L. Plummer
Collin and Eveyln Aikman Professor of Biblical Studies, Chairman, New Testament Department, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“Finally, we have as close to a head-to-head comparison of approaches to discourse analysis as could be conceived, and more importantly, to the exegetical utility of the results achieved. Scacewater’s volume brings together leading advocates of varied approaches, along with some employing eclectic blends, to provide readers with analyses of every New Testament book. Some succeed more than others, but that is the point of such a volume—to allow you to critically evaluate these approaches in practice rather than in a theoretical vacuum.”
Steven E. Runge
Research Associate, John W. Wevers Institute for Septuagint Studies, Trinity Western University; Scholar-in-Residence, Faithlife Corporation, Bellingham, WA
“This is one of the most helpful volumes on the use of linguistics in New Testament exegesis to appear in many years. It not only showcases the value of discourse analysis for interpreting the New Testament, but it does so in a manner that allows readers to easily compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of a range of approaches to discourse analysis. Scholars and pastors alike will find this an important resource for discovering how the linguistic choices of each biblical author elucidates the structure, and thus the message, of each New Testament book.”
Martin M. Culy
Founding Editor, Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament
Reviews
“This volume is required reading for anyone looking to put discourse analysis into practice for NT interpretation. For those conducting specialized research on a given book of the NT, this work should at least be referenced.” -Jonathan Campbell in Andrews University Seminary Studies 59 (Spring 2021): 161-164.
” Prepare to read this book slowly, and with your Greek NT in front of you. As you digest the information contained in the book, you will gain the benefit both of being able to think more systematically above the sentence level in exegesis and of appreciating these NT writings from a bird’s-eye structural view.” -Aaron M. Jensen, Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly 120, no. 3 (2023): 240-241.
“The diligent student or pastor will find a treasure trove of well-reasoned linguistic arguments to better understand the overall structure, division, and purpose of each NT book. As a single-volume introduction to the application of discourse analysis of the NT, this collection succeeds admirably in its purpose.” -W. H. Chong, Themelios
Reviewed by discourse expert Fred Putnam for Books At a Glance. “This is, as I began, a magisterial volume that deserves and will repay careful study. May its readers and students multiply!”
Interviewed (via podcast) by the New Books Network about his Discourse Analysis of the NT Writings.
Reviewed by Brent Niedergall at Niedergall.com. “Nowhere else will you find such a host of qualified analysts (many who have also published books, chapters, or articles on their assigned book) presenting well-reasoned linguistic arguments on how to understand each New Testament book as a whole.”
Reviewed by Nathaniel J. Erickson at NT Greek et al. “These essays are far from a robust commentary on the Greek text, but they do an admirable job pointing to key signs in the text at the linguistic level that can help the interpreter navigate the terrain.”
