Doing Gospel Criticism as/With a "Reader"

Abstract

This article is a critique of recent reader-response criticism of the gospels. Reader-oriented gospel exegesis amounts, at best, to a critical simulation of the experience of 1st century gospel hearers: an experience of the gospel as (heard) event rather than as (printed) object. On the other hand, the "reader" of reader-oriented gospel criticism is a highly artificial construct which must be sharply distinguished from any actual reader, ancient or modem. The seeming inability of critical exegesis to incorporate the experiences of actual readers is discussed, leading to some general reflections on the limitation of institutionalized reading.