Discipleship According to the Sermon on the Mount. Four legitimate Readings

432 Pages·1996·11.96 MB·English

by  Daniel Patte

Disciplesnip Qccor~ing to tne Sermon on tne Mount
Four Legitimate Readings, Four Plausible Views of Discipleship,
and Their Relative Values
Daniel Patte
Here is a meticulous androcritical and multidimensional study of
the Sermon on the Mount and its teachings on discipleship as
"ethical practice:'
Throughout this study Daniel Patte argues against the notion that
the text for the Sermon on the Mount offers only a single true
teaching about discipleship. Instead he calls for the transformation
of single-minded traditional critical approaches to the point where
the legitimacy of other interpretations becomes a possibility.
Following this approach, Professor Patte sets forth his own inter
pretation of the Sermon on the Mount, comparing it with other
interpretations in the conviction that any genuinely critical study
must be undertaken in terms of other interpretations.
The result is a highly original, responsible, and helpful presenta
tion that is as self-conscious as possible regarding the interpre
tive processes that lead to the author's particular understanding
of discipleship in the Sermon on the Mount.
Daniel Patte is Professor of New Testament and Chair of the
Department of Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University. He is
author of The Gospel according to Matthew: A Struaural Commen
tary on Matthew's Faith and Struaural Exegesis for New Testament
Critics, both published by Trinity Press.
DISCIPl[SHIP
"
ACCORDING TO
1)(
~.~
TH[S[RMON .'
ON TH[ MOUNT

DISCIPl[S~IP
ACCORDING TO
S[RMON
T~[
ON T~[ MOUNT
FOUR LEGITIMATE READINGS,
FOUR PLAUSIBLE VIEWS OF DISCIPLESHIP,
AND THEIR RELATIVE VALUES
D~niel P~tte
pms
TRINITY INT[RNATIONAL
Valley forge, Pennsylvania
Unless otherwise indicated biblical quotations are from the New Revised Standard
Version Bible copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National
Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Copyright © 1996 by Daniel Patte
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the
publisher.
Trinity Press International, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851
Trinity Press International is a division of the Morehouse Publishing Group
Cover art: Elizabeth McNaron Patte
Cover design: Jim Gerhard
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Patte, Daniel.
Discipleship according to the Sermon on the mount: four
legitimate readings, four plausible views of discipleship, and their
relative values / Daniel Patte.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-56338-177-X (pbk.)
1. Sermon on the mount - Criticism, interpretation, etc.
2. Christian life - Biblical teaching. I. Title.
BT380.2.P27 1996
241.5'3 - dc21 96-46647
CIP
Printed in the United States of America
96 97 98 99 00 01 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Mariano Apilado
his colleagues and the students
at Union Theological Seminary,
Dasmariiias campus of Philippine Christian University.
As a sign of utangna loob,
this book that does not offer any reading for them
but is an invitation to read with other people
by developing and affirming their own readings.

Contents
PREFACE ............................................. Xl
INTRODUCTION .......................................... 1
Goals of This Study of Discipleship according to the Sermon
on the Mount 1
Rethinking the Practice of Critical Interpretation 11
Procedures Followed in This Androcritical Multidimensional
Study of Discipleship according to the Sermon on the Mount 28
CHAPTER 1. A MULTIDIMENSIONAL CRITICAL STUDY OF
DISCIPLESHIP: ITS PLAUSIBILITY, LEGITIMACY, AND RELATIVE
VALUE ............................................ 29
The Epistemological Plausibility of Multiple Conceptualizations
of Discipleship as Ethical Practice 33
The Legitimacy of a Multidimensional Critical Study of
Discipleship 39
The Value of a Multidimensional Critical Study of Discipleship:
Its Androcritical Character 43
CHAPTER 2. DISCIPLESHIP ACCORDING TO FOUR SCHOLARLY
INTERPRETATIONS OF MATTHEW 4:18-22: AN ANDROCRITICAL
MULTIDIMENSIONAL STUDY ............................. 58
Basic Options Selected for This Androcritical Multidimensional
Study of Matthew 4:18-22 61
Part 1: The Legitimacy of Four Divergent Interpretations of
Matthew 4:18-22 66
The Legitimacy of Four Kinds of Conclusions about
What the Text Is and Says: An Overview 66
The Legitimacy of Readings A and B: The History/Realistic
Narrative and the Plot as Meaning-Producing Dimensions 72
VB
Vlll Contents
The Legitimacy of Readings C and D: Figurative and Thematic
Meaning-Producing Dimensions 86
Conclusions: Four Meaning-Producing Dimensions,
Four Critical Methods, Four Legitimate Sets of Conclusions
about What (CAWs) the Text Is and Says 101
Part 2: Making Sense of Four Sets of Conclusions about
Discipleship according to Matthew 4:18-22 104
Readings A and B: Discipleship as Implementing Matthew
4: 18-22 either as Ideal Norm or as Procedure for Being
Made Disciple 106
Readings C and D: Matthew 4:18-22 as a Vision of
Discipleship as Religious Leadership in a New Order
or as Association with Jesus' Ministry 110
Part 3: One Text with Four Legitimate and Plausible Teachings
about Discipleship 118
The Question of the Relative Value of Each of These Plausible
and Legitimate Interpretations 118
Part I
A FOURFOLD COMMENTARY
ON THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT:
FOUR LEGITIMATE INTERPRETATIONS 123
CHAPTER 3. HISTORICAL AND NARRATIVE INTERPRETATIONS OF
DISCIPLESHIP ACCORDING TO THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT .... 128
Reading A: Redaction Critical and Literary Critical
Interpretations Focused on the History/Realistic Dimension
of the Sermon on the Mount 128
Reading B: Narrative Critical Interpretation Focused on
the Plot Dimension of the Sermon on the Mount 130
CHAPTER 4. FIGURATIVE AND THEMATIC INTERPRETATIONS OF
DISCIPLESHIP ACCORDING TO THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT .... 194
Reading C: History of Traditions and Figurative Critical
Interpretations Focused on the Figurative Dimension
of the Sermon on the Mount 196
Reading D: A Structural Critical Interpretation Focused on
the Thematic Dimension of the Sermon on the Mount 198