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Book Review: A New Textbook on Preaching

cut both ways; a purist "new critic" might object that his historical interests have blunted his literary criticism. I, for one, welcome the attempt to correlate intrinsic analysis with extrinsic analysis. Again, it is sometimes objected that the gospel genre is ancient, unique, and not designed to entertain, but functions as religious propaganda and/or apologetic. Therefore, methods for analyzing modern, imaginative narrative fiction simply do not apply. It is important not to gloss over these objections. But if an interpreter is to engage in literary criticism, one option is to explore modern analysis of narrative, at least until more adequate ancient critical tools are unearthed. It is, of course, important to keep in mind the crucial differences. When Kingsbury states that the implied author and the narrator are usually the same in Matthew, and that the implied author might serve as an index of the real author, I understand him to be making observations which take into account the nonfictional character of the gospel genre, but without abandoning all that literary criticism has to teach. In addition, his final comment about the first Evangelist's wanting the reader to act on his story is clearly a comment about the real author's theological intentions. Again, objections to such synthesizing might be raised from the literary-critical side, but it must be admitted that the dominant approach is literary. As such, Kingsbury's study, like all such studies, becomes a contribution to the refinement of working tools for gospel narratives. Kingsbury's new book is classic Kingsbury: carefully laid out, closely argued, and authoritatively presented. It is an important book on Matthew, and a prelude for more to come. Not only will it serve students and informed lay readers well, but also, to pick up the opening metaphor, it contributes to the change in Matthew's map in such a way that other explorers will need to consult it before travelling further.