Method in Fourth Gospel Studies

Abstract

Is a rapprochement possible between text-immanent, narrative-critical approaches to texts such as the Fourth Gospel, and the more traditional historical-critical approaches that operate with a presumption of an 'ideal' original meaning which interpretation seeks to reconstruct? This essay proposes two arguments, from Speech-Act theory and from the notion of 'ownership', to suggest that a meeting of minds is certainly possible—but that proponents of the narrative approaches will finally have to accept that the Fourth Gospel makes an inescapable historical claim which must be acknowledged.