Reflections on ‘the Reader’ of Matthew's Gospel

Since World War II, the chief method by which scholars have studied the Gospels has been redaction criticism. More recently, however, literary, or narrative, criticism has also been on the rise. If one analyzes these methods, one quickly discovers that peculiar to each is a ‘model of readership’ that dictates who the ‘primary reader’ (reader or hearer of first reception) of a Gospel is and how he or she relates to the materials being presented in the Gospel. The purpose of this article is multiple: to point out who the primary reader in each of these methods is conceived to be; to take note of the role the primary reader is thought to play in the reading process; and, perhaps most importantly, to assess the adequacy of the model of readership that characterizes each method. To give the discussion focus, I shall restrict scrutiny to the Gospel according to Matthew.