In his note below, commenting on my references to the story of David and
Goliath, George Murphy points out that combat between champions to decide a
battle was "a fairly common feature of battles in the ancient world"
(particularly in tribal societies), a folktale element that has its origin
in such historical happenings. And, that slingers were found in some
ancient armies, such as the Balearic Island auxiliaries in the Roman army,
who could en mass deliver a battery of injurious and lethal blows.
I thank George for this contribution, which stirred my memory of a visit
20 years ago this month to the Valley of Elah in the Shefalah hill country
of Palestine, the setting of this story. As our tour group walked to the
dry creek bed that split the valley, I would see the range of hills
stretching out on either side and imagine the warring armies lined up along
the ridges and slopes of each, with Goliath striding down one slope to the
valley floor. Our guide invited us to pick up five smooth stones, and
having in mind the weight of my suitcase, I picked up stones that were
probably smaller and lighter than the missles David would have used. A
stone of good heft in the sling of a practiced slinger could indeed deliver
the concussion that felled Goliath and rendered him helpless.
It is probably very difficult to determine to what degree any story like
this one is historical fact and creative imagination, for the relationship
and interplay between them is often subtle. Let me offer a few insights in
this regard from other writers. First, I learned how tenacious a carefully
cultivated memory in an oral-aural culture, such as that of early Israel,
can be, from writer Alex Haley. Shortly before he published _Roots_, Haley
held a Berea College audience spellbound for nearly two hours as he told the
story of finding his family's roots and the village of his ancester Kunta
Kinte. He had been brought to the village in The Gambia and introduced to
the griots, the elders who preserved the tribal memory. When he spoke the
name Kunta Kinte, the griots became very excited, and they told Haley how,
over two hundred years earlier, Kunta Kinte had gone into the forest to
gather foodstuffs, and was seized and carried off by slave traders. This
knowledge gave me a greater appreciation for the value of Israel's oral
history, and the recognition that more history may lie behind so many of the
narratives crafted from oral tradition than some biblical scholars have
supposed.
Another was reading how the American historian Francis Parkman
researched the history of the Jesuit missionaries in North America in the
19th century. Parkman retraced the voyages of the fathers in Ontario and
the Great Lakes, canoed up the same rivers and camped at the same camp
sites. So, when he described the beds of pine needles gathered up from the
forest floor, the moonlight filtering through the trees, the shadows cast by
the campfire, and the sounds of the forest's night creatures in his history,
his imaginative recreation of the Jesuit camps was based on personal
experience; for what he experienced must have been the same as that of the
missionaries. Parkman's historical narration is a good example of the use
of creative non-fiction. Perhaps the writer of the David and Goliath story
had also visited the Valley of Elah.
Finally, there are some eyewitness historical records that have served
as a basis for later creative narratives. Hippolyte Delehaye, the
Benedictine scholar who studied the lives of the saints, published a
fascinating account in his book, _The Legends of the Saints_, of the
martyrdom of St. Procopius (2nd cent.). We have what amounts to a
stenographic account in Latin of Procopius' trial before a Roman magistrate.
The account is moving in its powerful simplicity. Delehaye demonstrates how
this account of the martyrdom was transformed later into succeeding
legendary narratives that greatly enhanced the drama, the social station of
Procopius, and the torture and martyrdom of this Christian witness. His
analyses showed how even when human beings have a fairly accurate historical
record of events in their lives, the narrative elements of the common
pattern of a hero's story (and the early martyrs were the first Christian
heroes) so easily interject themselves into the tradition. In the case of
St. Procopius, the man who emerges in the later legends bears little
resemblence to the quiet bishop who refused to give up his faith in Christ.
Hence, when reconstructing the history of a person and his experiences using
such legendary narratives, an understanding of literary genres and
techniques and their interplay with historical fact is a crucial need for
the historian.
In the final analysis, however, I would maintain that as interesting as
such careful analysis is, and however much insight and pleasure it might
give the reader to know and understand the processes and techniques, it is
the story itself in its final version that invites the reader into its world
of meanings in order to understand and appreciate the truth(s) that the
story is proclaiming or implying. For the ancient Hebrews, as for us who
read and interpret his story through the eyes of faith, this and all the
other stories of King David invite us (as they have thousands of preachers)
to find meaning and truth that goes beyond the historical elements embedded
in David's story.
Grace and peace,
Bob Schneider
----- Original Message -----
From: "george murphy" <gmurphy@raex.com>
To: "Robert Schneider" <rjschn39@bellsouth.net>
Cc: <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2002 6:35 AM
Subject: Re: Creative spiritual non-fiction (WasHistorical accuracy?)
> Robert Schneider wrote:
>
> > Bob DeHaan writes:
> >
> > > There is a new genre arising among Christian authors called "creative
> > > spiritual nonfiction." It is nonfiction because it has a historical
> > basis;
> > > it is based on fact, not pure imagination. It is creative because it
> > allows
> > > the author to deal with the facts of the case in a creative way,
using
> > > his/her imagination. It is spiritual, rather than purely
naturalistic, in
> > > that it allows the author to add a spiritual dimension or
interpretation
> > to
> > > both facts and imagination.
> > >
> > > The authors of the gospels and other parts of the Bible seemed to
have
> > > discovered this genre long before modern Christians writers
reinvented it.
> > >
> > > Perhaps all nonscientific writers use the three elements of this
genre in
> > > varying proportions.
> > >
> > > Bob
> > >
> > Bob's note has stirred a couple of thoughts. I agree with him
entirely
> > that biblical writers combined historical tradition (the factual
dimension)
> > with creative imagination and spiritual interpretation, and that this
> > quality of story-telling is universal and perhaps even an "innate"
> > characteristic of human communication. Two OT events come to mind. One
is
> > the story of David and Goliath in I Sam. 17. Anyone who has studied
> > literary genres will recognize the numerous folktale elements in the
story,
> > and it is these elements that give the story interest and delightfulness
and
> > make it memorable.
>
> I agree with the basic point here: The story is clearly concerned
with
> more than just historical report. But there are at least a couple of
features
> which, wihile quite possibly historical, are very foreign to our way of
thinking.
>
> 1) Challenges like those of Goliath and single combat "between
the
> armies" was a fairly common feature of battles in the ancient world: This
> particular folktale element has its origin in real happenings of that
sort. (&
> even in the 19th century we could note Bill Cody & Yellowhand.) But of
course
> it's highly unlikely today.
> 2) As presented in Sunday School we think of David as a little
kid with
> a child's rubberband slingshot. But trained slingers could be a major
force in
> ancient armies & could be lethal: The Romans had auxiliaries from the
Balearic
> Islands with this skill.
>
> Shalom,
>
> George
>
> George L. Murphy
> http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
> "The Science-Theology Interface"
>
>
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