Nathan MacDonald (lecturer of OT at St. Andrews but currently working away at the University of Gottingen) has a robust rejoinder to readings of the Rule of Faith as an overarching narrative of Scripture. This appears in the forthcoming issue of Journal of Theological Interpretation 3.2 (2009): 267-84 in a piece entitled: "Israel and the Old Testament Story in Irenaeus' Presentation of the Rule of Faith". The abstract reads:
"In recent years, it has become common to point to the early church's Rule of Faith as evidence for the reading of Scripture as an overarching story. Appeal is typically made to Irenaeus' account of the Rule of Faith with particular importance being attached to the rehearsal of the Rule in the Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching. It has been argued that in Irenaeus' Demosntration the lacuna between the statements about God the Creator and the salvific events of the life of Christ are filled out with the story of God's dealings with Israel. This article rexamines Irenaeus's understanding of the Rule of Faith and argues that accounts of this sort are mistaken and invovle a misreading of the Demonstration. Irenaeus does not present a metanarrative that extends from creation to consummation; rather, he works with a two-part OT canon and shows how both parts prefigure and predict salvation in Jesus Christ. This article concludes with a reconsideration of the relationship between narrative and the Rule of Faith and how Israel is to be figured into Christian faith".
A good follow up to my Paul Blower posts previously!
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