Discovering Where We Are

Narrative Setting

Stories have settings. The action takes place somewhere. That "somewhere" is what you are looking for as you pay attention to place.

Of course, not all of the New Testament is in the form of narrative, but for that part that is, "Paying attention to Place" means noticing where the action is.

Low-Tech Global Positioning

We do not have a GPS tool for finding location in the New Testament and we don't need one. Your texts will give you verbal clues. Questions like these about the passage of scripture you are reading will direct your eye to the place(s) that are part of your text:

1. Are any buildings mentioned?
   Look for words like: house, temple, synagogue or even "tax booth" (cf. Matthew 9:9 and parallels).
2. Is water mentioned?
   In the gospels, water changes the number of people who can get to Jesus or see and hear him. Sometimes it is used to separate him from the crowds so he can withdraw. Sometimes, the water setting gives him more visibility (as in Luke 5:3). Water can also be a danger, as when storms come up at sea.
3. Are we on the road?
   Someone has said that all of our stories are variations on these two themes: (1) A man went on a journey, and (2) A stranger came to town. Is anyone traveling in your text
4. Is anyone in prison?
   Paul writes letters from prison; John sends messengers to Jesus when he is imprisoned by Herod; Jesus is arrested and held in Jewish and then custody before his sentence; various apostles are imprisoned in Acts. Look for who does or does not have freedom of movement.
5. What about topography?
   Much of the geographical setting of the New Testament includes desert and mountains. What topographical descriptions of place does your text offer?
6. Are there changes in setting within the story?
   In Luke 24:13-35, the action begins on the road, and all the characters are walking. Later in the story, they enter a house and are at table with each other. Does the action move from one place to another in the text you are reading?

Geographical Location

So far we have asked nothing about places and place names you could actually find on a map. References to geography often occur within a narrative, and so probably fit under the title, "narrative setting," above. Yet I have separated them out because their appearance as proper names usually makes them easy to spot. The data-gathering questions about the geographical setting(s) of your text are probably obvious to you:

1. What are the proper names of places in the text? Proper names of places will be capitalized. They will be cities, bodies of water, regions, political territories, and so on.
2. What are these places?
   Is your text set within a city, a territory, or something else? Identify the types of places named.
3. Where are these places?
   If more than one place is named, where are the places in relation to each other?

What's Next

After you have a list of settings and locations and an idea of how the action moves from one to another, you need to find out as much as you can about the settings and places you have discovered in your text. The next resource page recommends tools and gives you practice paying attention to place.

Next: Finding Out More about Places