Date
4-29-2026
Department
Rawlings School of Divinity
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Bible Exposition (PhD)
Chair
Adeeb F. Mickahail
Keywords
Narrative Tension, Biblical Theology, Canonical Interpretation, Samuel–Kings–Chronicles, Textual Plurality, Theological Pedagogy
Disciplines
Religion | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion
Recommended Citation
Prah, Mike, "Narrative Tension and Theological Memory as Pedagogy In Three Select Samuel–Kings–Chronicles Parallels: A Textual–Literary–Theological Analysis" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8230.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8230
Abstract
This dissertation examines the function of narrative tension in selected passages of Samuel–Kings and Chronicles and argues that such tension operates as theological pedagogy rather than as narrative difficulty or compositional residue. While modern scholarship often explains divergences between these historiographic corpora through redactional development or ideological reshaping, this study investigates how preserved tensions function within the narrative itself. Focusing on three representative case studies—the Ark sanctity narrative (2 Sam 6:1–19; 1 Chron 13–15), the census–altar episode (2 Sam 24; 1 Chron 21), and the succession complex (1 Kings 1–2; 1 Chron 28–29)—the dissertation demonstrates that narrative tension is intentionally preserved to instruct readers in covenant obedience, disciplined authority, and mediated access to the divine presence. Methodologically, the study integrates textual criticism, literary analysis, historiography, and biblical theology by distinguishing textual stability from historiographic selection and interpreting narrative tension as a constructive feature of theological meaning within these texts. It further argues that Samuel–Kings and Chronicles function dialogically, presenting complementary theological construals of shared events that deepen discernment rather than undermine coherence. Theologically, the findings show that narrative tension in Samuel–Kings and Chronicles functions as a divinely authorized mode of instruction through which Scripture forms covenant identity, disciplines authority, and shapes faithful response. The dissertation is structured to advance this claim through a review of scholarship and methodological framework, detailed analysis of the three case studies, theological synthesis, and a final chapter that articulates the study’s conclusions, hermeneutical implications, and directions for future research. This study contributes to evangelical biblical theology by offering a framework that affirms scriptural authority while engaging the literary complexity of biblical historiography.
