Lucan Perspective On Paul

Despite all scientific doubts regarding Acts, Luke’s writing was and still is an extremely important source for understanding the man who contributed the most (directly or indirectly) to the canon of the New Testament. Luke is the first (known to us) person who recognized the importance of Paul’s life and his mission activities, as well as Paul’s innovative interpretation of the whole Jewish tradition (that can be compared only with Copernicus’ statement) that resulted in a totally new concept of the relationship between mankind and God, where the center of the relationship is Jesus of Nazareth, the Resurrected Messiah for both Jews and Gentiles. Although Luke “did not save Paul for us” because Paul produced many writings on his own, he did however give us a very important look at Paul that balanced the rejection of Paul as the Jewish teacher with his indispensable contribution to transferring the Jewish concept of God into the Hellenistic religions’ systems. Without the Acts of the Apostles, we would have to create a picture of Paul based on his writings, which is quite a challenging task. If the letters of Paul gave us some accounts about Paul’s attitude and thoughts in particular situations, then Luke’s Acts supplies this particular perspective with a deeper evaluation of Paul by a second witness. Luke definitely wants to present to the reader(s) “his Paul”, who does not necessarily have to be unlike “the historical Paul”.

'Between Horror and Hope' is a study of Paul's metaphorical language of death in Romans 6:1-11. The scholarly debate focuses on two main issues; the origin of the 'commentatio mortis' tradition and its development. Dr. Sabou argues that the origin of this terminology is original to Paul; that it was the apostle's own insight into the meaning of Christ's death (a "death to sin") and his understanding of the identity of Christ in his death (as the anointed davidic king) which guided him to create this metaphor of "dying to sin" as a way of describing the relationship of the believer with sin. On the development of this language of death, the author argues that this language conveys two aspects — horror and hope. The first is discussed in the context of crucifixion in which Paul explains the believer's "death to sin" by presenting Christ's death as the death of the anointed davidic king who won the victory over sin and death by rising from the dead. Paul affirms that believers are "coalesced" with what was "proclaimed" about Christ's death and resurrection, thereby allowing him to assert that the releasing of the body from the power of sin is a result of "crucifixion." This "crucifixion" is the "condemnation" inflicted on our past lives in the age inaugurated by Adam's sin and this is such a horrible event that believers have to stay away from sin since sin leads to such punishment. In contrast, hope is presented in the context of "burial." The believers' "burial with" Christ points to the fact that they are part of Christ's family and this is accomplished by the overwhelming action of God by which he pushes us toward the event of Christ's death, an act pictured in baptism. It is this "burial with" Christ that allows believers to share with Christ in newness of life.

This book raises questions about Luke's apology, and refutes the traditional view that he was writing an apologia pro ecclesia.

The purpose of this book is to seek a fuller understanding of how the characterisation of Paul in Acts would have been perceived by those who first read or heard the Lucan narrative. As the author makes clear, the careful reader of Acts should be amazed at the way St Paul is portrayed therein. Dr Lentz demonstrates, through a careful examination of particular texts, the great improbability that a Jew of strict Pharisaic background would have held, let alone been proud of, Roman citizenship and citizenship of the city of Tarsus. By investigating the social and legal expectations of the first century, the author shows that Paul is seen to be deferred to in matters of legal minutiae by those in positions of authority. He is given high social status and abundant moral virtue in order to attract to Christianity the high-ranking citizen who would recognise in Paul the classical cardinal virtues.

Most books about Paul the apostle are long and very detailed, and for many a potential reader a daunting prospect. A Short Book about Paul is deliberately brief, but its brevity is not at the cost of accuracy. We trace the main contours of Paul’s life, which turn on the hinge of the singular event outside Damascus in c. AD 34. From that time the leading persecutor of the disciples became the dedicated preacher of the message about Jesus. This short book shares with many the opinion that Paul remains the most influential voice from Greco-Roman antiquity apart, that is, from the Lord whose servant he was. At the same time, many critics have found fault with him, especially from the time of the Enlightenment. Paul’s achievements were considerable. Between AD 47–56 he established a network of congregations in five Roman provinces—Syria-Cilicia, Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia, and Asia. His thirteen surviving letters are witnesses to his dedicated pastoral care of these tiny, far-flung gatherings. Not to be missed was his remarkable skill in recruiting a small army of loyal coworkers like Timothy, Luke, and Titus. The result of Paul’s decade-long journeys in the provinces of Anatolia and Greece was the planting of the seeds of Christianity that would develop into the official religion of the eastern Roman Empire, based in Constantinople.

This work investigates the Lucan journey motif from a literary and theological perspective. It starts by examining the indications of movement in the narrative sequence of the Gospel. Using the historical-critical method, the author continues with a study of the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36) and the Ascension (Acts 1:6-11) narratives, and presents a comparison between them. The work concludes with an investigation of the Lucan journey in the two-volume work of Luke. On the literary level, the author suggests that the Transfiguration and the Ascension narratives are composed as an architectural pair and, in turn, serve as the respective starting points for the parallel journeys in Luke-Acts. On the theological level, she shows that the two journeys are, in fact, two stages of the one unique journey, namely the journey of the Salvific Message. Thus, the author provides a further confirmation of the unity of the two-volume work of Luke.

Paul’s letter to the Romans has a long history in Christian dogmatic battles. But how might the letter have been heard by an audience in Neronian Rome? James R. Harrison answers that question through a reader-response approach grounded in deep investigations of the material and ideological culture of the city, from Augustus to Nero. Inscriptional, archaeological, monumental, and numismatic evidence, in addition to a breadth of literary material, allows him to describe the ideological “value system” of the Julio-Claudian world, which would have shaped the perceptions and expectations of Paul’s readers. Throughout, Harrison sets prominent Pauline themes‒‒his obligation to Greeks and barbarians, newness of life and of creation against the power of death, the body of Christ, “boasting” in “glory” and God’s purpose in and for Israel‒‒in startling juxtaposition with Roman ideological themes. The result is a richer and more complex understanding of the letter’s argument and its possible significance for contemporary readers.

This book challenges a popular and influential thesis in Lukan scholarship presented by the Tÿbingen School: Paul is a rival of Peter and Paul is an anti-Jewish apostle. Consequently, he is solely an apostle to Gentiles in Acts. Through a narrative-critical method, Wenxi Zhang studies Paul's inaugural speech in Antioch of Pisidia and its literary function in relation to Paul's missionary activity among Jews in Acts. He concludes (1) that this inaugural sermon functions as an interpretative key to understand the narrative of Paul's missionary activity among his fellow Jews; and (2) that Paul is not anti-Jewish. He remains a faithful Jew who proclaims to his fellow Jews the fulfillment of God's promise to David in Jesus' resurrection. Consequently, Acts is not anti-Jewish document.