Luke Acts

Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James

John the Baptist as a Rewritten Figure in Luke-Acts compares the Gospel of Luke’s account of John’s ministry with those of Matthew, Mark, and John to make the case for the hypertextual relationship between the synoptic gospels. The book is divided into three parts. Part I situates the Gospel of Luke within the broader context of biblical rewritings and makes the general case that a rewriting strategy can be detected in Luke, while Parts II and III combined offer a more detailed and specific argument for Luke’s refiguring of the public ministry of John the Baptist through the use of omitted, new, adapted, and reserved material. While the "two source hypothesis" typically presupposes the independence of Luke and Matthew in their rewritings of Mark and Q, Chauchot argues that Luke was heavily reliant on Matthew as suggested by the "L/M hypothesis". Approaching the Baptist figure in the synoptic gospels from a literary-critical perspective, Chauchot examines "test cases" of detailed comparative analysis between them to argue that the Gospel of Luke makes thematic changes upon John the Baptist and is best characterized as a highly creative reshaping of Matthew and Mark. Making a contribution to current research in the field of New Testament exegesis, the book is key reading for students, scholars, and clergy interested in New Testament hermeneutics and Gospel writing.

"When and how may Christians first be shown to have used the Gospel of Luke and its companion volume, The Acts of the Apostles? Andrew Gregory offers the first book-length discussion of the reception of Luke and of Acts in the period before Irenaeus. The research project which was the basis of this monograph was originally conceived as a comparison of the pneumatology of Luke-Acts with the pneumatologies presented in Christian literature of the second century. Recent scholarship on Lukan pneumatology is agreed that Luke has a particular interest in the Spirit, but it is divided as to whether his pneumatology is part of a homogenous early Christian understanding or a distinctive presentation that is to be sharply differentiated from that of Matthew and Mark, of John, and of Paul. Noting a lacuna identified by Turner, the author set out to originally ask two questions. First, whether it might be possible to identify in second century pneumatologies any characteristics that New Testament scholars might label as distinctively Lukan. Second, whether such characteristics might be sufficient to indicate not only the influence of Lukan pneumatology but also a conscious appropriation of distinctively Lukan theology by other early Christians. Contents include: Introduction and methodology, Previous research, The evidence of the earliest manuscripts and notices, Do narrative outlines of episodes in the life of Jesus presuppose Luke?, Collections of the sayings of Jesus, Marcion, Justin Martyr, The reception of Luke in the Second Century, The reception of Acts in the Second Century, Early and Ambiguous Evidence, Justin Martyr, Narrative accounts explicitly concerning the Post-resurrection teaching of Jesus and the activity of Apostles and other prominent figures, The reception of Acts in the Period before Irenaeus, The reception of Luke and Acts in the Period before Irenaeus."

This volume on Luke-Acts as with all titles in the Texts@Contexts Series highlights readings that make explicit the diverse contemporary contexts of biblical interpreters. The global spread of contributors includes scholarly voices from South Africa, South America and Hong Kong, as well as from the United States. The chapters are organized around four themes. The first examines interpretations of Jesus, looking at his childhood, contemporary context, and his teaching – including whether Jesus' sympathetic response to disease and pain might be used to advocate euthanasia. The second examines social categories: gender, race, and class, including a political and racialized reading of the history of diasporic Black America as a model for reading Acts as a diasporic history. The third examines issues of empire and resistance. The final part looks at society and spirituality, with a focus on modern contemporary contexts.

An examination of the literary device of narrative asides, including parenthetical remarks addressed directly to the reader which interrupt the logical progression of the story and establish a relationship between the narrator and the narratee. Narrative asides in Luke-Acts are located, categorized according to their function, and examined within their literary context. With this discussion in mind, the book offers a narrative-critical exploration of the relationship of asides to the plot, narrator, and audience of Luke-Acts.

Like all skilful authors, the composer of the biblical books of Luke and Acts understood that a good story requires more than a gripping plot - a persuasive narrative also needs well-portrayed, plot-enhancing characters. This book brings together a set of new essays examining characters and characterization in those books from a variety of methodological perspectives. The essays illustrate how narratological, sociolinguistic, reader-response, feminist, redaction, reception historical, and comparative literature approaches can be fruitfully applied to the question of Luke's techniques of characterization. Theoretical and methodological discussions are complemented with case studies of specific Lukan characters. Together, the essays reflect the understanding that while many of the literary techniques involved in characterization attest a certain universality, each writer also brings his or her own unique perspective and talent to the portrayal and use of characters, with the result that analysis of a writer's characters and style of characterization can enhance appreciation of that writer's work.

In recent years, scholars have explored anew the interface between the early Christian movements and the Roman Empire. Once thought to be quietistic, the early Christian movements turn out to have been critical of the Empire and significantly counterimperial. This collection of essays in honor of Robert Brawley turns the spotlight on Luke-Acts. The soundings taken here disclose deeper anti-imperial rhetoric than previously thought. In brazen and subtle ways, Luke-Acts displays an alternative realm of peace and justice inaugurated by Jesus under the God of Israel. The essays in this volume will lead you to hear Luke-Acts in fresh ways.

""Odette Mainville's...book, The Spirit in Luke-Acts, is a most careful, enlightening, and fresh interpretation of the Holy Spirit's Role in Luke and Acts, from the surprising starting point of a single verse, Acts 2:33...I wholeheartedly endorse this book...."" -William S. Kurz, S.J., Emeritus Professor of New Testament, Marquette University .".".As someone who has devoted a whole book to a theological exposition of Acts 2:33, I regard this as a most worthwhile endeavor. What emerges is a work that engages fully with the Spirit's vitality in the life of Jesus and in the mission of the church...."" -William P. Atkinson, PhD, Senior Lecturer, London School of Theology .".".I warmly recommend this insightful reading of Luke-Acts to you. It is filled with interesting exegesis and challenging observations....I trust that you will find this book as enjoyable, enriching, and edifying as I did."" -Robert P. Menzies, PhD, Missionary-Scholar (China), from the foreword ""Mainville's...work...integrates the central theme in Luke-Acts, in a way that traditional systematic theology does not, viz, Jesus's experiences with the Spirit toward the end of creating a 'community of prophets'..."" -Jon Mark Ruthven, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Regent University School of Divinity .".".Using a redactional and literary approach, Mainville demonstrates that the role of the Holy Spirit is not to be relegated to a mere appendage of Pauline soteriology..."" -James B Shelton, PhD, Professor of New Testament, Oral Roberts University Mainville's work is helpful both for its engagement with traditional approaches and for its fresh contributions and insights....This is surely a welcome study."" -Craig S. Keener, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary