Luke As Narrative Theologian

"This volume comprises studies by Joel B. Green on the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. These essays contribute to our understanding of the theological and narrative unity of Luke-Acts by pursuing a variety of topics including conversion, happiness, poverty and wealth, prayer, miracles, baptism, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Christology." --

The Gospel of Luke, often mined for information about the life of Jesus, is also one of the earliest Christian examples of narrative theology. Unlike some writers of New Testament books, Luke has engaged in the theological task by shaping a narrative representation of the coming and mission of Jesus. In doing so, he goes to great lengths to ground the work of Jesus in the continuing story of God's redemptive plan, especially witnessed in the Scriptures, and he also emphasises the ongoing character of that story, with the result that Luke's audience is challenged to discern the purpose of God in order that they may embrace it and order their lives around it. This exploration of the way in which Luke accomplishes his theological task in the first century is both informative and illuminating for contemporary readers seeking approaches to cultural criticism and constructive theology today.

"Cilliers Breytenbach stellt seine Sicht der Exegese des Neuen Testaments als historische Textwissenschaft und der darauf aufbauenden Teildisziplinen dar und zeigt verschiedene Gebrauchsweisen von Exegese auf. Er richtet Schlaglichter auf Aspekte des Werks wichtiger Fachvertreter und zeichnet die Geschichte des Faches in Berlin nach." --

The current interest in reading the Gospels as narratives has reclaimed aspects of these texts that historical-critical approaches failed to respect. The richness of these newer readings can, however, disguise their limitations as literary-critical exercises. Developing Hans Frei's concern for theological reading, David Lee reworks the narratology of the Dutch literary theorist Mieke Bal to produce a theological narrative reading practice that formally respects the text as scripture while leaving open the possible meanings that readers may construct for themselves in the act of reading. Lee demonstrates his approach through readings of the Narrator and the characters Jesus and the Demons as aspects of a composite Lukan narrative Christology.

This interpretation of Luke encourages in-depth study of the text and genuine grappling with the theological and sociohistorical questions it raises. It draws on a range of methodological interests (author-, text-, and reader-centered) as complementary rather than mutually exclusive ways of understanding the text. It also recognizes the importance of the reception history of biblical texts, increasingly viewed as a vital aspect of interpretation rather than an optional extra. Throughout Discovering Luke, Joel Green gives readers strategies for reading the Gospel of Luke and guides them through Luke’s world in its historical, ideological, political, and economic contexts. Green reviews key issues raised by the Gospel and connects these issues to questions of how Luke should be interpreted today.

As a narrative critical study of the Lukan Infancy Narrative, this is a work which puts new questions to an old and (some would claim) over interpreted text. The work traces through the Infancy narrative two trajectories - one theological, the other epistemological. At the point of theology, Luke focuses upon God and the strange shape of the divine visitation; at the point of epistemology, Luke focuses upon the human being and what is needed to recognise the divine visitation, given its strangeness. The study then shows how the two trajectories converge in the Infancy Narrative's last episode, the Finding of the Child in the Temple. Though often accorded scant attention, this is an episode which, Coleridge argues, is the true climax of the Infancy Narrative, since it is only then that Jesus is born in the narrative as the protagonist he will prove consistently to be and only then that the Lukan Narrative itself is born. It is this rather than any physical birth which most absorbs Luke in the first two chapters of the Gospel. Though a study of the Infancy narrative, this is a work with far-reaching implications for the whole of Luke-Acts

Despite the striking frequency with which the Greek word kyrios, Lord, occurs in Luke's Gospel, this study is the first comprehensive analysis of Luke's use of this word. The analysis follows the use of kyrios in the Gospel from beginning to end in order to trace narratively the complex and deliberate development of Jesus' identity as Lord. Detailed attention to Luke's narrative artistry and his use of Mark demonstrates that Luke has a nuanced and sophisticated christology centered on Jesus' identity as Lord.

Because of Luke's unique literary achievement in the Gospel of Luke and Acts, these two works raise a variety of interesting and important issues for the exegete. In this important collection of essays, Tannehill demonstrates why he is has been in the forefront of Luke-Acts research for more than three decades. His nuanced approach to the intersection of literary, theological, and social features in the texts marks these as required reading for any interpreter of the gospels. Contents Part I: Theology, Poetry, Rhetoric 1 The Mission of Jesus according to Luke 4:16-30 2 The Magnificat as Poem 3 What Kind of King? What Kind of Kingdom? 4 The Lukan Discourse on Invitations 5 The Story of Zacchaeus as Rhetoric 6 Repentance in the Context of Lukan Soteriology Part II: Luke and the Jews 7 Israel in Luke-Acts: A Tragic Story 8 The Story of Israel within the Lukan Narrative 9 Rejection by Jews and Turning to Gentiles: The Pattern of Paul's Mission in Acts Part III: Acts as Narrative 10 The Functions of Peter's Mission Speeches in the Narrative of Acts 11 The Composition of Acts 3Ð5: Narrative Development and Echo Effect 12 Paul outside the Christian Ghetto: Intercultural Conflict and Cooperation in Acts 13 The Narrator's Strategy in the Scenes of Paul's Defense Part IV: Hermeneutical Experiments 14 Should We Love Simon the Pharisee? Reflections on the Pharisees in Luke 15 Freedom and Responsibility in Scripture Interpretation 16 ÒCorneliusÓ and ÒTabithaÓ Encounter Luke's Jesus