The Roman Empire In Luke S Narrative

This work illuminates Luke’s portrayals of Roman officials in light of Jewish portrayals of Gentile rulers in the Old Testament and in Second Temple Literature.

From a Korean perspective, this book examines how Luke's Passion Narrative constructs the space-time of the Reign of God both in contest to and in compliance with that of Rome and shows how Luke's colonial relations complicate the Gospel's theological perspectives.

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.

Shrewd and thoughtful, Pyung-Soo Seo offers an exciting and refreshing perspective on Luke's Gospel, which provides valuable clues to a deeper understanding of the vast power of the Roman Empire through Jesus' birth and trial accounts. Seo analyses the political role the Gospel played in the decades following the Crucifixion, and presents a compelling argument: the Bible emphasises Jesus' relationships with tax collectors as a way of displaying his moral authority, seen as he confronts one of the most hated aspects of the empire: the corruption and intimidation for which the emperor was ultimately responsible. Seo suggests that Luke wants us to compare Jesus and the emperor to show us how the emperor is found wanting. Concentrating on the titles of 'benefactor' and 'saviour' his analysis of Christ's moral authority is both discerning and erudite.

This book examines slavery and gender through a feminist reading of narratives including female slaves in the Gospel of Luke, the Acts of the Apostles, and early Christian texts. Through the literary theory of Mikhail Bakhtin, the voices of three enslaved female characters—the female slave who questions Peter in Luke 22, Rhoda in Acts 12, and the prophesying slave of Acts 16—are placed into dialogue with female slaves found in the Apocryphal Acts, ancient novels, classical texts, and images of enslaved women on funerary monuments. Although ancients typically distrusted the words of slaves, Christy Cobb argues that female slaves in Luke-Acts speak truth to power, even though their gender and status suggest that they cannot. In this Bakhtinian reading, female slaves become truth-tellers and their words confirm aspects of Lukan theology. This exegetical, theoretical, and interdisciplinary book is a substantial contribution to conversations about women and slaves in Luke-Acts and early Christian literature.

"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." --

"Were the three rulers with the name "Herod" in Luke-Acts a composite character? Frank Dicken explores their narrative similarities and interprets them as a single character in light of other examples of conflation in Jewish and early Christian literature."--Provided by publisher.

Luke provides valuable clues to an understanding of the religious and political power of the Roman Empire through Jesus's birth and trial accounts. Also, the book analyzes what role Luke's tax-related accounts play in relation to the emperor's authority. This volume presents a new argument: Luke emphasizes Jesus's interaction with tax collectors as a way of displaying his moral authority, seen in his intervening effectively with one of the most hated aspects of the empire, an aspect that the emperor was responsible for and should have dealt with. This analysis helps us examine Luke's portrayal of Jesus's authority with a focus on the titles "benefactor" and "savior." Comparisons and contrasts are to be made between Jesus and the emperor. Thus, this study discusses how Luke elevates Jesus's authority on the basis of his stance toward the emperor.