The Character and Purpose of Luke's Christology


Book Description

Luke's christology is carefully designed. Luke portrays the exalted Jesus as God's co-equal by the kinds of things he does and says from heaven. Through the Holy Spirit, the divine name and personal manifestations, Jesus behaves toward people in Luke-Acts as does Yahweh in the Old Testament. His power and knowledge are supreme. Jesus sovereignly reigns over Israel, the church, the powers of darkness and the world. Luke deepens this portrait by depicting Jesus as deity who by nature behaves as servant: the earthly Jesus acted among his people as one who serves; the exalted Jesus continues serving his people by strengthening and encouraging them in their witness of him to the world. That the believers in Acts resemble the way Jesus behaved in the Gospel means that they too are now imaging some of his servant-like character in their witness of him.




Body and Character in Luke and Acts


Book Description

Early Christianity developed in a world where moral significance was often judged based upon physical appearance alone. Exploring the manifestations of this ancient "science" of physiognomy, Parsons rightly shows how Greco-Roman society, and by consequence the author of Luke and Acts, was steeped in this tradition. Luke, however, employs these principles in his writings in order to subvert the paradigm. Using as examples the bent woman (Luke 13), Zacchaeus (Luke 18), the lame man (Acts 3-4), and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8), Parsons shows that the Christian community--both early and present-day--is established only in the image of Jesus Christ.




The Characterization of God in Acts


Book Description

Based on the plot-oriented nature of the Acts narrative, a key thought behind this book is how God is revealed in the deployment of characters and events. God's supreme saving will and mission plan determine the development of human history as well as the narrative; God's sovereign authority and power governs the movement of characters and the development of events and thus assures the fulfilment of his salvific plan. From the carrying out of the divine redemptive plan emerges a God who is invisible-yet-perceivable, dominant-yet-cogent, and continuous-yet-changing.




Covenant: A Vital Element of Reformed Theology


Book Description

Covenant: A Vital Element of Reformed Theology provides a multi-disciplinary reflection on the theme of the covenant, from historical, biblical-theological and systematic-theological perspectives. The interaction between exegesis and dogmatics in the volume reveals the potential and relevance of this biblical motif. It proves to be vital in building bridges between God’s revelation in the past and the actual question of how to live with him today.




Prophetic Jesus, Prophetic Church


Book Description

Christians chronically and desperately need prophecy, says award winning biblical scholar Luke Timothy Johnson. In this and every age, the church needs the bold proclamation of God's transforming vision to challenge its very human tendency toward expediency and self interest -- to jolt it into new insight and energy. For Johnson, the New Testament books Luke and Acts provide that much-needed jolt to conventional wisdom. To read Luke-Acts as a literary unit, he says, is to uncover a startling prophetic vision of Jesus and the church -- one that imagines a reality very different from the one humans would construct on their own. Johnson identifies in Luke's writings an ongoing call for today's church, grounded in the prophetic ministry of Jesus Christ, to embody and enact God's vision for the world--from publisher's website.




Characters and Characterization in Luke-Acts


Book Description

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.




The Acts of the Apostles


Book Description

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




Raised from Obscurity


Book Description

Luke-Acts contains many and diverse female characters, many of whom play significant roles in the unfolding drama of God's plan of salvation through Jesus and the early church. Women followers of Jesus are fully-fledged disciples who prove to be reliable and insightful, participating in God's mission at all levels. They act as interpreters of salvation history, God's prophetic mouthpieces, witnesses to the resurrection, proclaimers and teachers of the gospel, and patrons and leaders of the early church. At the heart of this narratival exposure lies a particular theology of women. This narratival presentation and theology is rich and quite remarkable given the socio-religious climate in which Luke wrote. An appreciation of this 'narratival theology' is important, not only for a well-rounded understanding of Luke-Acts, but as a vital part of the variegated witness of the New Testament regarding the role of women in God's new community.




A Theology of Luke and Acts


Book Description

This groundbreaking work by Darrell Bock thoroughly explores the theology of Luke’s gospel and the book of Acts. In his writing, Luke records the story of God working through Jesus to usher in a new era of promise and Spirit-enablement so that the people of God can be God’s people even in the midst of a hostile world. It is a message the church still needs today. Bock both covers major Lukan themes and sets forth the distinctive contribution of Luke-Acts to the New Testament and the canon of Scripture, providing readers with an in-depth and holistic grasp of Lukan theology in the larger context of the Bible. I. Howard Marshall: “A remarkable achievement that should become the first port of call for students in this central area of New Testament Theology.” Craig S. Keener: “Bock’s excellent exploration of Luke’s theological approach and themes meets an important need in Lukan theology.”




Actualité de la pensée médiévale. Recueil d’articles.


Book Description

This volume contains the papers presented at the 47th Colloquium Biblicum Lovaniense (Leuven, 1998). The general theme of the meeting was the unity of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Main papers on this topic were read by R.L. Brawley, J. Delobel, A. Denaux, J.A. Fitzmeyer, F.W. Horn, J. Kremer, A. Lindemann, O. Mainville, D. Marguerat, F. Neirynck, W. Radl, M. Rese, J. Taylor, C.M. Tuckett, and J. Verheyden. While a large majority of scholars agree that Luke intended his work to cover both the past and the continuing history of Jesus (Gospel and Acts), the essays also illustrate the complexities of this view on the unity of Luke-Acts when it comes to interpret the various aspects of Lukan theology, christology, pneumatology, and ecclesiology, the expansion of the Church in light of its Jewish origins, the genre of Luke-Acts, and the literary and stylistic means Luke used to make his work a unity. In total the volume includes some 40 papers, of which 24 are offered papers: L. Alexander, H. Baarlink, M. Bachmann, D. Bechard, T.L. Brodie, G.P. Carras, A. del Agua, C. Focant, G. Geiger, B.J. Koet, V. Koperski, D.P. Moessner, G. Oegema, J. Pichler, E. Plumacher, A. Puig i Tarrech, U. Schmid, B. Schwank, N. Taylor, P.J. Tomson, S. Van den Eynde, S. Walton, G. Wasserberg, F. Wilk. This collection is an invaluable contribution to current discussions in Lukan study and to a nuanced understanding of the relationship between Luke's two volumes.