Luke the Historian of Israel’s Legacy, Theologian of Israel’s ’Christ’: A New Reading of the ’Gospel Acts’ of Luke

388 Pages·2016·1.2 MB·English

by  David Paul Moessner

David Paul Moessner
Luke the Historian of Israel’s Legacy, Theologian of Israel’s ‘Christ’
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift
für die neutestamentliche
Wissenschaft
Edited by
James D. G. Dunn, Carl R. Holladay,
Hermann Lichtenberger, Jens Schröter,
Gregory E. Sterling and Michael Wolter
Volume 182
David Paul Moessner
Luke the Historian
of Israel’s Legacy,
Theologian of Israel’s
‘Christ’
A New Reading of the ‘Gospel Acts’ of Luke
ISBN 978-3-11-025539-3
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-025540-9
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-039196-1
ISSN 0171-6441
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Dedicated to a ‘Beloved Son’
Whose Lord was ‘at his right hand continually’
David Stevenson Moessner (1988–2015)

Table of contents
Introduction:
Enigma in Two volumes | 1
The ‘Gospel Acts’ of Luke: Hellenistic History as ‘Biblical’ Theology | 1
The Luke-Acts Conundrum | 1
Events, Fiction, and the Hermeneutics of Luke’s Narrative
Persuasion | 3
Biblical Texts and Intertexts as Narrative ‘Arranging’ and Intratextual
‘Sequencing’ for Luke the Hellenistic Historian and ‘Biblical’
Theologian | 7
Part I: Luke’s ‘Gospel Acts’ and the Genre of the Gospels | 11
Chapter One: How Luke Writes | 13
Chapter Two: Re-Reading Talbert’s Luke: The Bios of “Balance” or the “Bias” of
History? | 39
[Short Excursus: Richard Burridge’s What are the Gospels?
A Comparison with Graeco-Roman Biography, Cambridge University
Press, 1992] | 64
Part II: Luke’s Prologues and Hellenistic Narrative Hermeneutics | 67
Chapter Three: The Author ‘Luke’: “As One Who Has a Thoroughly Informed
Familiarity with All the Events from the Top” (παρηκολουθηκότι ἄνωθεν
πᾶσιν ἀκριβῶς, Luke 1:3a) | 68
Chapter Four: The Meaning of ΚΑΘΕΞΗΣ in Luke’s Two-Volume Narrative | 108
Part III: Luke among Hellenistic Historians | 125
Chapter Five: ‘Listening Posts’ Along the Way: ‘Synchronisms’ as Metaleptic
Prompts to the ‘Continuity of the Narrative’ in Polybius’s Histories and in
Luke’s ‘Gospel Acts’ | 127
Chapter Six: ‘Managing’ the Audience: Diodorus Siculus and Luke the Evangelist
on Designing Authorial Intent | 154
Chapter Seven: A New Reading οf Luke’s ‘Gospel Acts’: Acts as the
‘Metaleptic’ Collapse of Luke and Dionysius of Halicarnassus’s Narrative
‘Arrangement’ (οἰκονομíα) as the Hermeneutical Keys to Luke’s
Re-Visioning of the “Many” | 172
VIII   Table of Contents
Part IV: Luke’s Theologia Crucis. The Suffering Servant(s) of the Lord:
Moses, David, the Suffering Righteous, and Jesus and “All The
Prophets” | 201
Chapter Eight: Luke 9:1–50: Luke’s Preview of the Journey of the Prophet like
Moses of Deuteronomy | 205
Chapter Nine: “The Christ Must Suffer”: New Light On The Jesus – Peter,
Stephen, Paul Parallels in Luke’s ‘Gospel Acts’ | 238
Chapter Ten: Luke’s “Plan of God” from the Greek Psalter: The Rhetorical
Thrust of ‘The Prophets and the Psalms’ in Peter’s Speech at
Pentecost | 272
Part V: Luke, the Church, and Israel’s Legacy | 289
Chapter Eleven: Paul in Acts: Preacher of Eschatological Repentance to
Israel | 292
Chapter Twelve: Das Doppelwerk des Lukas und Heil als Geschichte.
Oscar Cullmanns auffälliges Schweigen bezüglich des stärksten
Befürworters seiner Konzeption der Heilsgeschichte im Neuen
Testament | 302
Conclusion
Luke the Hellenistic Historian of Israel’s Legacy, Theologian of Israel’s
‘Christ’ | 315
I. Luke is a Configurer (ποιητής) of oral and written traditions concerning
events and matters purporting to have taken place in the real world of the
author. By ‘arranging’ a new narrative sequence different from a number of
predecessors, Luke imparts a new cognitive and affective understanding of
these happenings. | 315
1. Patterns of Recurrence from Authoritative Written and Oral
Traditions | 317
2. Patterns of Recurrence of ‘First Person’ Participation within the
Described Events | 328
3. Patterns of Recurrence Attributed to an Overarching Divine Will, Fate,
or Necessity | 330
II. Luke is a Manager (οἰκονόμος) of the Narrative ‘Economy’ (οἰκονομία).
As rhetorical elaborator, Luke turns to various tropes of conventional
poetics to effect the understanding of the events that he wishes his
audience to attain. | 332
1. Luke’s ‘beginning’ (ἡ ἀρχή) for his two-volume work forecasts the
plot and sets the tone for the whole: Israel’s “Christ” of the scriptures
“must suffer and rise up” and Jesus of Nazareth is that “Christ.” | 334
Table of Contents   IX
2. The metaleptic collapse within Luke’s secondary prooimion pulls
Paul into the ‘continuity of the narrative’ as central to the two-volume
narrative ‘arrangement’ so that Paul emerges as chief “witness” of the
Christ’s “anointed” sending to Israel and the nations–“to the end of the
earth.” | 336
Finale:
Luke the Historian, Biblical Theologian of Israel’s “Christ” | 339
Bibliography | 340
Index | 358
Abbreviations
AB Anchor Bible
ACCS Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture
AGAJU Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des Urchristentums
AJP American Journal of Philology
AnBib Analecta Biblica
ANQ Andover Newton Quarterly
ATANT Abhandlungen zur Theologie des Alten und Neuen Testaments
BDAG Bauer Greek lexicon
BDF Blass, Friedrich, Albert Debrunner, and Robert W. Funk. A Greek
Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961.
BECNT Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
BETL Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium
BEvT Beiträge zur evangelischen Theologie
BGBE Beiträge zur Geschichte der biblischen Exegese
BHT Beiträge zur historischen Theologie
Bib Biblica
BWANT Beiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament
BZ Biblische Zeitschrift
BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
EHAT Exegetisches Handbuch zum Alten Testament
EHST Europäische Hochschulschriften: Theologie
EvT Evangelische Theologie
FBBS Facet Books, Biblical Series
FC Fathers of the Church
FRLANT Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testa-
ments
HNT Handbuch zum Neuen Testament
HTR Harvard Theological Review
IB Interpreter’s Bible
ICC International Critical Commentary
Int Interpretation
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
JRS Journal of Roman Studies
JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament