From Followers to Leaders: The Apostles in the Ritual Status Transformation in Acts 1-2

297 Pages·2002·15.36 MB·English

by  Nelson P. Estrada

l i b r a r y o f n e w t e s t a m e n t s t u d i e s
From FoLLowerS
To LeAderS
The Apostles in the ritual of Status
Transformation in Acts 1-2

NelsoN P. estrada
JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
SUPPLEMENT SERIES
255
Executive Editor
Stanley E. Porter
Editorial Board
Craig Blomberg, Elizabeth A. Castelli, David Catchpole,
Kathleen E. Corley, R. Alan Culpepper, James D.G. Dunn,
Craig A. Evans, Stephen Fowl, Robert Fowler, George H.
Guthrie, Robert Jewett, Robert W. Wall
L

From Followers to Leaders
The Apostles in the Ritual of
Status Transformation in Acts 1-2
Nelson P. Estrada
T8<T CLARK INTERNATIONAL
A Continuum imprint
. \\
L O N D ON • N EW Y O RK
Copyright © 2004 T&T Clark International
A Continuum imprint
Published by T&T Clark International
The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX
15 East 26th Street, Suite 1703, New York, NY 10010
www.tandtclark.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
Typeset by TMW Typesetting, Sheffield
EEISBN 9780826469731
CONTENTS
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xi
Abbreviations xii
Chapter 1
THE APOSTLES AND THE NEED TO CALL FOR AN ELECTION 1
1. Methodology 8
2. The Rituals of Status Transformation 19
3. Summary 37
4. Other Considerations—The Role of Commissioning
Accounts in Luke-Acts: Contributions from
BJ. Hubbard and T.Y. Mullins 38
Parti
SEPARATION
Chapter 2
THE APOSTLES AND THEIR LEADERSHIP ROLE 46
1. The Ritual Elements in Acts 1.3-11 46
2. The Initiands and their Leadership Role 52
3. Summary 64
Chapter 3
THE APOSTLES AND THEIR SEPARATION FROM JESUS 66
1. The Ritual Process in Acts 1.3-5 66
2. Summary 101
vi From Followers to Leaders
Part II
TRANSITION
Chapter 4
THE UPPER ROOM: THE SETTING OF THE APOSTLES' DEFENCE 104
1. The Ritual Elements in Acts 1.12-14 105
2. Summary 114
Chapter 5
THE APOSTLES' MEETING WITH THE OTHER PARTIES IN
THE UPPER ROOM 115
1. The Ritual Process in Acts 1.12-14 115
2. The Eleven with the Women Disciples 125
3. The Eleven with Mary and Jesus' Brothers 131
4. Summary 149
Chapter 6
THE APOSTLES AND THEIR CASE AGAINST JUDAS 151
1. The Ritual Elements in Acts 1.15-26 151
2. Honour and Shame Defined 162
3. Summary 165
Chapter 7
THE APOSTLES AND THE HORROR OF JUDAS ' BETRAYAL 166
1. The Ritual Process in Acts 1.15-26 166
2. The Purpose of the Election Narrative from a
Historical Method 167
3. Twelve Apostles for Twelve Thrones? 172
4. Is Acts 1.15-26 the Fulfilment of Luke 22.30? 176
5. Peter's Speech: A Case of Diminished Responsibility 178
6. The Purpose of the Criteria on the Replacement of Judas
(Acts 1.21-22) 184
7. The Final Choice of Judas' Replacement is Left to God 185
8. Summary 186
Contents vii
Part III
AGGREGATION
Chapter 8
THE APOSTLES AS PRIMARY RECIPIENTS OF THE FATHER' S PROMISE 190
1. The Ritual Elements in Acts 2 191
2. TTocvTes in Acts 2.1 204
3. Summary 208
Chapter 9
THE APOSTLES TAKE ON THEIR LEADERSHIP ROLE 210
1. The Ritual Process in Acts 2 210
2. The Catalogue of Nations as Representative of the
Universal Society 223
3. The Apostles Are Formally Presented to the Society 225
4. The Society Recognizes the Twelve 227
5. Summary 228
Conclusion 230
Appendix: Twelve Apostles for Twelve Thrones?
The Redaction of Matthew 19.28 238
Bibliography 249
Index of References 267
Index of Authors 278

PREFACE
This book is a study of Acts 1-2 using perspectives from the social
sciences. The study is focused on the twelve apostles of Jesus and attempts
to understand the process and purpose of their change of status from being
followers to becoming the leaders of the Christian community. Specific-
ally, this book employs the model of the Rituals of Status Transformation
as its primary theoretical framework in order to clarify and define the
stages and phases of the apostles' status transformation.
The primary purpose of the status transformation is to promote the
leadership integrity of the apostles. This leadership integrity was put into
question because Judas—a member of the Twelve—betrayed Jesus. Judas'
betrayal brought social embarrassment on the apostolate and thus neces-
sitated the author's campaign to show his readers the apostles' status
transformation.
A major part of this study is the suggestion of a plausible solution to the
questions surrounding the function of the pericopes of Acts 1.12-14 and
1.15-26 in relation to the Ascension and Pentecost events. Contrary to the
common view that the prayer of unanimity between the Eleven apostles,
the women, and Jesus' family in the upper room is simply an empty
interval in preparation for the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost,
this study proposes that the pericope is propagandistic and intended to win
support from the clienteles of the women disciples and Jesus' family.
Thus, while the Rituals of Status Transformation serves as our main theo-
retical framework, this study uses other social-scientific models to fully
explore the social conditions within the said pericopes. In the case of Acts
1.12-14, the model of patronage/brokerage together with the mechanics of
social networking have been employed.
The same perspective applies to Acts 1.15-26. Again, contrary to the
more popular view that the election narrative is the fulfilment of the
promise of Jesus to his apostles in Lk. 22.30,1 suggest that the setting is
the stage of the apostles' ritual confrontation before the presence of the
120 believers. This ritual confrontation is understood within the concept of