The Narrative Unity of Luke-Acts: A Literary Interpretation, Volume 2

 

Robert C. Tannehill

Fortress Press, 1994 - 412 pages

Demonstrates how the repetitions of ideas and formal structures function both to reinforce concepts and to achieve ideological progression.

 

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Septuagintal Midrash in the Speeches of Acts

 

Luke Timothy Johnson

Marquette University Press, 2002 - 76 pages

 

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The Sermon on the Mount: A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49)

 

Hans Dieter Betz

Fortress Press, 1995 - 695 pages

To study these sermons with Betz is to be vastly informed about all forms of gospel criticism, and ultimately, about Jesus himself.

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Commission Narratives: A comparative Study of the Canonical and Apocryphal Acts

 

István Czachesz

Peeters Publishers, 2007-08-09 - 322 pages

 

Commission Narratives is based on the author's doctoral dissertation in Groningen (2002). The monograph offers the first overarching, comparative treatment of commission narratives in the canonical and apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, analysing them in their ancient literary setting. Following a survey of this widespread narrative theme in the cultural environment of early Christianity, Czachesz establishes a threefold social typology of divine commission (institutional, prophetic and philosophical) and explores the occurences of the three types in the canonical and apocryphal Acts. The central chapters of the book provide a close reading of the textual evidence, investigating intertextual relations, the function of commission in the narrative structure, and the biographical models of self-definition that commission stories offered to the ancient readers in their changing social and ecclesiastical environments. Based on this textual analysis, Czachesz makes new proposals about the reconstruction, Sitz im Leben and dating of several apocryphal Acts. Finally, he examines the synchronic structure of commission, showing that the variety of commission narratives emerges from a constant set of motifs that are generated by interactions among the characters.

 

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Community and Gospel in Luke-Acts: The Social and Political Motivations of Lucan Theology

 

Philip Francis Esler

Cambridge University Press, 1989-11-24 - 288 pages

Always observing the established techniques of New Testament analysis, especially redaction criticism, Professor Esler makes extensive use of sociology and anthropology to examine the author of Luke-Acts' theology as a response to social and political pressures on the Christian community for whom he was writing. Various themes such as table-fellowship, the law, the temple, poverty and riches, and politics are examined to determine how they have been influenced by the social and political background of Luke's audience. This book offers a New Testament paradigm and warrant for those interested in generating a theology attuned to the social and political realities affecting contemporary Christian congregations.

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Contextualizing Acts: Lukan Narrative and Greco-Roman Discourse

 

Todd C. Penner, Caroline Vander Stichele

Society of Biblical Lit, 2003 - 407 pages

 

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Prayer and Vindication in Luke-Acts: The Theme of Prayer Within the Context of the Legitimating and Edifying Objective of the Lukan Narrative

 

Geir O. Holmas

Continuum International Publishing Group, 2011-05-19 - 300 pages

A comprehensive study of the literary function of prayer in Luke-Acts, employing narrative critical methodology and focusing on the themes relation to Lukes historiographical aims

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Luke's Gospel

Jonathan Knight

Routledge, 1998-05-29 -  232 pages

Luke's Gospel provides a comprehensive and schematic reading of Luke's Gospel, one of the most important books detailing the life and works of Christ, in six main parts. Knight introduces the Gospel and the narrative theory on which the Gospel rests. He offers a detailed, chapter-by-chapter exposition of the Gospel and also alternative perspectives, such as feminism and deconstruction. He considers the principal motifs of the Gospel, particularly the theme of the temple, which has been previously overlooked in Luke scholarship, arguing that Jesus pronounces the present temple forsaken by God to introduce himself as the cornerstone of the eschatological temple. Finally, he examines earlier readings of Luke's Gospel.
Jonathan Knight presents an accessible and jargon-free introduction to the Gospel and makes a valuable addition to the New Testament Readings series.

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Poet & Peasant ; and, Through Peasant Eyes: a Literary-Cultural Approach to the Parables in Luke

 

Kenneth E. Bailey

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1983-06-01 - 448 pages

This combined edition of Kenneth Bailey's two acclaimed studies of the parables in Luke's Gospel looks anew at the parables from the perspective of the Oriental culture, an approach that draws out important meanings overlooked by modern readers

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The Prophethood of All Believers: A Study in Luke's Charismatic Theology

 

Roger Stronstad

Continuum International Publishing Group, 1999-10-01 - 135 pages

For centuries Christians have had the concept of the priesthood of all believers firmly engrained in their minds. The prophethood of all believers, on the other hand, is, so Stronstad believes, the main focus of Spirit-baptism in Luke-Acts. A landmark study in Lukan pneumatology, this book is aimed at a mixed readership ranging from the scholar to the informed layperson. The role of the Spirit in Luke is clearly portrayed in terms of vocational empowerment. Traditionally, Lukan pneumatology has been viewed through Pauline or Johannine spectacles, but by interpreting Luke independently of the other Gospels and the epistles, Stronstad has cogently argued for the historical and contemporary relevance of Spirit-baptism. He challenges the reader to develop a new appreciation of Luke's theology of the Holy Spirit, and, in fact, to consider the role of the prophethood of all believers for today's world.

 

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Christ and Caesar: The Gospel and the Roman Empire in the Writings of Paul and Luke

 

Seyoon Kim

William B. Eerdmans Pub., 2008-10-16 - 228 pages

The slogan "Paul and the Empire" is much in vogue in New Testament scholarship today. But did Paul formulate his gospel in antithesis to the Roman imperial cult and ideology and seek to subvert the Empire? Did he really present Christ and Caesar as antithetical to each other?

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The Assumed Authorial Unity of Luke and Acts: A Reassessment of the Evidence

Patricia Walters

Cambridge University Press, Feb 17, 2011 - 256 pages

For nearly nineteen hundred years, few have questioned the single authorship of Luke and Acts. A careful reassessment of the internal and external evidence, however, reveals this assumption to be built on a shakier foundation than was previously thought. Patricia Walters's innovative study offers a statistical analysis of Luke and Acts, pointing to the existence of highly significant differences in their prose style. In particular, a comprehensive survey and re-examination of the two books' least contested authorial stratum - their seams and summaries - brings to light ancient prose compositional patterns that distinguish Luke and Acts beyond a reasonable doubt. Walters's application of statistical analysis is unique in biblical scholarship, and will provide impetus for using similar methods in other areas of the field. This book will therefore be of great interest to academic researchers and students of early Christianity, classical literature and rhetoric, and New Testament studies.

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