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Rethinking the Unity and Reception of Luke and Acts

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Rethinking the Unity and Reception of Luke and Acts RETHINKING THE UNITY AND RECEPTION OF LUKE AND ACTS EDITED BY ANDREW F. GREGORY AND C. KAVIN ROWE ----u--­~~~ The University of South Carolina Press CONTENTS Foreword vu Franfois Bovon Preface xi Acknowledgments xv PART ONE The Unity of Luke-Acts in ReceOI Michael E Bird Fourteen Years After: Revisiting R Richard L Pervo © 2010 University of South Carolina PART TWO History, Hermeneutics, and the l Published by the University ofSomh Carolina Press Columbia, 50mh Carolina 29208 C Kavin /Wwe www.sc.edu/uscpress Literary Criticism of Luke-Acts: I Luke Timothy Johnson Manufactured in the United States ofAmerica Why Not Let Acts Be Acts? In G Markus Bockmuehl 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 I2 II 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I Literary Unity and Reception Hi! Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data and Acts 74 Rerhinking the unity and reception of Luke and Acts I edited by Andrew C KavinRowe F. Gregory and C. Kavin Rowe. The Reception of Luke and Acts p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. Andrew E Gregory ISBN 978-1-57003-916-4 (doth: alk. paper) 1. Bible. N.T. Luke-Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Bible. N.T. PART THREE Acts-Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Gregory, Andrew F. II. Rowe, Luke and Acts-The Early Years: Christopher Kavin, 1974­ of a Recent Monograph 97 BS2589.R48 2010 Joseph verheyden 226·4'065-dc22 2010005708 The Book ofActs as a Narrative of the New Testament: A Prog: This book was printed on Glatfelter Natures, a recycled paper ..vith 30 percent David Trobisch postconsumer waste content. Joseph Verheyden :r7). Not much can be made of the first one, but -rx1uction, vol. 2, 306) and Berding regards 4., as oa~ (Polycarp and Pau~ 199). The phrase ou "Co :JvmJv aU"CQ) in Phil 2.r might be another "rem­ mog (Polycarp and the New Testament, 20r n. r9) ilycarp is probably in a general sense dependent Ie: true, but in the New Testament it is only Luke THE BOOK OF ACTS AS A ::tich differ from Mart. 23:35 (c£ Mart. 27:25, no NARRATIVE COMMENTARY ~. iv-tac; "Co allla "Cou clv8pID1tOV "Colnov). The :bened by the preceding clause in 2.r about "the ON THE LETTERS OF THE Etal Kpt't1)C; ~IDV"COlV Kat veKprov) that in this in Aa.s 10:42 (not as a noun but with a form of NEW TESTAMENT !IlOrif of "Christ the Judge" is dear to Luke, but A Programmatic Essay icit: C£ Luke Timothy Johnson, The Acts ofthe ugical Press, r992), 193. Together these two ele­ dive clause that defines Jesus Christ as the Lord David Trobisch :ment closely parallels I Cor. r5:38 (c£ Phil. 2:10 [be third is mentioned in Acts in the context of This essay assesses the value of Acts as a historical source. Following the most ; Jesus Christ "Lord of all" (v. 36) and the one important reading instructions presented in the text through the narrator's oorif is found again in Acts 2:24 in combination (Luke's) voice, the main characters Qerusalem authorities and Paul), and the cen­ u:b.," very much in the same way as this occurs tral conflict (Paul's apostleship) I shall explore the narrative within the literary instead of "death," c£ Acts 2:27), a combination context of the wider New Testament. My thesis is that the main function ofActs :ic such as Zeller that this might well be an allu­ :rl artd founh element of the series in 2.r may be is to fill in the gaps in the story as it is told through the two New Testament lOught, for in Acts 10:43 the text continues with letter collections: the Letters of Paul and the Catholic Epistles. This narrative­ artd preaching forgiveness of sins, a motif that critical approach suggests that Acts is an excellent source to describe the inner :'17) for "the one who believes in him" ("Cov 1tt(J­ world of second-century readers and their theological convictions. The value of lke-Acts of1tt(J"CeuOl with eic; for Acts 14:23 artd Acts to reconstruct first-century events is, however, unreliable without corrobo­ E<; eic; in Phil 2.1). These are the same prophets ration from sources outside the New Testament. ::quired of "this generation» according to Luke ;pel to the Gentiles as the one Jesus had preached NARRATOR'S VOICE rael artd its leaders. "Die von Gott bestimmte To tell a story one must present the audience with a setting in time and space, Adresse. Dies sagt Petrus also in seiner Predigr with characters, and with a conflict that has to be resolved. "In my first book, :Jg flir Nicht-Juden gibt es nicht" Oacob Jervell, dear Theophilus, I wrote about everything that Jesus did and taught from the lartdenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1998], 312). It is this beginning to the day when he was taken up into heaven" (Acts I:I2a). In the very uiience of (most probably) non-Jews. So maybe first sentence the readers ofActs are introduced to the narrator, whose voice will ~ on the basis of 2.1, that "Polycarp may have guide them through the turbulent events unfolding before their eyes. He intro­ &tween the Evangelists and the Apologists [Santa duces himself as the author of a previous book. Because there is only one other book in the New Testament collection addressed to Theophilus, and because that book is about "what Jesus did and taught" from "the beginning" Qesus' birth) until "the day when he was taken up into heaven," it is clear to anyone who reads Acts in its canonical COntext that the author of the Acts of the Apostles is the 120 David Trobisch Acts as a Narrative Commentary author of the Third Gospel, whose name was given in the canonical title of that Oohn 21:25): "But there are also many om book: Luke. them were written down, I suppose that AI> readers allow themselves to be drawn into the narrative of Acts, they dis­ books that would be written" Oohn 21:25 cover passages written in the first person plural and learn that Luke, the narrator, John, the volume containing Acts and d was an eyewitness to some of the events he is writing abour. The last of these we­ linked not only to John but to the last senl passages transports the readers to Rome, where the narrator, after assuring his The first sentence of the Letters of PalL readers that Paul is still alive and well, falls silent. Luke concludes his second book to Jesus' resurrection (Son of David aeco[l with the words: "He lived there for two whole years in his own quarters, wel­ his resurrection [Rom. 1:3-4]). This sentc coming everyone who visited, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching crepancy between Mark, which includes r: about the Lord Jesus Christ boldly and freely" (Acts 28:30-31). This last sentence gins ofJesus nor a resurrection appearana provides the setting in time and space for the end of the narrative. Luke finished Rom. 1:3-4 may be taken to reaffirm the telling his story in Rome while Paul was still alive, thus referring the readers back is Paul's gospel for it insists on the royal c to the beginning of the book, where the resurrected Jesus outlines the journey on Jesus' resurrection. which the readers are about to embark: "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem The last sentences of the Letters of Fa [Acts 1-7], in all Judea [Acts 9-12] and Samaria [Acts 8], and to the ends of the ers who encounter the Pauline corpus ar earth [Acts 13-28]" (Acts 1:8). In Rome the apostles and readers alike have reached parts of the New Testament, Paul's refen: "the ends of the earth" as promised. be significant. The fact that Paul mention: sentence (Philemon 24), albeit with Arista. CHARACTERS readers who are sensitive to such cues that: The first half ofActs is dominated by characters who have authority for the early ary level, Luke's Gospel is to be seen as an Christian community in Jerusalem: Jesus' disciples and Jesus' family. They are reference to previous badly organized booI introduced to readers immediately after the ascension story. The eleven disciples: The links between Acts and the Four-4 "Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Acts explains to the readers of the New "I Matthew, James son ofAlphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son ofJames"; letter collections are. In its first part it in. and the family ofJesus: "Mary the mother ofJesus, as well as his brothers" (Acts authors of six of the seven Catholic £pi 1:13-14). In the second half of the book the main character is indisputably the story. In its second part it talks about PaL apostle Paul. The overall design of Acts is thus quite clear. Jerusalem dominates tained in the New Testament. The obviou: the first part of the story, Paul dominates the second part of the story, and in the Testament is that Acts provides the narrati middle (Acts 15) both parties shake hands.! insight deserves more consideration as it i! to Acts. If the New Testament is taken as : LITERARY CONTEXT rative commentary on the letters.3 The manuscript tradition of the New Testament presents the collection as one Acts d()es not quote from any letter of work published in four volumes. Acts precedes the Catholic Epistles in the tles in the New Testament.
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