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Reclaiming the Radical Economic Message of Luke

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Reclaiming the Radical Economic Message of Luke University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2019 Reclaiming the Radical Economic Message of Luke David Dean Mimier King University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the History of Christianity Commons Recommended Citation King, David Dean Mimier, "Reclaiming the Radical Economic Message of Luke" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1590. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1590 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. Reclaiming the Radical Economic Message of Luke A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology Joint PhD Program In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by David Dean Mimier King June 2019 Advisor: Prof. Gregory A. Robbins ©Copyright by David Dean Mimier King 2019 All Rights Reserved Author: David Dean Mimier King Title: Reclaiming the Radical Economic Message of Luke Advisor: Prof. Gregory A. Robbins Degree Date: June 2019 ABSTRACT Of the four canonical gospels of the New Testament, the one most concerned with poverty, wealth, and the ethics of possession is Luke. It contains more economic material and a sharper message than do Mark, Matthew, or John. A centuries-long debate rages over just how revolutionary Luke’s message is. This dissertation employs redactional, literary, statistical, historical, and theological methodologies to recover Luke’s radical economic message, to place it in its ancient context, and to tease out its prophetic implications for today. It argues that Luke has a radical message of good news for the poor and a call for resistance to wealth. God is shown to favor the poor, championing their struggle for justice while condemning the rich and recommending a sweeping disposal of wealth for the benefit of the poor. This represents a distinct break from the prevailing ethics of the ancient Roman Empire and a profound challenge to the economic systems of the modern world. Generations of interpreters have worked to file down the sharp edges of Luke’s message, from scribes copying ancient manuscripts, to authors from the first few centuries of the Christian movement, to contemporary biblical scholars. Such domestication disfigures the gospel, silencing its critique of an economic system whose unremitting drive for profit and economic growth continues to widen the gap between the rich and the poor while threatening life-altering, environmental change. It is time to reclaim the bracing, prophetic call of Luke’s economic message, a message that ii warns against the destructive power of wealth and insists on justice for the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. II TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................... IV TABLE OF FIGURES............................................................................................... VII ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................. VIII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................1 MAIN CONVERSATION PARTNERS IN LUKAN ECONOMIC STUDIES ................................ 10 Luke Timothy Johnson (1977) ................................................................................ 11 Walter Pilgrim (1981) ............................................................................................ 13 David Peter Seccombe (1982) ................................................................................ 15 Phillip Francis Esler (1987)................................................................................... 17 Dario López Rodriguez (1997, english 2012) ......................................................... 19 Kyoung-Jin Kim (1998) .......................................................................................... 22 Thomas E. Phillips (2001) ...................................................................................... 24 James A. Metzger (2007)........................................................................................ 26 Christopher M. Hays (2010) .................................................................................. 28 Rachel Coleman (2018) ......................................................................................... 30 Other Important Works Outside the Genre ............................................................. 32 METHOD AND OUTLINE .............................................................................................. 35 CHAPTER 2: A NEW ACCOUNTING ..................................................................... 39 METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................... 40 OVERALL OUTLOOK ................................................................................................... 43 SOURCE ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................... 48 VOICE ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................ 56 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 70 CHAPTER 3: LUKE’S CLEAR MESSAGE OF LIBERATION .............................. 72 GOOD NEWS FOR THE POOR (A) .................................................................................. 73 Birth Narrative ...................................................................................................... 73 Defining and Enacting the Mission ........................................................................ 80 Parables of Samaritan, Banquet, and Unjust Judge ................................................ 88 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 90 RESISTANCE TO WEALTH (B) ...................................................................................... 91 iv Wealth Avoidance for Jesus and his Disciples ........................................................ 92 Curses.................................................................................................................... 98 Parables .............................................................................................................. 100 Two Encounters ................................................................................................... 107 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 121 CHAPTER 4: CHALLENGES TO LIBERATION ................................................. 123 ACCOMMODATION TO WEALTH (C) ........................................................................... 124 WORDS AGAINST THE POOR (D)................................................................................ 129 Six Scattered Sayings ........................................................................................... 130 Parable of the Shrewd Manager—Luke 16:1-13 ................................................... 135 Parable of the Pounds—Luke 19:11-27 ................................................................ 144 A NEWER ACCOUNTING ............................................................................................ 156 CHAPTER 5: ROMAN ECONOMIC DOMINATION AND LUKE’S RADICAL ALTERNATIVE ........................................................................................................ 158 DEFINING RICH AND POOR ........................................................................................ 159 FROM BENEFACTION TO CARE FOR THE POOR ............................................................ 172 THROUGH THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE .......................................................................... 182 Clement of Alexandria: Quis dives salvetur? ........................................................ 186 De divitiis, a Pelagian Writing on Wealth ............................................................ 198 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 209 CHAPTER 6: LUKAN ACCOMMODATION TO ROMAN ECONOMIC DOMINATION .......................................................................................................... 211 A NEW ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK............................................................................... 212 ROMAN RÉGULATION ................................................................................................ 219 THE NEW TESTAMENT, LUKE, AND RÉGULATION........................................................ 223 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 241 CHAPTER 7: MODERN MAMMONISM ............................................................... 243 THE MARKET AS GOD ............................................................................................... 244 MICHAEL NOVAK AND THE SPIRIT OF
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