Soteriological perspective in Luke-Acts

2009

This course will begin by reviewing the history of the interpretation of Luke and Acts and the relationship of these two books. This will lay a foundation for surveying several important theological themes found in Luke-Acts. Finally, this course will explore the use of Luke-Acts in contemporary biblical and constructive theology through research, interpretation, and theological synthesis. Course Purpose and Context: This course is part of the offerings for Asbury's Ph.D. in Biblical Studies. Luke-Acts forms approximately one-third of the NT. Acts in particular is unique for its narrative of the early church in the NT. Therefore, trained scholars in Biblical Studies should be familiar with its contents, theological emphases, and history of interpretation. This course stands alongside the study of other major blocks of material in the canon, deals specifically with hermeneutical issues between text and theology, and picks up the history of interpretation in the modern period where the seminar in the history of biblical interpretation ends. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: State the major issues that shaped the interpretation of Luke-Acts in the ancient and modern contexts and explain how these issues continue to affect the interpretation of Luke's opus.

2009

This course will begin by reviewing the history of the interpretation of Luke and Acts and the relationship of these two books. This will lay a foundation for surveying several important theological themes found in Luke-Acts. Finally, this course will explore the use of Luke-Acts in contemporary biblical and constructive theology through research, interpretation, and theological synthesis. Course Purpose and Context: This course is part of the offerings for Asbury's Ph.D. in Biblical Studies. Luke-Acts forms approximately one-third of the NT. Acts in particular is unique for its narrative of the early church in the NT. Therefore, trained scholars in Biblical Studies should be familiar with its contents, theological emphases, and history of interpretation. This course stands alongside the study of other major blocks of material in the canon, deals specifically with hermeneutical issues between text and theology, and picks up the history of interpretation in the modern period where the seminar in the history of biblical interpretation ends. Course Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: State the major issues that shaped the interpretation of Luke-Acts in the ancient and modern contexts and explain how these issues continue to affect the interpretation of Luke's opus.

2016

In the following study we deal with a very debated issue in Lukan theology, namely the place of Jesus’death in the soteriology of Luke-Acts. Against many Lukan scholars who play down the importance of Jesus’death in St. Luke’s teaching on salvation, we claim that the evangelist presents it a ransom for sin, seal of the New Covenant and fulfi llment of the Jewish Passover. In the fi rst part we show that St. Luke regards the main events of Jesus’life as an indivisible saving whole and, consequently, being part of this whole, the death of Jesus is salvifi c. In the second part we study two important texts, Lk 22, 19-20 and Acts 20, 28, which explicitly assign redemtive value to Jesus’death and then we highlight some texts that allude to Jesus’death as the vicarious death of Ebed Jahweh.

"This volume provides an introduction and engagement with the major critical issues in the study of Luke-Acts. As the study of Acts has become, once again, one of the major areas of focus within New Testament scholarship, this collection of essays presents an orientation to the major issues of Luke-Acts study, while providing fresh scholarship by senior scholars. This holistic overture addresses fundamental questions such as authorship, dating, textual concerns, sources, speeches and literary form(s). Furthermore, theological topics, such as Christology, ecclesiology, pneumatology and missiology, as well as the portrayal of Paul, and the role of the Old Testament are discussed. Finally, the reception history of Acts and its influence on the development of the early “catholic” church is considered. Table of Contents (page 5) Contributors (page 7) Preface (page 11) Abbreviations (page 13) Introduction (page 17) The Author and Date of Luke-Acts: Exploring the Options by Frank Dicken (page 23) The Unity of Luke-Acts: One Work, One Author, One Purpose? by Joseph Verheyden (page 43) The Text of Luke and Acts: Witnesses, Features, and the Significance of the Textual Traditions by Dieter T. Roth (page 67) The Sources for Luke and Acts: Where Did Luke Get His Material (and Why Does it Matter)? by Brandon D. Crowe (page 89) The Genre of Luke and Acts: The State of the Question by Sean A. Adams (page 113) The Narrative of Luke-Acts: Getting to Know the Savior God by F. Scott Spencer (page 137) The Use of the Old Testament in Luke-Acts: Luke's Scriptural Story of the "Things Accomplished Among Us" by Kenneth D. Litwak (page 163) The Speeches in Acts: Historicity, Theology, and Genre by Osvaldo Padilla (page 187) The Pneumatology of Luke-Acts: The Spirit of Prophecy Unleashed by David G. Peterson (page 211) Christology in Acts: Jesus in Early Christian Belief and Practice by Larry W. Hurtado (page 233) Paul in Acts: The Prophetic Portrait of Paul by Carl N. Toney (page 255) The Patristic Reception of Luke and Acts: Scholarship, Theology, and Moral Exhortation in the Homilies of Origen and Chrysostom by Karl Shuve (page 279) Luke-Acts and "Early Catholicism": Eschatological and Ecclesiological Trajectories in the Early Church by Thomas Keene (page 303) Index of Scripture and Ancient Writings (page 327) Index of Authors (page 349) "

2015

Contemporary scholarship recognises Luke's Gospel and Acts of the Apostles as two volumes of Luke's one book. This has greatly improved understanding of Luke's literary contribution to Jesus‟ story. One gulf yet impedes better knowledge of Luke's contribution. For some two centuries now, majority of scholars adopt either the Two-Document Hypothesis or the Two-Gospel Hypothesis in explaining the composition of Luke's Gospel. Observably, the Two-Document Hypothesis ignores, and to some degree, the Two-Gospel Hypothesis glosses over Luke's rhetorical concerns and narrative goal in writing, which is central to any utterance. This paper examines the usefulness of these approaches and then presents an alternative one. It argues that a more informed understanding of Luke-Acts, while valuing the author's sources, should focus on Luke's narrative techniques in his two-volume book. The paper employs a language-in-life-situation hermeneutic (name of the theorist...

St. John of Damascus School of Theology's Annals, 2024

The Lucan narrative is the most extensive literary work of the New Testament and has a complex system of sources, especially if we include its second volume, the Book of Acts. For structuring this article, I have arranged the topics into five sections that highlight the characteristics and foundations of the Lucan narrative from a synchronic perspective and accentuating both its linguistic and theological aspects. The elegance of Lucan feather, the art with which he combines the sources at his disposal and the way in which he exposes his theological priorities make the Gospel a masterpiece that is intricate and rich in form and content. In these pages I will try to highlight the fundamental components and characteristics of its narrative, starting from five thematic axes: The Lucan work as an etiology, the particularity of Lucan synchronisms and their function in the macro-narrative, the management of geographical spaces in the entire Gospel, the importance of the Temple in the narrative, and Jesus’ relationship with his opponents and followers.

2017

This thesis examines possible allusions to the cult in Luke and indicates their potential impact on his soteriology. Various Jewish concepts of ‘salvation’ current in Luke’s day are discussed. This is followed by a critical examination of the Nazareth pericope (Lk 4.16-30) and the Emmaus encounter (Lk 24.13-35), as possible allusions to the Jubilee, and that Jesus might be presented as the fulfilment of the prophetic redemption contained therein. The sabbath-day healings are considered as possible indications that Luke’s Jesus deliberately healed on the sabbath in order that the sick might, being healed, receive shalom. Indications that Luke and his contemporaries may have understood the consecration of the sabbath in Genesis to be, at least partly, a celebration of shalom as the work of creation, is presented as possible evidence that the healing ministry of Jesus in Luke was fulfilling the purpose of the Temple cult (the ritual re-creation of Edenic shalom), and that Jesus applied...