Luke/Acts and the End of History investigates how understandings of
history in diverse texts of the Graeco-Roman period illuminate Lukan
eschatology. In addition to Luke/Acts, it considers ten comparison
texts as detailed case studies throughout the monograph: Polybius's
Histories, Diodorus Siculus's Library of History, Virgil's Aeneid,
Valerius Maximus's Memorable Doings and Sayings, Tacitus’s
Histories, 2 Maccabees, the Qumran War Scroll, Josephus's Jewish War,
4 Ezra, and 2 Baruch. The study makes a contribution both in its
method and in the questions it asks. By placing Luke/Acts alongside a
broad range of texts from Luke's wider cultural setting, it overcomes
two methodological shortfalls frequently evident in recent research:
limiting comparisons of key themes to texts of similar genre, and
separating non-Jewish from Jewish parallels. Further, by posing fresh
questions designed to reveal writers' underlying conceptions of
history—such as beliefs about the shape and end of history or divine
and human agency in history—this monograph challenges the enduring
tendency to underestimate the centrality of eschatology for Luke's
account. Influential post-war scholarship reflected powerful concerns
about "salvation history" arising from its particular historical
setting, and criticised Luke for focusing on history instead of
eschatology due to the parousia’s delay. Though some elements of
this thesis have been challenged, Luke continues to be associated with
concerns about the delayed parousia, affecting contemporary
interpretation. By contrast, this study suggests that viewing
Luke/Acts within a broader range of texts from Luke's literary context
highlights his underlying teleological conception of history. It
demonstrates not only that Luke retains a sense of eschatological
urgency seen in other New Testament texts, but a structuring of
history more akin to the literature of late Second Temple Judaism than
the non-Jewish Graeco-Roman historiographies with which Luke/Acts is
more commonly compared. The results clarify not only Lukan
eschatology, but related concerns or effects of his eschatology, such
as Luke’s politics and approach to suffering. This monograph thereby
offers an important corrective to readings of Luke/Acts based on
established exegetical habits, and will help to inform interpretation
for scholars and students of Luke/Acts as well as classicists and
theologians interested in these key questions.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9783110614756
Publisert
2019
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
De Gruyter
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter