The Past as Legacy: Luke-Acts and Ancient Epic

The Past as Legacy: Luke-Acts and Ancient Epic

by Marianne Palmer Bonz
ISBN-10:
0800632257
ISBN-13:
9780800632250
Pub. Date:
03/02/2000
Publisher:
1517 Media
ISBN-10:
0800632257
ISBN-13:
9780800632250
Pub. Date:
03/02/2000
Publisher:
1517 Media
The Past as Legacy: Luke-Acts and Ancient Epic

The Past as Legacy: Luke-Acts and Ancient Epic

by Marianne Palmer Bonz
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Overview

This study addresses the genre and interpretation of Luke through Acts in the light of its contemporary social, literary, and ideological milieu, particularly as these elements are reflected in the Latin epics contemporary with Luke-Acts and in their famous Augustan prototype, Virgil's Aeneid. Literary evidence indicating that Virgil's works had been translated into Greek prose by the middle of the first century makes this line of inquiry especially promising. Interpreting Luke-Acts as a prose adaptation of heroic or historical epic provides a hermeneutical model that is both universal in its theological message and essentially popular in its narrative presentation.

Beginning with the question of literary occasion, Bonz introduces the particular configuration of historical circumstances that produced the great foundational epics of Gilgamesh, the Iliad and Odyssey, as well as the Aeneid, and suggests that the historical situation for the composition of Luke-Acts was closely analogous in key respects, for example: literary structure, epic journey, divine mission, prophecy, and reversal of destiny.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780800632250
Publisher: 1517 Media
Publication date: 03/02/2000
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 240
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Marianne Palmer Bonz is the managing editor of Harvard Theological Review and holds a doctorate in New Testament from Harvard Divinity School.

Table of Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

> CURRENT PROBLEMS OF GENRE AND INTERPRETATION IN LUKE-ACTS

Double Vision in Twentieth-Century Lukan Studies

Historiography vs. "History-Telling": The Great Epics of Antiquity

Luke-Acts: A Fundational Epic for the Early Christian Church?

THE AENEID: ROME'S SACRED HISTORY

Antecedents and Influences

Virgil and the Historical Context of the Aeneid

Overture: Themes and Structures in Book 1

Prophecy, Journey, and the Divine Mission

War and Reversal

The Aeneid as a Paradigm and Inspiration for Luke-Acts

FIRST-CENTURY ADAPTATIONS OF VIRGILIAN EPIC

Promulgating the Myth and Message of the Aeneid

From Augustus to Vespasian: Lucan's De Bello Civili

Literature and Ideology under Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian

Statius's Thebaid: Pessimistic Rejoinder to Virgilian Prophecy

Valerius Flaccus's Argonautica: Revising Augustan Eschatology

Silius Italicus's Punica: Historical Extension of Virgilian Mythology

The Legacy of Latin Epic and Its Relevance for Luke-Acts

THE DRAMATIC UNFOLDING OF PROPHECY AND HISTORY IN LUKE-ACTS

Luke's Role in the Development of Early Christian Tradition

Luke and the Historical Context of Luke-Acts

Viewing Luke-Acts from Its Narrative Center: Acts 2

"The House of Israel" and Themes of Division Reversal

LUKE-ACTS RECONSIDERED A Suitable Introduction for Literate Greek Prose: Luke 1:1-4

The Dramatic Overture: Luke 1-2

Inauguration of the Mission and Initial Opposition: Luke 3-12

The Judgment of Jerusalem: Luke 13-24

Continuation of the Mission by the Twelve: Acts 1-15

The Witnessing of Paul and the Successful Advancement of the Mission: Acts 16-28

Luke-Acts and the Importance of Genre to Interpretation

Luke-Acts: An Epic Presentation of Christian Origins

Appendix A: The Aeneid and Its Critical Interpreters

Appendix B: The Dating of Valerius Flaccus's Argonautica

Appendix C: Stefan Weinstock's Comparative Presentation of the Geographical Lists of Paulus Alexandrinus and Luke (Acts 2:9-11)

Sources

Works Consulted

Index of Ancient Documents

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