Luke’s Literary Creativity (Library of New Testament Studies | LNTS)
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
A combination of two classic discussions in New Testament scholarship, the contributions in this volume shed light on the still unsolved synoptic problem by using the well-coined concept of rewriting to describe the relationship between the synoptic gospels. The contributions work with the hypothesis that the synoptic tradition can be conceived of as a process of rewriting: Matthew rewrote Mark and Luke rewrote Mark and Matthew. This approach to the synoptic problem dismantles the grounds for the otherwise widely accepted two-source theory. If it can be shown that Luke knew Matthew’s Gospel the Q-hypothesis is superfluous.
One group of articles focuses on the general question of Luke’s literary relation to the other gospels. In these essays, the concept of rewriting describes Luke’s use of his sources. The second part of the collection examines a number of texts in order to shown how Luke rewrites specific passages. In the final section the contributions concern Luke’s relation to Roman authorities. It is shown that Luke’s literary creativity is not limited to his predecessors in the gospel tradition. Rewriting is his literary strategy.
Key Features
- Reconsiders the Farrer hypothesis by exploring Luke’s creativity
- Surveys significant contributions to New Testament scholarship
- Focuses on the overall relation between the Lukan writings and the other two synoptics
Contents
Part 1: Luke Rewriting
- Luke Uses/Rewrites Matthre: A Survey of the 19th Century Research
- Re-walking the “Way of the Lord”: Luke’s use of Mark and his Reaction to Matthew
- Luke Rewriting and Rewritten
- Inclusive and exclusive agreements
- Acts as Biblical Rewriting of the Gospels and Paul’s Letters
Part 2: Luke Rewriting Old Testament Themes and Passages
- Rewritten Prophecy in Luke-Acts
- The Lord Elijah in the Temple as in Malachi 3.1: ‘Overkilling’ Elijah Tradition in Luke 2
- Luke’s Use of the Old Testament in the Sending of the Seventy(-Two): A Compositional Study
Part 3: Luke’s Rewriting Gospel Themes and Passages
- Luke’s Rewriting of the Markan Mélange of Christological Titles
- Re-written Stereotypes: Scripture and Cultural Echo in Luke’s Parable of the Widow and the Judge
- Luke’s Portrait of Jesus and the Political Authorities in his Passion Narrative. A Rewriting of the Passion Narratives of the Other Gospels
Part 4: Luke’s rewriting of Roman authorities
- Paul in the Presence of Power: Depictions of social interactions in Acts and in the Hellenistic historians
- Luke’s readers and Josephus: Paul and Agrippa II as Test Case
Contributors
- Lukas Bormann
- Martin Friis
- Mark Goodacre
- Daniel Gustafsson
- Werner Kahl
- Marianne Bjelland Kartzow
- Joseph M. Lear Jr.
- Mogens Müller
- Jesper Tang Nielsen
- Stefan Nordgaard
- Lotta Valve
- Francis Watson
- Niels Willert
- Vadim Wittkowsky
Praise for the Print Edition
The essays are timely, appropriate, well-researched and thought-provoking. Well recommended.
—Journal for the Study of the New Testament
With this collection of essays, Müller and Nielsen (both, Univ. of Copenhagen) attempt to bring clarity to the origins of St. Luke’s Gospel. Students of the synoptic gospels know that this problem of origin has a long and storied history. The premise of the book is that Luke used Mark and Matthew as his sources, a position generally associated with theologian/philosopher Austin Farrer and his seminal essay “On Dispensing with Q” (published in 1955). Farrer’s hypothesis was later taken up by Michael Goulder and, more recently, Mark Goodacre. In continuing the course these writers charted, the contributors are potent in arguing that Luke was more than a redactor of earlier materials, he was a creative writer with innovative ideas and new perspectives on traditional materials. The contributors rigorously reject the idea of a hypothetical Q document. For them, the theory that Luke’s use of Matthew was creative and innovative is more elegant and parsimonious than conjecturing that Luke used a non-existent source. Those who are unconvinced by the four-document hypothesis will find this treatment of an old topic stimulating and thought provoking. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.
—CHOICE
Product Details
- Title: Luke’s Literary Creativity
- Editors: Mogens Müller, Jesper Tang Nielsen
- Series: Library of New Testament Studies (LNTS)
- Publisher: T&T Clark
- Publication Date: 2016
- Pages: 288
- Resource Type: Collected Essays
- Topic: Lukan Studies
About the Editors
Mogens Müller is Professor of New Testament Exegesis in the University of Copenhagen.
Jesper Tang Nielsen is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark