ENGLISH

"And So We Came to Rome": The Political Perspective of St Luke

Book information

Year
1984
ISBN
9780511555121, 0521251168, 0521020565, 0511555121, 9780521020565, 9780521251167
LCC
BS2589 .W34 1983
Language
english
Format
DJVU
Filesize
918 kB (939598 bytes)
Series
Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series
Pages
133\133
Topic
Education
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

It has often been suggested that Luke's two volumes were written as an apology for Christianity, to demonstrate to the Roman authorities that the new faith was not a dangerous and subversive innovation, a threat to the Pax Romana and to Roman rule. This book reviews the development of the 'traditional perspective', then raises some questions, e.g. if Luke was writing an apologia pro ecclesia, why does he include so much material politically damaging to the Christian cause? Is it possible that the approach has been made from the wrong angle, that Luke was writing an apologia not pro ecclesia but pro imperio, to assure his fellow Christians that Church and Empire need not fear or suspect each other? This conclusion is then supported by an investigation of the text of Luke-Acts, particularly the trials of Jesus and Paul. This challenging volume will be of interest to students and scholars of the New Testament and to ecclesiastical and Roman historians.

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