Luke and Paul
Nevertheless, in the last few decades some scholars opted for a limited literary use of the Pauline letters in the Lucan Gospel:
For recent suggestions concerning some use of the Pauline letters in the Acts of the Apostles, see e.g. H.S. Kim, Die Geisttaufe des Messias: Eine kompositionsgeschichtliche Untersuchung zu einem Leitmotiv des lukanischen Doppelwerks: Ein Beitrag zur Theologie und Intention des Lukas (SKP 81; Peter Lang: Frankfurt am Main [et al.] 1993), 193–194, 198; P. N. Tarazi, Galatians: A Commentary (OBS; St Vladimir’s Seminary: Crestwood, NY 1994), 5–7; D. Ravens, Luke and the Restoration of Israel (JSNTSup 119; Sheffield Academic: Sheffield 1995), 175–179; P. Elbert, ‘Paul of the Miletus Speech and 1 Thessalonians: Critique and Considerations’, ZNW 95 (2004) 258–268 (esp. 264–265); M. C. Parsons, Luke: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist (Hendrickson: Peabody, Mass. 2007), 129–139; W. O. Walker, Jr., ‘The Portrayal of Aquila and Priscilla in Acts: The Question of Sources’, NTS 54 (2008) 479–495; R. I. Pervo, ‘The Paul of Acts and the Paul of the Letters: Aspects of Luke as an Interpreter of the Corpus Paulinum’, in D. Marguerat (ed.), Reception of Paulinism in Acts / Réception du Paulinisme dans les Actes des Apôtres (BETL 229; Peeters: Leuven · Paris · Walpole, Mass. 2009), 141–155 (esp. 147–155); R. S. Schellenberg, ‘The First Pauline Chronologist? Paul’s Itinerary in the Letters and in Acts’, JBL 134 (2015) 193–213.
For example, Gilbert Bouwman has tentatively suggested Luke’s dependence on Paul’s letters, especially First Corinthians, on the basis of some thematic and linguistic correspondences between these works (virginity in Lk 1:27.34 and 1 Cor 7:38; widowhood in Lk 2:37 and 1 Cor 7:40; not being worried in Lk 10:41 and 1 Cor 7:32–34; etc.) (Cf. G. Bouwman, Das dritte Evangelium: Einübung in die formgeschichtliche Methode, trans. H. Zulauf (Patmos: Düsseldorf 1968), 98–112). Morton S. Enslin has noticed some similarities between the Gospel of Luke and the Letter to the Galatians in their respective literary structures. He has suggested that the sequence of some events which are described in the Lucan Gospel (Jesus’ baptism in Judaea, then his return to his hometown Nazareth, and only thereafter his widespread mission in Galilee) corresponds to the sequence of events which are known from Paul’s Letter to the Galatians (Paul’s first visit in Jerusalem, then his return to Tarsus in Cilicia, and only thereafter his widespread mission among the Gentiles) (Cf. M. S. Enslin, ‘Luke, the Literary Physician’, in D. E. Aune (ed.), Studies in New Testament and Early Christian Literature, Festschrift A. P. Wikgren (NovTSup 33; E. J. Brill: Leiden 1972), 135–143 (esp. 140–141). In the opinion of William O. Walker, Jr., some verbal parallels between the Lucan work and Paul’s letters suggest that Luke used Paul’s letters in the Acts of the Apostles and in his Gospel (Cf. W. O. Walker, Jr., ‘Acts and the Pauline Corpus Reconsidered’, JSNT 24 (1985) 3–23 (esp. 13). According to Michael D. Goulder, the presence of several clusters of common matter (comprising words and occasionally also ideas) in 1 Cor and 1 Thes, in which they well suit Paul’s rhetoric, and in the Lucan Gospel, in which they are at times used quite strangely, implies that Luke knew and used 1 Cor and 1 Thes in the composition of his Gospel, and not that Paul used some synoptic traditions (Cf. M. D. Goulder, ‘Did Luke Know Any of the Pauline Letters?’, PRSt 13 (1986) 97–112 (esp. 98–109); id., Luke: A New Paradigm (JSNTSup 20; Sheffield Academic: Sheffield 1989), [vol. 1] 132–143).
Similarly, in the opinion of Wolfgang Schenk linguistic criteria of literary dependence (the existence of three or more common words within a short space etc.) reveal several cases in which Luke was most probably dependent on Paul’s letters (esp. Lk 6:28 cf. Rom 12:14; Lk 10:8 cf. 1 Cor 10:27; Lk 10:38–42 cf. 1 Cor 7:32–35; Lk 22:19–20 cf. 1 Cor 11:23–25; Lk 24:34 cf. 1 Cor 15:5) (Cf. W. Schenk, ‘Luke as Reader of Paul: Observations on his Reception’, in S. Draisma (ed.), Intertextuality in Biblical Writings, Festschrift B. van Iersel (Kok: Kampen 1989), 127–139 (esp. 132–138). The German scholar has argued that Luke created his own rhetorical images of both Paul and Jesus, which do not have much in common with the real Paul and Jesus, but which suit Luke’s presentation of the origins of Christianity in terms of harmonic accord and integration. According to Anthony J. Blasi, Paul’s authentic letters were evidently known to those who imitated them (in the Deutero-Pauline letters), and consequently they must have been widely circulating. Therefore also Luke, who made Paul the principal character in the Acts of the Apostles, must have known at least some of them. Accordingly, in Luke’s Gospel scholars should look for Pauline views, and not only Pauline wording (Cf. A. J. Blasi, Making Charisma: The Social Construction of Paul’s Public Image (Transaction: New Brunswick · London 1991), 40–41). In Blasi’s opinion, a number of such detectable compatibilities, like Paul and Luke’s common presentation of both Abraham and Adam as the background to Jesus (Lk 3:23–38; cf. e.g. Rom 4:13; 5:14), implies that Luke in his redactional composition of the Gospel used most of Paul’s authentic letters, with the surprising exception of Galatians (Cf. ibid. 50–61, 63–65, 67).
Paul N. Tarazi has noticed and described a great number of linguistic and thematic connections between the Lucan Gospel and the Pauline letters. Consequently, he has at length argued that Luke extensively used the Pauline letters in the composition of his Gospel (Cf. P. N. Tarazi, The New Testament: An Introduction, vol. 2, Luke and Acts (St Vladimir’s Seminary: Crestwood, NY 2001), 6–8, 25–184). According to Thomas L. Brodie, in the text concerning Jesus’ last supper (Lk 22:14–30) Luke sequentially used the thematically corresponding Pauline text 1 Cor 11:16–34. In fact, Brodie’s argument from the common order of correspondences enabled him to discern some thematic, and not only linguistic, correspondences between the two writings (Cf. T. L. Brodie, The Birthing of the New Testament: The Intertextual Developments of the New Testament Writings (NTM 1; Sheffield Phoenix: Sheffield 2004), 139–143). Paul Elbert has argued that Luke in his use of pneumatological motifs borrowed from Paul’s letters might have worked quite freely, in the expected tradition of ancient narrative-rhetorical composition, which was described, for example, by Theon of Alexandria (Cf. P. Elbert, ‘Possible Literary Links between Luke-Acts and Pauline Letters Regarding Spirit-Language’, in T. L. Brodie, D. R. MacDonald, and S. E. Porter (eds.), The Intertextuality of the Epistles: Explorations in Theory and Practice (NTM 16; Sheffield Phoenix: Sheffield 2006), 226–254 (esp. 232–243). Richard I. Pervo has strongly argued for Luke’s use of the First Letter to the Corinthians, having noticed several thematic and linguistic correspondences between the Lucan Gospel and this Pauline letter, as well as disproving other explanations of these correspondences (Lk 3:14 cf. 1 Cor 9:7a; Lk 10:38–42 cf. 1 Cor 7:32–35; Lk 12:41–48 cf. 1 Cor 4:1–2; Lk 18:11 cf. 1 Cor 6:9–10; Lk 22:17–18 cf. 1 Cor 10:16–17; Lk 22:19–20 cf. 1 Cor 11:23–25; Lk 22:24 cf. 1 Cor 11:16; Lk 24:34 cf. 1 Cor 15:4–5) (Cf. R. I. Pervo, Dating Acts: Between the Evangelists and the Apologists (Polebridge: Santa Rosa, Calif. 2006), 64–70, 139, 225–227).
Somewhat similarly, Simon Butticaz has recently argued that the use of Paul’s letters in the Lucan Gospel and Acts can best be explained in Gérard Genette’s category of hypertextual derivation. In the opinion of Butticaz, Luke’s use of the Pauline letters can be classified in terms of (a) narrativizing the Pauline tradition, (b) commenting on some Pauline errors, and (c) negatively reworking Pauline ideas. Accordingly, the reception of Paul’s letters in the Lucan work was creative, and not archiving.
Cf. S. Butticaz, ‘“Has God Rejected His People?” (Romans 11.1): The Salvation of Israel in Acts: Narrative Claim of a Pauline Legacy’, in D. P. Moessner [et al.] (eds.), Luke the Interpreter of Israel, vol. 2, Paul and the Heritage of Israel: Paul’s Claim upon Israel’s Legacy in Luke and Acts in the Light of the Pauline Letters (LNTS 452; T&T Clark: London 2012), 148–164 (esp. 163); id., ‘La relecture des lapsi pauliniens chez Luc: Esquisse d’une typologie’, in C. Clivaz [et al.] (eds.), Écritures et réécritures: La reprise interprétative des traditions fondatrices par la littérature biblique et extra-biblique: Cinquième colloque international du RRENAB, Universités de Genève et Lausanne, 10–12 juin 2010 (BETL 248; Peeters: Leuven · Paris · Walpole, Mass. 2012), 319–330 (esp. 319)
Luke and Mark, Josephus, and other works
Detailed analyses of the Lucan use of the Marcan material reveal that Luke knew the whole Marcan Gospel (Mk 1:1–16:8, including the so-called ‘Big Omission’: Mk 6:45–8:26) and that he used this material not only in its original order, form, and wording, but also in the form of isolated motifs (For a discussion concerning the intertextual use of earlier literary motifs in the Lucan work, cf. J. M. Morgan, ‘How Do Motifs Endure and Perform? Motif Theory for the Study of Biblical Narratives’, RB 122 (2015) 194–216 (esp. 204–206, 210).) Which were creatively reworked and used by Luke in various other sections of his work (including the so-called ‘Big Interpolation’: Lk 9:51–18:14) (Cf. R. von Bendemann, Zwischen ΔΟΞΑ und ΣΤΑΥΡΟΣ: Eine exegetische Untersuchung der Texte des sogenannten Reiseberichts im Lukasevangelium (BZNW 101; Walter de Gruyter: Berlin · New York 2001), 51–55). Accordingly, at times Luke rather faithfully reproduced the Marcan story. However, at times he reworked the Marcan accounts quite freely: ‘Luke repeatedly excises a pericope from its Markan location, strategically advances the pericope to an earlier location in the narrative sequence, and retains only key traces of the original pericope’s basic structure (G. Carey, ‘Moving Things Ahead: A Lukan Redactional Technique and Its Implications for Gospel Origins’, BibInt 21 (2013) 302–319 (here: 318). Cf. also M. J. Kok, ‘The Flawed Evangelist (John) Mark: A Neglected Clue to the Reception of Mark’s Gospel in Luke-Acts?’, Neot 46 (2012) 244–259 (esp. 246–249). Moreover, Barbara Shellard has argued that Luke most likely used Josephus’ Bellum, quite likely used Antiquitates, and possibly used Contra Apionem (Cf. B. Shellard, New Light on Luke: Its Purpose, Sources and Literary Context (JSNTSup 215; Sheffield Academic: London · New York 2002), 31–34). Besides, Karl A. Kuhn has recently suggested that Luke knew some texts contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls (Cf. K. A. Kuhn, Luke: The Elite Evangelist (Paul’s Social Network: Brothers and Sisters in Faith; Liturgical: Collegeville, Minn. 2010), 11). Luke, especially in the composition of the Acts of the Apostles, used not only Paul’s authentic letters, but also post-Pauline letters, including the Pastoral Letters, as well as the ethopoeic letters of James and Peter, Josephus’ writings, some Greek classical writings, and some texts known to us from the Dead Sea Scrolls (Cf. B. Adamczewski, Constructing, 79, 87, 91, 95, 105, 112, 142–145, 148–152).
- Author
Traditionally, the third canonical Gospel has been attributed to Luke, one of Paul’s co-workers. This attribution can be explained as resulting from the facts that (a) Phlm 24 mentions Luke together with the imprisoned Paul, (b) Col 4:14 likewise presents Luke as the companion of the imprisoned Paul and refers to him as ‘beloved’ by the Apostle, and (c) 2 Tim 4:11 similarly refers to Luke as the only faithful companion of Paul during his Roman imprisonment. In antiquity, these features came to be regarded as compatible with the features of the narrative ‘we’ in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 16:10–17; 20:5–15; 21:1–18; 27:1–28:16). Consequently, they led to the assumption that the third canonical Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, which are anonymous in themselves, were written by Luke (Cf. U. Schnelle, Einleitung in das Neue Testament (UTB 1830; 8th edn., Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: Göttingen 2013), 312, 315). In fact, the Acts of the Apostles presents itself as having been written by a close companion of Paul’s missionary activity, especially of Paul’s last journey to Jerusalem and to Rome (Acts 27:1–28:16). This impression is created by means of the literary device of the narrator’s identification with the character of the narrative ‘we’ in Acts 16:10–17; 20:5–15; 21:1–18; 27:1–28:16. However, a close analysis of the particular features and movements of this narrative character reveals that they generally correspond to those of the character of Titus in the letters of Paul the Apostle. In particular, according to Gal 2:1.3 Titus (and consequently also the narrative ‘we’ in Acts) was the only person who, apart from Barnabas, accompanied Paul in his second journey to Jerusalem. Moreover, according to 2 Cor 8:6.16.23; Gal 2:1.3 Titus (and consequently also the narrative ‘we’ in Acts) was the only person who, unlike Barnabas, (John) Mark, and Silvanus/Silas, had access to both Paul and Peter in the critical period of Paul’s missionary career, namely during the organization and delivery of the Gentile Christian collection for the Jerusalem ‘saints’. For this reason, in the Acts of the Apostles Titus became a reliable, although anonymous, ethopoeic transmitter of Peter and Paul’s apostolic tradition (Acts 1:1; cf. Lk 1:2–3) and a narrative witness of the important events which took place in Troas, Philippi, Jerusalem, Crete (cf. Tit 1:4–5), and Rome (Acts 16:10–17; 20:5–15; 21:1–18; 27:1–28:16) (Cf. B. Adamczewski, Heirs, 121–124; id., Constructing, 147).
Thinks Titus is the supposed guy in the “we passages”
Literary genre
The Gospel of Luke cannot be adequately construed as biography because the character of Jesus is presented therein in a highly sophisticated intertextual way, with the use of a lot of allusions to the Septuagint, Paul’s letters, Greek literature, etc. Accordingly, the Gospel of Luke should not be interpreted as a simple biography, but rather as a literary work in which complex intertextual references to other works are presented in the well-known form of biography.
Dating
120-140 CE
Scholars:
Cf. C. Mount, Pauline Christianity: Luke-Acts and the Legacy of Paul (NovTSup 104; Brill: Leiden · Boston · Köln 2002), 168: ‘sometime before about ad 130’. For a similar dating of Acts, see recently W. O. Walker, Jr., ‘Portrayal’, 495: in the middle of the second century ad; R. I. Pervo, Acts: A Commentary, ed. H. W. Attridge (Hermeneia; Fortress: Minneapolis 2009), 5, 20: c. ad 115; id., ‘Acts in the Suburbs of the Apologists’, in T. E. Phillips (ed.), Contemporary Studies in Acts (Mercer University: [s.l.] 2009), 29–46 (esp. 46: c. ad 110–130)
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