This article attempts to raise questions on the basis of the early reception history
of Luke and Acts about the relation between a literary-critical interpretation and
an interpretation of Luke's work that asks after its meaning for an early
Christian audience. That Luke-Acts can be read as a literary unity is not
challenged. But the evidence that we have suggests that Luke and Acts were not
read/heard together by the early Christians in the ancient world. We may thus ask
whether our interpretations that depend in principle on the unity of Luke-Acts are
in fact not as historical as we might suppose, at least in the sense that the texts
would not have been heard together in the way we read them today. Conversely, we may
also ask whether a historical interpretation that seeks to read Luke and Acts as
they were most likely heard is of necessity estranged from the literary dynamics of Luke-Acts.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
1999'Formal Elements and Genre: Which Greco-Roman Prologues Most
Closely Parallel the Lukan Prologues?', in
D.P. Moessner
(ed.), Jesus and the Heritage of Israel: Luke's Narrative
Claim upon Israel's Legacy (
Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International
): 9-26.
2.
1992'The Third Gospel as a Preface to Acts? Some
Reflections', in
F. Van Segbroecket al.
(eds.), The Four Gospels 1992 (3 vols.;
FS Frans Neirynck; Leuven: Leuven University Press
): II, 1451-1466.
3.
Barton, S.C.1998'Can we Identify the Gospel Audiences?', in
R. Bauckham
(ed.), The Gospels for All Christians: Rethinking Gospel Audiences (
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
): 173-194.
4.
Bellinzoni, A.J.1998'The Gospel of Luke in the Second Century CE',
in
Richard P. Thompson
and
Thomas E. Phillips
(eds.), Literary Studies in Luke-Acts: Essays in Honor of Joseph B.
Tyson (
Macon, GA: Mercer University Press
): 59-76.
5.
Botha, P.J.J.1995'Community and Conviction in Luke-Acts'
, Neotestamentica29/2:
145-165
.
6.
Bovon, F.2002Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1.1-9.50 (
Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Press
).
7.
Brown, R.E.2003An Introduction to the Gospel of John (ed.
Francis J. Moloney
;
New York: Doubleday
).
8.
Cadbury, H.J.1955The Book of Acts in History (
New York: Harper & Brothers
).
9.
Campenhausen, H. von.1972The Formation of the Christian Bible (trans. J.A. Baker;
Philadelphia: Fortress Press
).
10.
Carroll, J.T.2002'The God of Israel and the Salvation of the
Nations', in
A. Andrew Das
and
Frank J. Matera
(eds.), The Forgotten God: Perspectives in Biblical Theology: Essays in
Honor of Paul J. Achtemeier on the Occasion of his Seventy-fifth Birthday (
Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press
): 91-106.
11.
Childs, B.S.1984The New Testament as Canon: An Introduction (
Philadelphia: Fortress Press
).
12.
Dahl, N.A.1966'The Story of Abraham in Luke-Acts', in
L.E. Keck
and
J.L. Martyn
(eds.), Studies in Luke-Acts (
Mifflintown, PA: Sigler Press
): 139-158.
13.
Downing, F.G.2000Doing Things with Words in the First Christian Century (JSNTSup, 200;
Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press
).
14.
1998'Community and Gospel in Early Christianity: A Response to
Richard Bauckham's Gospels for All Christians'
, SJT51:
235-248
.
15.
Fitzmyer, J.A.1981The Gospel According to Luke I-IX (
Garden City, NY: Doubleday
).
16.
Gamble, H.Y.1995Books and Readers in the Early Church: A History of Early Christian Texts (
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
).
17.
Gasque, W.1975A History of the Criticism of the Acts of the Apostles (BGBE, 17;
Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr
[Paul Siebeck]).
18.
Gilbert, G.2003'Roman Propaganda and Christian Identity in the Worldview of
Luke-Acts', in
Todd Penner
and
Caroline Vander Stichele
(eds.), Contextualizing Acts: Lukan Narrative and Greco-Roman
Discourse (SBJSS, 20;
Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature
): 233-256
19.
Gilmore, S.McL.1952'The Gospel According to St Luke', in The
Interpreter's Bible (
New York: Abingdon Press
): VIII, 15-16.
20.
Gregory, A.2003The Reception of Luke and Acts in the Period before Irenaeus: Looking for Luke
in the Second Century (WUNT, 2.169;
Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck
).
21.
Harnack, A. von.1925The Origin of the New Testament and the Most Important Consequences of the New
Creation (
London: Williams & Northgate
).
22.
Hill, C.E.2004The Johannine Corpus in the Early Church (
Oxford: Oxford University Press
).
23.
1999'The Christology of Luke-Acts', in
Mark Allan Powell
and
David R. Bauer
(eds.), Who Do you Say that I Am? Essays on Christology (FS Jack
Dean Kingsbury;
Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox
): 49-65.
24.
Kelhoffer, James A.2004'“How Soon a Book” Revisited: EUAGGELION as a
Reference to “Gospel” Materials in the First Half of the
Second Century'
, ZNW95:
1-34
.
25.
Koester, H.1990Ancient Christian Gospels: Their History and Development (
Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International
).
26.
Köhler, W.-D. 1987 Die Rezeption des
Matthäusevangeliums in der Zeit vor Irenäus (WUNT, 2.24;
Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck).
27.
Lampe, P.2003From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries (
Minneapolis: Fortress Press
).
28.
Lawson, J.1948The Biblical Theology of Saint Irenaeus (
London: Epworth Press
).
29.
Longenecker, B.W.2004'Lukan Aversion to Humps and Hollows: The Case of Acts 11.27-12.25'
, NTS50:
185-204
.
30.
Malherbe, A.1983Social Aspects of Early Christianity (
Philadelphia: Fortress Press
).
31.
Marshall, I.H.1993'Acts and the “Former
Treatise”', in
Bruce W. Winter
and
Andrew D. Clarke
(eds.), The Book of Acts in its Ancient Literary Setting (
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
): 163-182.
32.
Meeks, W.1983The First Urban Christians (
New Haven: Yale University Press
, 1983).
33.
Metzger, B.M.1997The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development and Significance (
Oxford: Clarendon Press
).
34.
Nagel, T. 2000 Die Rezeption des Johannesevangeliums im 2. Jahrhundert:
Studien zur vorirenäischen Aneignung und Auslegung des vierten
Evangeliums in christlicher und christlich-gnostischer Literatur (Leipzig:
Evangelische Verlagsanstalt).
35.
Neagoe, A.2002The Trial of the Gospel: An Apologetic Reading of Luke's Trial
Narratives (SNTS, 116;
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
).
36.
Parsons, M.C.
and
R.I. Pervo
. 1993Rethinking the Unity of Luke and Acts (
Minneapolis: Fortress Press
).
37.
Rese, Martin
. 1985'Das Lukas-Evangelium. Ein Forschungsbericht'
, ANRW, II.25.3:
2258-2328
.
38.
Sagnard, F. 1952 Contre les heresies, Livre III. Sources
Chrétiennes (vol. 34, critical text and translation of Adversus
Haereses; Paris: Cerf).
39.
Sanday, W. and C.H. Turner. 1923 Novum Testamentum Sancti Irenaei
Episcopi Lugdunensis (Oxford: Clarendon Press).
40.
Sim, David
. 2001'The Gospels for All Christians? A Response to Richard Bauckham'
, JSNT84:
3-27
.
41.
Smith, D.M.2000'When Did the Gospels Become Scripture?'
, JBL119:
3-20
.
42.
Souter, A.1920The Text and Canon of the New Testament (
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons
).
Strange, W.A.1992The Problem of the Text of Acts (SNTSMS, 71;
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
).
45.
2003c (with
Perry Stepp
), 'Succession in Luke-Acts and in the Lukan
Milieu', in Reading Luke-Acts in its Mediterranean
Milieu (
Leiden: E.J. Brill
): 19-55.
46.
Thompson, M.B.1998'The Holy Internet: Communication between Churches in the First
Christian Generation', in
R. Bauckham
(ed.), The Gospels for All Christians: Rethinking Gospel Audiences (
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
): 49-70.
47.
Verheyden, J.1999'The Unity of Luke-Acts: What Are we up to?',
in
J. Verheyden
(ed.), The Unity of Luke-Acts (
Leuven: Leuven University Press
): 3-56.
