Luke–Acts and Jewish Historiography: A Study on the Theology, Literature, and Ideology of Luke–Acts. By Samson Uytanlet

Abstract

Samson Uytanlet begins this detailed analysis of Luke–Acts (a revision of his doctoral thesis, submitted to the London School of Theology and supervised by Joel B. Green) with the astute recognition of an unhelpful methodological division within Lukan studies. While many recent studies consider Luke–Acts in relation to either non-Jewish Greco-Roman texts (when discussing literary features) or Jewish texts alone (when addressing theological questions), Uytanlet rightly seeks to bring together a broader representation of Luke’s literary context. He examines both Jewish and non-Jewish Greco-Roman texts (predominantly, but not exclusively historiographies), to illuminate his investigation of the theology, literary style, and ideology of Luke–Acts. He goes on to assert that, despite various similarities, Luke’s strongest affinities lie with Jewish texts in each of these areas. The study is comprised of five parts. Part I (introduction) recounts the history of Lukan interpretation through the lens of what Uytanlet dubs ‘The “Great Divide”’ of history and theology (p. 4). Here he traces the dual focus on history and theology in twentieth-century Lukan scholarship first through studies that consider Luke as a Jewish theologian and then Luke as a Hellenistic writer, before turning briefly to those that Uytanlet suggests address Luke as ‘Hellenistic-Jewish Ideologist’, such as Sterling’s account of apologetic historiography. For Uytanlet, assessing the theological, literary, and ideological features of Luke–Acts all require a knowledge of both Greco-Roman and Jewish textual traditions, but ‘the Jewish writings, particularly Israel’s Scriptures, have the dominant influence on Luke’s work in these three areas’ (p. 22). This is the thesis he seeks to support in Parts II–IV, with a short conclusion in Part V.