Representatives of Roman rule : Roman provincial governors in Luke-Acts

Luke-Acts contains a wealth of material that is relevant to politics, and the relationship between Jesus and his followers and the Roman Empire becomes an issue at a number of points. The author's fundamental attitude toward Rome is hard to discern, however. The complexity of Luke's task as both a creative writer and a mediator of received tradition, and perhaps as well the author's own ambivalence, have left conflicting evidence in the narrative. Scholarly treatments of the issue have tended to survey in a relatively short scope a great amount of material with different degrees of relevance to the question and representing different proportions of authorial contribution and traditional material. This book attempts to make a contribution to the discussion by narrowing the focus to Luke's depiction of the Roman provincial governors in his narrative, interpreted in terms of his Greco-Roman literary context. Luke's portraits of Roman governors can be seen to invoke expectations and concerns that were common in the literary context. By these standards Luke's portrait of these Roman authority figures is relatively critical, and demonstrates his preoccupation with Rome's judgment of the Christians more than a desire to commend Roman rule. Contents 7 Abbreviations of Common Reference Works and Editions 11 Introduction 13 Chapter 1 Rationale and Approach 17 1 Luke’s Political Views and Intentions: A Short History of Research 17 1.1 The Traditional View: Political Apology for the Church to Rome (Apologia Pro Ecclesia) 18 1.2 Apology for Rome to the Church (Apologia pro Imperio) 26 1.3 Equipping the Church for Witness 30 1.4 Legitimation for the Church’s Identity 33 1.5 No Definite Political Aim 37 1.6 Postcolonial Readings and Other Recent Work 42 1.7 Problems with Previous Research, and the Approach of this Study 50 2 Literary-Rhetorical Methodology 53 2.1 Narrative Terminology I: Author, Implied Author, Narrator 56 2.2 Narrative Terminology II: Reader, Ideal Reader, First-Century Reader 57 2.3 Narrative Terminology III: Character, Characterization, Type 59 2.4 Means of Characterization 63 3 Luke-Acts: Author, Audience, Date, Genre, and Purpose 65 3.1 Author 65 3.2 Audience 67 3.3 Date 69 3.4 Genre 71 3.5 Purpose 73 Chapter 2 Narratives for Praise and Blame: Tacitus on Agricola, Philo on Flaccus 75 1 Tacitus, Agricola 75 1.1 Tacitus and Rome 77 1.2 Date, Genre, Audience and Purpose 79 1.3 Tacitus’ Presentation of Agricola 83 1.3.1 Agricola’s Early Career 83 1.3.2 Agricola as Governor of Aquitania 87 1.3.3 Agricola’s Predecessors in Britain 89 1.3.4 Agricola in Britain 93 1.4 Conclusions 98 1.4.1 Techniques of Characterization 98 1.4.2 Characteristics 99 1.4.3 Issues and Concerns 102 1.4.4 View of Rome 103 2 Philo, Against Flaccus 105 2.1 Philo and Rome 106 2.2 Date, Genre, Audience, Purpose 112 2.3 Philo’s Portraits of Flaccus 117 2.3.1 Flaccus Introduced 117 2.3.2 Flaccus as Model Governor 118 2.3.3 Flaccus’ Decline 122 2.3.4 The Malicious Flaccus 128 2.3.5 Flaccus’ Arrest and Punishment 134 2.4 Conclusions 135 2.4.1 Techniques of Characterization 135 2.4.2 Characteristics 136 2.4.3 Issues and Concerns 137 2.4.4 View of Rome 138 3 Comparison 140 Chapter 3 Governors in Historiography: Josephus* Judean War and Judean Antiquities 143 1 Introduction 144 1.1 The Judean War: Date, Genre, Audience, and Purpose 145 1.2 Judean Antiquities: Date, Genre, Audience and Purpose 150 1.3 Josephus* View of Rome 155 2 Survey of the Narratives 156 2.1 Early Governors of Syria 157 2.1.1 An Opportunist: Scaurus 157 2.1.2 A Model Governor: Gabinius 159 2.1.3 Governors at Prey: Crassus, Cassius, Bassus, Sosius 162 2.2 From Herod the Great to Agrippa I 166 2.2.1 Characterization by Contrast: Varus 166 2.2.2 The Prefects: Coponius to Pontius Pilate 171 2.2.3 Vires Religiosi: Vitellius and Petronius 180 2.3 The Procurators 184 2.3.1 Transitional Figures: Cuspius Fadus, Tiberius Alexander 184 2.3.2 A Storm Center: Cumanus 186 2.3.3 A Double View: Felix 190 2.3.4 Rhetorical Tools: Festus and Albinus 193 2.3.5 The Architect of War: Florus 195 3 Conclusions 199 3.1 Techniques of Characterization 199 3.2 Characteristics 200 3.3 Issues and Concerns 202 3.4 View of Rome 204 Chapter 4 An Agent of Rome in the Gospel of Luke: Pontius Pilate 207 1 Pilate Before the Passion Narrative 209 1.1 Pilate Introduced (Luke 3:1-2) 209 1.2 The Killing of the Galileans (Luke 13:1) 210 2 Pilate in the Passion Narrative (Luke 22:66-23:25) 214 2.1 A Note on Luke’s Use of Sources 214 2.2 The Scope of the Trial Narrative 216 2.3 Scene 1: jesus before the Judean Senate (Luke 22:66-23:1) 216 2.4 Scene 2: Jesus before Pilate (Luke 23:2-7) 223 2.4.1 The Charges (23:2) 224 2.4.2 Pilate’s Examination (23:3-4) 228 2.4.3 Transfer of Jurisdiction 230 2.5 Scene 3: Jesus before Herod (Luke 23:8-12) 234 2.6 Scene 4: Jesus Before Pilate Again (23:13-21) 237 2.6.1 Pilate’s Verdict (23:13-16) 237 2.6.2 A Collective Response (23:18-19) 240 2.6.3 Pilate Resists (23:20-22) 242 2.6.4 Jesus’ Accusers Prevail 244 2.7 Conclusions from the Passion Narrative 247 2.7.1 Luke as a Redactor of Mark 247 2.7.2 The Characterization of Pilate 249 3 Pilate After the Passion Narrative 251 4 Conclusions 253 4.1 Techniques of Characterization 253 4.2 Characteristics 254 4.3 Issues and Concerns 256 4.4 View of Rome 256 Chapter 5 Paul and Rome: The Governors in Acts 259 1 An Intelligent Man: Sergius Paulus 259 1.1 Paulus Introduced 261 1.2 An Intelligent Man 263 1.3 Conclusions 266 2 Our Man in Achaea: Gallio 270 2.1 Gallio Introduced (Acts 18:12) 271 2.2 The Charges 273 2.3 Gallio’s Response 278 2.4 The Beating of Sosthenes 282 2.5 Conclusions 286 3 The Odor of Corruption: Felix 289 3.1 Felix Introduced 289 3.2 Felix Hears Paul’s Case (Acts 24:1-23) 294 3.3 Felix’s Response (Acts 24:22-23) 305 3.4 After the Trial 306 3.5 Conclusions 311 4 A Breath of Fresh Air? Porcius Festus 315 4.1 Festus Introduced 315 4.2 The Trial in Caesarea 319 4.3 Festus and Agrippa II (Acts 25:13-22) 326 4.4 The Grand Audience Part I (Acts 25:23-27) 332 4.5 The Grand Audience Part II (Acts 26:1-32) 334 4.6 Conclusions 340 Conclusions 345 Bibliography 350 Index 377 This book examines Luke's depiction of the Roman provincial governors in his narrative, interpreted in terms of his Greco-Roman literary context. Luke's portrait of these Roman authority figures is relatively critical, and demonstrates his preoccupation with Rome's judgment of the Christians more than a desire to commend Roman rule. Joshua Yoder. Originally Presented As The Author's Thesis (ph. D.)--university Of Notre Dame, 2012. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 338-364) And Index.