Representatives of Roman Rule
Description
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.
Reviews / Votes
"Die Stärke der Arbeit liegt in der narrativen Textanalyse, wobei [Yoder] ausführlich und genau die Charakterisierung des jeweiligen römischen Statthalters, die für dessen Bewertung relevanten Themen und die darin sichtbar werdende Haltung des Schriftstellers gegenüber der römischenHerrschaft herausarbeitet."
Stefan Schreiber in: Biblische Zeitschrift 61 (2017) No.2: 276-278
"Der Autor erreicht mit seinem Werk genau das, was er sich vorgenommen hat: Er beleuchtet einen ausgewählten Aspekt, die Schilderung der römischen Gouverneure, im Detail und kann so eine nuanciertere Darstellung bieten als Werke mit größerem Umfang, die dafür nicht so tief ins Detail gehen können. Yoders Beitrag liefert damit eine bisher noch nicht realisierte Detailschärfe im Hinblick auf die Darstellung der römischen Gouverneure im lukanischen Doppelwerk."
Rebekka Groß in: H-Soz-Kult (26. 5. 2015)
"Overall, Yoder's work is judicious. Readers will find in Representatives of Roman Rule a helpful guide to the nuanced presentation of Roman governors in Luke and Acts. Some, however, will likely disagree with his concluding assertions that Luke-Acts "implies a fundamentally positive attitude toward the Roman system" and that Luke "expresses a fundamental attraction to the empire and its espoused values" (336). Even so, Yoder's work is a valuable addition to Lukan scholars' libraries, especially because Yoder's reading largely preserves the ambiguities that coexist within Luke's narratives."
Michael Kochenash in: Religious Studies Review 41,2/2015
"Yoder offers a clear, straightforward, indeed at times slightly pedantic analysis, which deserves attention. He could have been bolder in his conclusions."
Jeremy Paterson in: Histos 9/2015
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Content
- Intro
- Contents
- Abbreviations of Common Reference Works and Editions
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Rationale and Approach
- 1 Luke's Political Views and Intentions: A Short History of Research
- 1.1 The Traditional View: Political Apology for the Church to Rome (Apologia Pro Ecclesia)
- 1.2 Apology for Rome to the Church (Apologia pro Imperio)
- 1.3 Equipping the Church for Witness
- 1.4 Legitimation for the Church's Identity
- 1.5 No Definite Political Aim
- 1.6 Postcolonial Readings and Other Recent Work
- 1.7 Problems with Previous Research, and the Approach of this Study
- 2 Literary-Rhetorical Methodology
- 2.1 Narrative Terminology I: Author, Implied Author, Narrator
- 2.2 Narrative Terminology II: Reader, Ideal Reader, First-Century Reader
- 2.3 Narrative Terminology III: Character, Characterization, Type
- 2.4 Means of Characterization
- 3 Luke-Acts: Author, Audience, Date, Genre, and Purpose
- 3.1 Author
- 3.2 Audience
- 3.3 Date
- 3.4 Genre
- 3.5 Purpose
- Chapter 2 Narratives for Praise and Blame: Tacitus on Agricola, Philo on Flaccus
- 1 Tacitus, Agricola
- 1.1 Tacitus and Rome
- 1.2 Date, Genre, Audience and Purpose
- 1.3 Tacitus' Presentation of Agricola
- 1.3.1 Agricola's Early Career
- 1.3.2 Agricola as Governor of Aquitania
- 1.3.3 Agricola's Predecessors in Britain
- 1.3.4 Agricola in Britain
- 1.4 Conclusions
- 1.4.1 Techniques of Characterization
- 1.4.2 Characteristics
- 1.4.3 Issues and Concerns
- 1.4.4 View of Rome
- 2 Philo, Against Flaccus
- 2.1 Philo and Rome
- 2.2 Date, Genre, Audience, Purpose
- 2.3 Philo's Portraits of Flaccus
- 2.3.1 Flaccus Introduced
- 2.3.2 Flaccus as Model Governor
- 2.3.3 Flaccus' Decline
- 2.3.4 The Malicious Flaccus
- 2.3.5 Flaccus' Arrest and Punishment
- 2.4 Conclusions
- 2.4.1 Techniques of Characterization
- 2.4.2 Characteristics
- 2.4.3 Issues and Concerns
- 2.4.4 View of Rome
- 3 Comparison
- Chapter 3 Governors in Historiography: Josephus* Judean War and Judean Antiquities
- 1 Introduction
- 1.1 The Judean War: Date, Genre, Audience, and Purpose
- 1.2 Judean Antiquities: Date, Genre, Audience and Purpose
- 1.3 Josephus* View of Rome
- 2 Survey of the Narratives
- 2.1 Early Governors of Syria
- 2.1.1 An Opportunist: Scaurus
- 2.1.2 A Model Governor: Gabinius
- 2.1.3 Governors at Prey: Crassus, Cassius, Bassus, Sosius
- 2.2 From Herod the Great to Agrippa I
- 2.2.1 Characterization by Contrast: Varus
- 2.2.2 The Prefects: Coponius to Pontius Pilate
- 2.2.3 Vires Religiosi: Vitellius and Petronius
- 2.3 The Procurators
- 2.3.1 Transitional Figures: Cuspius Fadus, Tiberius Alexander
- 2.3.2 A Storm Center: Cumanus
- 2.3.3 A Double View: Felix
- 2.3.4 Rhetorical Tools: Festus and Albinus
- 2.3.5 The Architect of War: Florus
- 3 Conclusions
- 3.1 Techniques of Characterization
- 3.2 Characteristics
- 3.3 Issues and Concerns
- 3.4 View of Rome
- Chapter 4 An Agent of Rome in the Gospel of Luke: Pontius Pilate
- 1 Pilate Before the Passion Narrative
- 1.1 Pilate Introduced (Luke 3:1-2)
- 1.2 The Killing of the Galileans (Luke 13:1)
- 2 Pilate in the Passion Narrative (Luke 22:66-23:25)
- 2.1 A Note on Luke's Use of Sources
- 2.2 The Scope of the Trial Narrative
- 2.3 Scene 1: jesus before the Judean Senate (Luke 22:66-23:1)
- 2.4 Scene 2: Jesus before Pilate (Luke 23:2-7)
- 2.4.1 The Charges (23:2)
- 2.4.2 Pilate's Examination (23:3-4)
- 2.4.3 Transfer of Jurisdiction
- 2.5 Scene 3: Jesus before Herod (Luke 23:8-12)
- 2.6 Scene 4: Jesus Before Pilate Again (23:13-21)
- 2.6.1 Pilate's Verdict (23:13-16)
- 2.6.2 A Collective Response (23:18-19)
- 2.6.3 Pilate Resists (23:20-22)
- 2.6.4 Jesus' Accusers Prevail
- 2.7 Conclusions from the Passion Narrative
- 2.7.1 Luke as a Redactor of Mark
- 2.7.2 The Characterization of Pilate
- 3 Pilate After the Passion Narrative
- 4 Conclusions
- 4.1 Techniques of Characterization
- 4.2 Characteristics
- 4.3 Issues and Concerns
- 4.4 View of Rome
- Chapter 5 Paul and Rome: The Governors in Acts
- 1 An Intelligent Man: Sergius Paulus
- 1.1 Paulus Introduced
- 1.2 An Intelligent Man
- 1.3 Conclusions
- 2 Our Man in Achaea: Gallio
- 2.1 Gallio Introduced (Acts 18:12)
- 2.2 The Charges
- 2.3 Gallio's Response
- 2.4 The Beating of Sosthenes
- 2.5 Conclusions
- 3 The Odor of Corruption: Felix
- 3.1 Felix Introduced
- 3.2 Felix Hears Paul's Case (Acts 24:1-23)
- 3.3 Felix's Response (Acts 24:22-23)
- 3.4 After the Trial
- 3.5 Conclusions
- 4 A Breath of Fresh Air? Porcius Festus
- 4.1 Festus Introduced
- 4.2 The Trial in Caesarea
- 4.3 Festus and Agrippa II (Acts 25:13-22)
- 4.4 The Grand Audience Part I (Acts 25:23-27)
- 4.5 The Grand Audience Part II (Acts 26:1-32)
- 4.6 Conclusions
- Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index
