Kirjahaku

In this commentary, Robert L. Brawley provides comprehensive coverage of issues and concerns related to Luke from the perspective of social identity. He argues that the Gospel of Luke is strongly concerned with the formation of identity from the very start of the text, which aims at the creation of a socially responsible community in continuity with that community’s collective past. Brawley establishes a theoretical framework that focuses his interpretation - ranging from the narrative world and sociological issues to postcolonialism and hierarchies of dominance - and uses these perspectives to provide a clear overview of historical and critical issues related to an understanding of Luke. He then provides a thorough outline of and commentary on the text of the Gospel. Brawley’s engagement with the text serves as an invaluable resource for scholars, students, clergy, and others interested in their own discoveries of the resources of Luke.

This comprehensive consideration of Luke-Acts offers lucid introductions to a wide variety of exegetical methods. Emphasizing the use of literary criticism, and relating the methods of Roland Barthes's five literary voices, the author analyzes point of view, levels of reliability, and strategies for reformulating reader response, narrative structure, characterization, textual gaps, the cultural repertoire, and redundant antitheses. This book advocates synthesis as the ultimate aim of reading and interpreting and opens new avenues for understanding this important unit of New Testament literature.