Synopses & Reviews
In this groundbreaking, cross-disciplinary work of philosophy and biblical studies, New Testament scholar C. Kavin Rowe explores the promise and problems inherent in engaging rival philosophical claims to what is true. Juxtaposing the Roman Stoics Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius with the Christian saints Paul, Luke, and Justin Martyr, and incorporating the contemporary views of Jeffrey Stout, Alasdair McIntyre, Charles Taylor, Martha Nussbaum, Pierre Hadot, and others, the author suggests that in a world of religious pluralism there is negligible gain in sampling from separate belief systems. This thought-provoking volume reconceives the relationship between ancient philosophy and emergent Christianity as a rivalry between strong traditions of life and offers powerful arguments for the exclusive commitment to a community of belief and a particular form of philosophical life as the path to existential truth.
Review
“With this elegant exposition, Kavin Rowe compels us to revisit not only what we thought we knew about the early Christians and their Stoic contemporaries but also—in good philosophical style—the way we might know it. This revolutionary treatment offers a sharp challenge to those who suppose that what people believe can be separated from the whole life they lead. All those interested in early Christianity and its Greco-Roman context should ponder this book very carefully.”—Rt Revd Professor N. T. Wright, University of St. Andrews
Review
"This is a mature and provocative intervention into the modern practice of religious comparison: the powerfully argued claim that Stoicism and early Christianity are incompatible, in fact incommensurable, will raise scholarly debate on the possibility of comparison to a wholly new level."—John Barclay, Durham University
Review
"Kavin Rowe's
One True Life is a deeply challenging book—an uncomfortable read in the best sense. It is learned, often moving, and written with profound historical and theological intelligence. I wish I had the learning and the sophistication to have written this book."—Simon Gathercole, University of Cambridge
Review
"Few New Testament scholars combine exegetical competence with real philosophical and theological sophistication. Kavin Rowe is one of the rare exceptions. In this remarkable book, Rowe reexamines how the Stoics and the early Christians thought we ought to live our lives and how these two schools of thought relate to one another."—Gary A. Anderson, University of Notre Dame
Review
"Many books have been written on the relation between Christian thought and ancient philosophy, but Rowe eschews abstract ideas in this fresh and stimulating work. He deals with what Greco-Roman thinkers and Christians genuinely cared about: how to live within a moral or religious tradition. The startling claim the early Christians made is that there is a true way of life."—Robert Louis Wilken, author of
The First Thousand YearsSynopsis
Despite the striking frequency with which the Greek word kyrios, Lord, occurs in Luke's Gospel, this study is the first comprehensive analysis of Luke's use of this word. The analysis follows the use of kyrios in the Gospel from beginning to end in order to trace narratively the complex and deliberate development of Jesus' identity as Lord. Detailed attention to Luke's narrative artistry and his use of Mark demonstrates that Luke has a nuanced and sophisticated christology centered on Jesus' identity as Lord.
Synopsis
Despite the striking frequency with which the Greek word for kyrios (Lord) occurs in Luke's Gospel, this study is the first comprehensive analysis of Luke's use of this word. Rowe offers a careful exegetical discussion of all the passages in the Gospel that use kyrios for Jesus in order to trace the complex and deliberate development in Luke's narrative of Jesus's identity as Lord. Detailed attention to Luke's artistry and use of Mark demonstrates that Luke has a nuanced and sophisticated christology. For Rowe, Luke's use of kyrios for Jesus not only after the resurrection but throughout shows Jesus's close association with the God of Israel. This book, now available in paperback, was first published in hardcover by Walter de Gruyter.
Synopsis
Shows that Luke's gospel narrative identifies Jesus as Lord not only after the resurrection but throughout, indicating a high Lukan christology.
About the Author
C. Kavin Rowe is professor of New Testament at Duke University Divinity School and the author of Early Narrative Christology: The Lord in the Gospel of Luke and World Upside Down: Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.