Synopses & Reviews
Luke's two-volume work begins with a formal preface unlike anything else in the New Testament, and it has long been academic orthodoxy that Luke's choice of style, vocabulary, and content in this short passage reveal a desire to present his work to contemporary readers as 'History' in the great tradition of Thucydides and Polybius. This study challenges that assumption: far from aping the classical historians, Dr Alexander argues, Luke was simply introducing his book in a style that would have been familiar to readers of the scientific and technical manuals which proliferated in the hellenistic world. The book contains a detailed study of these Greek 'scientific' prefaces as well as a word-by-word commentary on the Lucan texts. In her concluding chapters, Alexander seeks to explore the consequences of this alignment both for the literary genre of Luke-Acts (is it meant to be read as 'history'?) and for the social background of the author and the book's first readers.
Synopsis
In the process of exploring the full implications of Luke's preface, Loveday Alexander puts forward the innovative thesis that Luke followed the prefaces of the 'scientific' tradition in the Greaco-Roman world, rather than the conventions of the literati.
Synopsis
Lukeâs Gospel begins with a short formal preface unlike anything else in the New Testament, and this is a study of the literary background of that preface. After surveying the different types of preface in ancient Greek literature, Dr Alexander concludes that the closest parallels to Lukeâs are to be found in the scientific and technical manuals of the hellenistic Greeks. This has important consequences for our understanding of the literary genre of Lukeâs Gospel and Acts, and raises the question of whether they were meant to be read as history, while casting new light on the authorâs social background.
Synopsis
Completely re-evaluates the backgound to and provenance of the preface to Luke's Gospel.
Table of Contents
Abbreviations; Foreword; 1. The Lucan preface: questions and assumptions; 2. On the beginnings of books; 3. Historical prefaces; 4. Scientific prefaces (1): origins and development; 5. Scientific prefaces (2): Structure, content & style; 6. Luke's preface; 7. Hellenistic Jewish prefaces; 8. The Social matrix of Luke's preface; 9 The appropriate form of words for the occasion; Appendix A: selected scientific prefaces; Appendix B: bibliographical notes on texts studied; Short bibliography; Index.