Gospel of Luke

Alexandru Neagoe examines Luke's writings as an apologetic work, by focusing on the parts of Luke's story where the apologetic overtones seem most prominent--the trial narratives. In analyzing the trials of all major Lukan characters--Jesus, Peter, Stephen, and Paul, Neagoe argues that the narratives are best understood when viewed as part of Luke's apologia pro evangelio, a purpose which is in keeping with the author's declared aim to give his readers "assurance" about the "matters" in which they had been instructed (Luke 1:4).

"Donald Gelpi's Christological trilogy is an important contribution to the discipline combining as it does both foundational and constructive Christology. Gelpi carefully establishes his methodological choices and situates them amid other theological options on the present scene. He then builds his case by moving through the foundational issues and explicating them in regard to their import for a systematic Christology. Connections are made with his earlier work and here Gelpi continues his theological project of establishing a new foundationalism (with its Peircean pragmatic logic of consequences, the turn to community, and a fallibilistic metaphysics of experience) and exploits it for doctrinal theology. Gelpi's proposals will certainly not be without its critics but his attempt to inculturate the philosophical issues in a North American idiom should be on the table "The strength of Gelpi's volumes is the care with which he examines the issues on the agenda of any contemporary Christology. These include in addition to methodological issues (not always consciously attended to and seldom with the philosophical attention which Gelpi gives them), the quest for the historical Jesus, and the diversity of New Testament Christologies. Gelpi's contribution is to take these issues seriously and weave them into a constructive narrative of contemporary Christological development, at each point highlighting how they address the pertinent issues in theological foundations. Hence the bulk of his efforts is working through New Testament material in order to establish the constructive sequence: Jesus of history, kerygmatic Christology (Pauline corpus), apocalyptic Christology (book of Revelation), narrative Christology (synoptic gospels), doctrinal Christology (picking up from the particular narrative Christology of the Gospel of John, Chalcedon and post-Chalcedonian developments), and practical Christology (working with liberationist themes but consistent with his foundational pragmatism). All are related to a foundational theology of conversion and are rendered pastoral by addressing their implications for Roman Catholic RCIA practice.

Luke's Acts of the Apostles is the only documentation available on the birth of Christianity, despite the author's vigorously disputed reliability as a historian. Daniel Marguerat avoids this true/false quagmire by establishing his evaluation of Luke's talent as an historian within the framework of ancient historiography (the rules of ancient historians and narrative criticism). His study portrays Luke as a skillful and sound theologian, and provides an original approach to the classic themes of Lucan theology.

Addressing each book of the New Testament, an outstanding roster of scholars considers what asceticism may mean within New Testament studies. The question of the role of asceticism has often been overlooked in examining the New Testament. This major project in New Testament Studies is both comprehensive and comparative in its representation of how the question of asceticism might reorder the way in which we interpret the New Testament.

This sparkling collection of new essays addresses a wide range of issues surrounding women's lives in the early Christian period. The first set of articles supply the historical and social contexts. The contributors go on to address issues surrounding the representation of women in the Gospels, women in the Pauline tradition, and finally, attitudes toward women in the early church and the roles played by early Christian women. The most comprehensive look available on the Christian origins from women's point of view and Christian feminist theology, this book will be essential reading for students and others interested in these topics.