Plots of Epiphany: Prison-Escape in Acts of the Apostles

John B. Weaver

Published by De Gruyter 2004

Plots of Epiphany

Prison-Escape in Acts of the Apostles

John B. Weaver

Volume 131 in the series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110915617

Overview
Contents

About this book

Past scholarship on the prison-escapes in the Acts of the Apostles has tended to focus on lexical similarities to Euripides' Bacchae, going so far as to argue for direct literary dependence. Moving beyond such explanations, the present study argues that miraculous prison-escape was a central event in a traditional and culturally significant story about the introduction and foundation of cults - a story discernable in the Bacchae and other ancient texts. When the mythic quality and cultural diffusion of the prison-escape narratives are taken into account, the resemblance of Lukan and Dionysian narrative episodes is seen to depend less on specific literary borrowing, and more on shared familiarity with cultural discourses involving the legitimating portrayal of new cults in the ancient world.

Author / Editor information

Ph.D. dissertation under the supervision of Prof. Carl Holladay, Emory University. John B. Weaver is now the Reference and Periodicals Librarian at Pitts Theology Library, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Reviews

"W.s Studie ist eine luzide, methodisch wie inhaltlich überzeugende Untersuchung der Befreiungswunder der Apg."
Theologische Rundschau 3/2008

"A careful study which adduces a wealth of comparative material for understanding Luke's apparently artless narratives."
Loveday Alexander in: Booklist 5/2006

"[...] all who specialize in [Luke and) Acts will do well to place Plots of Epiphany on their „must read‟ lists. Epiphanies await."
Richard I. Pervo in: The Journal of Religion 3/2006

"The volume is rounded out by a bibliography and useful indexes opf sources, subjects, and modern authors. Weaver has presented a learned and very readable interpretation of Acts' prison-escape stories as cultic foundation legend. His ›myth-critical apporach‹ is a stimulating development of older from-critical studies."
Heike Omerzu in: Catholic Biblical Quarterly 67/2005

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Acknowledgements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Chapter One. Prison-Escape and Myth-Criticism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter Two. Epiphanic Rescue from Prison in Ancient Myth and History Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
Chapter Three. "Beginning from Jerusalem:" Prison-Escape and the Mythopoesis of Christian Origins in Acts 1-7 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
Chapter Four. Rescue and Regicide: The Poetics and Politics of Group Validation in Acts 12 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
Chapter Five. "A Door of Faith Opened to the Gentiles:" Prison Epiphany and Cult Foundation in Acts 16 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
Chapter Six. Conclusions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	281
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	289
Index of Ancient Sources Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	315
Index of Subjects Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	329
Index of Modern Authors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	331

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Edition: Reprint 2012
Audience: Scholars, Institutes, Libraries
Pages
- Front matter: 12
- Main content: 335
Illustrations
- Tables: 5
Keywords: Apostelgeschichte /Text; Gefangenenbefreiung; Epiphanie; Zeithintergrund

eBook

Published: February 6, 2013
ISBN: 9783110915617

Hardcover

Published: October 25, 2004
ISBN: 9783110182668