Without rejecting the general consensus among scholars that Luke emphasizes the humanity of Jesus, this dissertation attempts to contribute to the field of Lukan Christology by contending that there is more to the Lukan portrait of Jesus than what is generally acknowledged. Through his particular presentation of Jesus as the Spirit-Giver, Luke unveils the divine identity of the Messiah.
Chapter 1 provides a history of research of Lukan Christology and highlights the various controlling categories scholars have proposed for analyzing Lukan Christology. It concludes that there is a need for a study on Luke's Spirit-giver motif and its contribution to Lukan Christology.
Because the OT provides the conceptual world from which Luke develops his Spirit-Giver motif, chapter 2 examines the eschatological passages in Ezekiel, Isaiah, Joel, and Zechariah to see how that act of giving the Spirit is linked with the unique identity of Yahweh. The primary claim in this chapter is that the OT consistently presents the act of giving the eschatological Spirit as an act unique to the divine identity of Yahweh. This claim is supported in three ways: first, the primary metaphors employed to describe the giving of the Spirit are new creation and new exodus; second, the prophets explicitly link the act of giving the Spirit with Yahweh's identity as Israel's God; third, the act of giving the Spirit is reserved for Yahweh alone.
Chapter 3 explores how the act of giving the eschatological Spirit was understood in Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism. This chapter highlights the continuity between the OT and Jewish literature: the act of giving the Spirit is linked with God's identity as the creator and redeemer. Despite its diversity, early Judaism associated the act of giving the Spirit with the unique identity of God and no other figure is ever presented as sharing this role.
Chapters 4 and 5 examine Luke's Gospel and Acts respectively in the attempt to understand how Luke himself has uniquely developed the Spirit-Giver motif. In drawing upon the OT promise of the outpouring of the Spirit, Luke presents Jesus as participating in a role that was reserved exclusively for Yahweh and unique to his identity as Israel's creator and covenant God. As the Spirit-Giver theme unfolds, the identity of Jesus and the Father overlap in their shared role as the Spirit-Giver. This theme is thus evidence of Lukan divine identity Christology.
Chapter 6 concludes the argument and explores implications for Lukan Christology.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:SBTS/oai:digital.library.sbts.edu:10392/4508 |
| Date | 30 December 2013 |
| Creators | Godshall, Matthew |
| Contributors | Seifrid, Mark A. |
| Source Sets | Southern Baptist Theological Seminary |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic dissertation, Text |
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