Does Luke's Preface Resemble a Greek Decree? Comparing the Epigraphical and Papyrological Evidence of Greek Decrees with Ancient Preface Formulae

This article challenges the argument of John Moles that Luke's preface (1.1-4) resembles a Greek decree more than any other type of writing. Although Moles is not the first to recognise the supposed decree-like features in Luke's preface, he goes further by arguing that the preface is inte...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dawson, Zachary K. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Cambridge Univ. Press [2019]
In: New Testament studies
Year: 2019, Volume: 65, Issue: 4, Pages: 552-571
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Bible. Lukasevangelium 1,1-4 / Foreword / Greek language / Decree / Epigraphy / Papyrology / Moles, John L. 1949-2015
IxTheo Classification:HC New Testament
Further subjects:B Epigraphy
B Papyrology
B Greek decrees
B Luke 1.1-4
B preface writing
B John Moles
B Luke's Preface
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Summary:This article challenges the argument of John Moles that Luke's preface (1.1-4) resembles a Greek decree more than any other type of writing. Although Moles is not the first to recognise the supposed decree-like features in Luke's preface, he goes further by arguing that the preface is intentionally structured like a decree for the author's rhetorical aim. In this article, I demonstrate that Moles' argument goes too far and that Luke's preface simply displays features conventional to prefaces of historiographical writing - despite common structural patterns of preface writing and decree formulae - and is not layered with additional rhetorical meaning.
ISSN:1469-8145
Contains:Enthalten in: New Testament studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/S002868851900016X