Persuasion and Force in Acts: A Response to C. Kavin Rowe
The present study explores the dynamic of persuasion and force in Acts in the context of Greco-Roman and Jewish political thought, with special reference to 4 Maccabees. It also constitutes a response to C. Kavin Rowe's argument for two closely related points, namely, that Acts rejects statecra...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Catholic Biblical Association of America
2016
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| In: |
The catholic biblical quarterly
Year: 2016, Volume: 78, Issue: 3, Pages: 483-499 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | The present study explores the dynamic of persuasion and force in Acts in the context of Greco-Roman and Jewish political thought, with special reference to 4 Maccabees. It also constitutes a response to C. Kavin Rowe's argument for two closely related points, namely, that Acts rejects statecraft and that it leaves no room for coercion, which conflicts with the nature of Jesus as Lord (World Upside Down). After first clarifying what is at stake for Rowe theologically, I survey the themes of persuasion and force in Acts, arguing that the early Christian community is portrayed in terms of the ideal polity. A fundamental element of this portrayal is the fact that Acts shows the early Christian leaders to be extremely persuasive, divinely inspired, while Jewish, Greek, and Roman leaders resort to force in an effort to stop the expansion of the gospel. This is supplemented by a brief discussion of 4 Maccabees. Finally, I demonstrate that Acts preserves a place for force in the context of the Christian community in the elements of divinely initiated force evident in the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, among other events. I conclude that the dynamic of persuasion and force, along with other civic themes, belies Rowe's argument that Acts rejects "statecraft" and coercion, showing that both points are problematized rather than proven by the narrative of Acts in its ancient context of Greco-Roman political thought. |
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| ISSN: | 2163-2529 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The catholic biblical quarterly
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