Anton Deik: Justice, Righteousness, and Wealth Ethics, Kartoniert / Broschiert

Klappentext

It is widely recognised that the wealth ethics of the Acts of the Apostles echo both Graeco-Roman philosophy and Greek Deuteronomy. Yet a central question remains unresolved: What is the significance of these echoes? While scholarship commonly explains Luke's depiction of early Christian communal life through the lenses of Graeco-Roman friendship or utopia , Anton Deik advances a third proposal: the wealth ethics of Acts articulate a vision of justice / righteousness (). This vision not only fulfils but also surpasses the demands of justice and righteous living in the Deuteronomic law, while partly fulfilling yet fundamentally subverting Graeco-Roman conceptions of justice. Using a text-centred, comparative, diachronic intertextual approach, the author offers a comprehensive examination of passages in Acts concerning communal sharing, wealth distribution, greed, care for the vulnerable, almsgiving, proportional giving, damage to wealth, and work ethics. Special attention is given to Luke's language and to Acts's conceptual and lexical correlations with Greek Deuteronomy and with four major Graeco-Roman philosophical traditions: Pythagoreanism, Platonism, Aristotelianism, and Stoicism. Although the thesis proffered in this study contributes primarily to scholarly discussions concerning Acts's wealth ethics, it has significant implications (1) for understanding the composition of Luke's text; (2) for assessing his level of education; (3) for wider studies within NT research; (4) for the question of Luke and the Mosaic law; and (5) for the new perspective on Acts and Graeco-Roman culture.