Who Are the Righteous?: The Narrative Function of the Dikaioi in the Gospel of Luke

Denise Powell

doi:10.5771/9781978712584

Summary

Who is righteous and how one becomes righteous is a question often debated in Pauline studies but rarely explored in the Gospels. In this book, Denise Powell investigates Luke’s answer to the question by tracing his “righteous” characters sequentially through the Gospel narrative. By portraying Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon, and Anna as righteous at the beginning of the narrative, Luke establishes the characteristics of the righteous. As a result of the primacy effect, these birth narrative characters become the standard against which the righteous nature of subsequent characters is measured. This leads to uncertainty over who belongs in the category of the righteous when later stories contrast an ostensibly righteous character with a “sinner.” The increasing uncertainty over who belongs in which category functions as the backdrop for the centurion’s declaration that Jesus is “righteous.” By way of the “sword discourse” of 22:35-38 and the subsequent arrest scene, Jesus intentionally places himself in the “sinner” category in fulfilment of Scripture. Since Jesus has placed himself in solidarity with sinners, and they with him, the centurion’s declaration that Jesus is righteous has implications for all the sinners in the Lukan story.

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/2021
Copyright Year: 2021
ISBN-Print: 978-1-9787-1257-7
ISBN-Online: 978-1-9787-1258-4
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 156
Product Type: Monograph

1. Dedication No access
2. Contents No access
3. List of Table No access
4. Abbreviations No access
5. Acknowledgments No access
1. Outline of the Study No access
2. Limits of This Study No access
3. Notes No access
1. Frequency and Uniqueness of Occurrences No access
2. Location of Occurrences No access
3. Characters Described as Falsely Δίκαι* No access
4. Δίκαι*: A Leitwort in the Lukan Narrative No access
5. Conclusion No access
6. Notes No access
1. Introducing the Δίκαι* Characters in the Birth Narrative No access
2. Establishing the Characteristics of the Δίκαι* No access
3. Establishing the Δίκαι* as Reliable Characters No access
4. The Δίκαι* as Those Who “Believe That What Was Spoken Will Be Fulfilled.” No access
5. Conclusion No access
6. Notes No access
1. Levi’s Banquet No access
2. Simon and the Woman No access
3. The Parable of the “Lost” No access
4. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector No access
5. The Sinful People of 24:7 No access
6. The Special Case of the Pharisees No access
7. Conclusion No access
8. Notes No access
1. The Continuation of the Righteous-Sinner Theme in the Passion Narrative No access
2. Jesus the Sinner No access
3. Jesus the Righteous One No access
4. Sinner or Righteous: A Matter of Perspective No access
5. Sinners Become Righteous No access
6. Conclusion No access
7. Notes No access
Chapter 6: Conclusion No access Pages 123 - 128
Bibliography No access Pages 129 - 140
Author Index No access Pages 141 - 144
Reference Index No access Pages 145 - 154
About the Author No access Pages 155 - 156