Does the New Testament Imitate Homer?: Four Cases from the Acts of the Apostlesdiv In this provocative challenge to prevailing views of New Testament sources, Dennis R. MacDonald argues that the origins of passages in the book of Acts are to be found not in early Christian legends but in the epics of Homer. MacDonald focuses on four passages in the book of Acts, examines their potential parallels in the Iliad, and concludes that the author of Acts composed them using famous scenes in Homer’s work as a model. |
From inside the book
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... Luke's contempo- raries spoke of Homer's popularity like this : " From the earliest age , children beginning their studies are nursed on Homer's teaching . One might say that while we were still in swathing bands we sucked from his ...
... Luke , I submit , borrowed from both the Jew- ish Bible and the Greek epic . Analogy , the second criterion , asks if other ancient authors imitated the same proposed model . Surviving school exercises often document the popularity of a ...
... Luke substitutes his own values for Homer's. Critics of my work have complained that my criterion of interpretability is a ... Luke's one creates alchemical reactions that are impossible to control. It is like watching a parody of a film ...
... Luke - Acts . He quotes Aratus's Phaenomena in Acts 17:28 , and Euripides ' Bacchae in 26:14 , and his vocabulary ... Luke's use of super- natural beings as a narrative device employed at critical junctures to shape the direction and ...
... Luke “ decided to recast his community's sacred traditions in a style and manner that would make the Christian claim a powerful and appealing rival to the ubiquitous and potentially seductive salvation claims of imperial Rome . ” 21 Luke ...
Contents
1 | |
17 | |
Pauls Farewell at Miletus and Iliad | 67 |
The Selection of Matthias and Iliad | 103 |
Peters Escape from Prison and Iliad | 121 |
Conclusion | 146 |
Greek and Latin Parallels | 153 |
List of Abbreviations | 167 |
Notes | 171 |
Bibliography | 209 |
Index | 221 |