The following videos introduce the background and themes of the Gospel of Luke, with a little attention to the second book Luke wrote, the Acts of the Apostles. Use the links to the right to access pdf files of the slides shown in class. Two formats are available: 1 slide per page and three slides per page.
The videos often have a bit more information, and a few more slides, than I show in our class or include in the slide files above. That's because they were made for classes in the Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministries at Santa Clara University. At the bottom of the page, I provide links to the video pages for those courses, in case you're interested in learning more about the New Testament.
The videos below are thumbnails; to enlarge the view, click the play button and select at the bottom of the frame either "YouTube" (to watch the video on YouTube, which in some cases will be clearer) or the full-screen icon ().
1
The Narrative Structure of Luke–Acts
This video outlines the main sections of both the Gospel of Luke and Luke's second "volume," the Acts of the Apostles, revealing the parallels between the two plots. It traces the emphases on order and assurance in the prologue of the gospel, and then provides examples from the plot of the first half of the gospel where we see these themes at work.
17.12
2
Luke's Infancy Narrative
This video sketches the structure of Luke's infancy narrative and uses the patterns and repeating motifs to identify the central themes of this gospel. Since the infancy functions as an overture to the gospel, we can watch for these themes in the other sections of the Gospel and Acts of the Apostles.
16.12
3
Narrative & Redactional Themes in Luke
This video takes the themes we identified in Luke's infancy narrative and finds further corroboration for them in the redactional changes Luke makes to his sources, Mark and Q.
9.41
4
Jesus, Prophet of Salvation
This video explores an important Christological motif in the Gospel of Luke, that Jesus is the prophet of salvation in the year of the Lord's favor. It points out the ways that Luke emphasizes Jesus' role as prophet and savior over against the other synoptic gospels, and shows how this evokes both earlier Jewish prophets and Roman imperial claims.
18.13
5
Unique Issues in Luke-Acts
This video introduces two unique issues in Luke–Acts, namely the fact that he omits large sections of Mark (the great and lesser omissions), and the fact that he frames so much of the story of Jesus and the early Christian community in terms of "the way," the journey.
5.59
6
Luke's Political Theology
This video continues our exploration of Roman political theology, looking at how Luke positions Jesus as the real Savior of the world in contrast to the emperor. The focus of the study is the type scene of the parousia or adventus—the entry of the king/emperor to a city—and how the typical features of the scene are both present and subverted in Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.
14.19
For additional videos about the gospels, see the "Lecture Videos" pages associated with my courses at Santa Clara University on The Synoptic Gospels and The New Testament.
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