The following videos introduce the Gospel of Luke, using our two methods of narrative criticism and redaction criticism to explore Luke's themes and teachings. Three well-known features of the gospel are discussed—Luke's use of parables, his portrayal of Jesus as a prophet, and his unique emphasis on economic ethics. Because economics is a social science, there will also be a video introducing that method of studying the social world of the gospel authors, and you will also find a video introducing Exercise #3, Using New Testament Abstracts.
The eight numbered videos are the most important material, corresponding to the slides. While you don't have to watch them, they may help you prepare for class or fill in gaps after. Below the numbered videos, you will find some additional videos and links, including some of the unique features of Luke's story of Jesus and of the manuscript tradition of Luke–Acts.
Use the links to the right to access pdf files of the slides shown in the videos. Two formats are available: 1 slide per page and three slides per page. Both versions have slides for all eight numbered videos.
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
Parables in Luke
This video defines what a parable is and explores Luke's particularly heavy use of them, primarily in his travel narrative. It breaks down the elements of the literary form and illustrates how (and whether) these are present in one sample parable. It demonstrates how the narrative framing of a parable can completely alter its meaning, using the example of the parable of the lost sheep.
15.22
6
Social-Scientific Criticism
This video introduces our third critical method, social-scientific criticism. It describes the scope, interests and subfields typical of this method, and then defines the five choices a social-scientific critic makes when designing an inquiry.
14.11
7
Luke's Economic Interest & Ethic
This video surveys the passages in Luke and Acts of the Apostles that treat issues of wealth and poverty. The case for Luke's special interest is made on the basis of his incorporation of almost all the material on the subject from his sources, as well as his own unique traditions. Tensions in the material, and Luke's reasons for emphasizing it, are offered.
23.04
8
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
Introduction to Exercise
Using New Testament Abstracts - This video shows you how to use the electronic database version of the journal, New Testament Abstracts, to identify five sources for your exegetical research paper. It also shows you how to export those sources, paste them into a template for your assignment, and reformat them to match our class style sheet.
20.13
Optional Videos & Links
Manuscript Evidence for Luke & Acts - This video introduces the manuscript evidence for the Gospel of Luke, with an emphasis on our earliest manuscripts.
3.38
The Two Major Versions of Luke-Acts - This video introduces the two major manuscript traditions that we have for Luke–Acts, the Alexandrian and the Western, and points out how they differ from each other.
7.12
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.
The following videos introduce the Gospel of Luke, using our two methods of narrative criticism and redaction criticism to explore Luke's themes and teachings. Three well-known features of the gospel are discussed—Luke's use of parables, his portrayal of Jesus as a prophet, and his unique emphasis on economic ethics. Because economics is a social science, there will also be a video introducing that method of studying the social world of the gospel authors, and you will also find a video introducing Exercise #3, Using New Testament Abstracts.
).
