Rejected Prophets: Jesus and His Witnesses in Luke-Acts

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THE AGENDA BEHIND LUKE’S STORY— Although several scholars have written in the past about how Luke portrays Jesus and the apostles as prophets, no one has yet provided a comprehensive theory as to why Luke’s main protagonists resemble Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Moses, and Jeremiah. Jocelyn McWhirter shows that Luke uses these biblical prophets as precedents, seeking to legitimate the things about which his audience has been instructed in the face of events that seem to contradict those teachings. By the 80s of the first century, the Romans had killed Jesus, Peter, and Paul; ravaged Jerusalem; and destroyed the temple. Many Gentiles believed in Jesus, while most Jews did not. In order to show that all this was part of God’s plan, Luke—whom McWhirter, with David Tiede and others, identifies as a Diaspora Jew—compares Jesus and his witnesses to Israel’s prophets who also went to the nations and were rejected by some of their own people. Praise for Rejected Prophets “Jocelyn McWhirter’s investigation of prophets in Luke–Acts is an oasis in biblical study. From a desert thick with theory and tendentiousness, the author leads her readers deep into the Bible’s two Testaments to consider afresh a critical issue in Lukan theology. McWhirter’s procedure is exquisitely balanced: historically anchored and sensitive to literary cadences. Her mastery of scholarship never eclipses concentration on Luke’s primary texts. Wise and discerning, Rejected Prophets is a model of sound exegesis and should become a standard in Lukan interpretation.” C. Clifton Black Princeton Theological Seminary “Jocelyn McWhirter’s thoughtful literary and intertextual analysis allows the prophetic melody of the LukeActs narrative to ring out, affirming both the legitimacy and the reliability of the witness of the biblical prophets, John the Baptist, Jesus, the apostles, and thus also the author of the gospel. Friendly and accessible, her book will easily serve individual study, church, and classroom.” Jane S. Webster Barton College Jocelyn McWhirter is associate professor of religious studies at Albion College. She received her PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary. RELIGION / NEW TESTAMENT ...