Theology

Christoph W. Stenschke

Luke's Portrait of Gentiles Prior to Their Coming to Faith

[Die Heiden vor dem christlichen Glauben aus der Sicht des lukanischen Doppelwerkes. Von Christoph W. Stenschke.]

unrevised e-book edition 2019; Original edition 1999; 1999. XVIII, 460 pages.

Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 108

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Why did the Gentiles need salvation? What is wrong with them before they encounter the Christian mission? Christoph W. Stenschke offers a comprehensive study of Luke's view of the Gentiles and provides the reason for Christian mission.
Christoph W. Stenschke examines Luke's portrait of the Gentiles' state prior to their coming to Christian faith. Following the history of research, he commences with Luke's direct references to the Gentiles prior to faith and then draws conclusions concerning their state from the Gentile encounter with Jesus and Christian salvation. This includes Luke's notes on the condition of Gentiles and on their appropriation of salvation. Finally conclusions from Luke's portrayal of Gentile Christians are drawn.
With his approach Christoph W. Stenschke challenges some previous contributions to Lukan anthropology. He argues that the main study in the field (J.-W. Taeger, Der Mensch und sein Heil) does not sufficiently consider all the evidence. By concentrating on the Gentiles in Luke-Act (including Samaritans and God-fearers) the author's thesis covers all the relevant material. Contrary to Taeger, who suggests that Gentiles do not need 'salvation' as much as 'correction', he discovers that Luke portrays Gentiles prior to faith in a condition requiring God's saving intervention. Thorough correction has to accompany and follow this salvation. Though allowing for distinct Lukan emphases, this portrait is not essentially at odds with that of other NT authors.
These results further show that the Areopagus speech needs to and can be satisfactorily interpreted in its context and in conjunction with similar statements. The author further argues that Luke's narrative sections and the characterization they present should no longer be neglected in favour of the speeches. Luke's portrayal of Gentiles prior to faith also bears on his understanding of sin and provides additional justification for the Gentile mission. Christoph W. Stenschke challenges proposals of Luke's alleged anti-Judaism and provides some hitherto little-noticed correctives.
Authors/Editors

Christoph W. Stenschke Born 1966; 1987–92 studied theology in Gießen (FTA); 1993–97 Ph.D. in Aberdeen/Scotland; 1997 Guest Professor at the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague; since 1998 minister of the Evangelisch-Freikirchliche Gemeinde in Stralsund, Germany.

Reviews

The following reviews are known:

In: The Expository Times — Jg. 111, (2000), Nr. 10, S. 347ff. (Robert Morgan)
In: De Stem van het Boek — Jg. 11, (2000), Nr. 1, S. 11
In: European Journal of Theology (EJT) — Jg.11 (2002), H.1, S. 59ff (Prof. Riesner)
In: Arbeitskreis f.Evangelikale Theologie — Jg. 14, (2000), S. 201–203 (Herr Schröder)
In: Theological Book Review — Jg.12 (2000) Nr.3 (Robert Morgan)
In: Zeitschr.f.Katholische Theologie — 2001, H.2–3, S. 318f. (Robert Oberforcher)
In: New Testament Abstracts — Jg. 44, (2000), Nr. 1, S. 171–172
In: Religious Studies Review — Vol. 26, (2000), Nr. 3, S. 283 (Daniel A. Smith)
In: Themelios — Vol.29 (2003), H.1, S. 131 (Alistair I Wilson)
In: Theologische Literaturzeitung — Jg.126 (2001), H.1., S.58ff. (Klaus-Michael Bull)
In: Theologische Rundschau — 73 (2008), S. 293–295 (Jens Schröter)