Date of Award
Spring 2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Theology
First Advisor
Julian Hills
Abstract
The subject of this study is place in Luke-Acts. Unlike previous studies that examine single places, either large regions or individual types of places in the narrative, I approach place with both a particularized and an integrated vision. I study places that are small enough to participate in the narrative and then integrate them into a coherent narrative map. I examine place as it is written by Luke and as it is read by the reader. This study is guided by the relatively new method of geocriticism and, deriving from this, five working hypotheses about narrative place: 1) the author is the creator of the narrative map; 2) place is active; 3) place is changing; 4) place is intersected; and 5) place is intertextual. From these ideas, I read place as an active character in Luke’s narrative. Place is shaped by narrative events and guides the reader into the author’s understanding. In Chapters 2–4 I provide a guided tour of Luke’s synagogues, houses, and the Jerusalem temple. I examine these places in specific pericopes with a geocritically informed exegesis. I then summarize the recurrent qualities of each place in Luke’s conception, provide a reconstruction of Luke’s sense of that place, and identify specific areas where geocriticism may provide offer a fresh framework within which to explore questions of exegesis. In Chapter 5 I set out four axioms which I shall argue comprise the spatial logic of Luke’s narrative: 1) that the divine can appear in any place; 2) that not every place of a type is the same; 3) that all places are capable of change; and 4) that places are connected by people. This logic gives shape to Luke’s narrative and begins to show the reader what place is for Luke. In Chapter 6 I therefore turn to the reader and address four ways that Luke’s proposed spatial logic potentially orients them to Luke’s world and their own. The narrative offers a way of thinking about the world through geographical sensibilities that brings the reader hope and connects them to a larger network of believers.