Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 64:4 (Dec 2021)
Article: Faith-Language, Jesus’s Disciples, And Narrative Fulfillment In Luke-Acts
Author: William B. Bowes

JETS 64:4 (December 2021) p. 767

Faith-Language, Jesus’s Disciples, And Narrative Fulfillment In Luke-Acts

William B. Bowes*

* William B. Bowes is a PhD student in New Testament and Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: There has been a renewed interest in the language of faith (πίστις) in recent years, but few studies have focused exclusively on the way that such language is understood and utilized in Luke-Acts. This article explores the nuance and development of faith-language in appropriated and unique Lukan passages, focusing on the faith of Jesus’s disciples. The analysis then turns to how this develops throughout the narrative into Acts, with a focus toward illustrating how Luke uniquely highlights the disciples’ πίστις to show that a problem to be remedied in the era of Acts is their lack of faith.

Key words: Luke-Acts, Gospels, faith, belief, narrative, disciples, fulfillment

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to rightly define what πίστις means as “faith,” and the variety of ways in which the terminology is used inside and outside the NT, on the surface it can appear that no further lacunae are left to fill. Teresa Morgan’s masterful Roman Faith and Christian Faith remains the standard-bearer for linguistic and historical aspects of the discussion,1 and there is an ever-burgeoning set of contributions to the use of πίστις in the Pauline corpus.2 The present examination, however, seeks to build on the insights of recent interpreters while also contending that faith-language particular to Luke-Acts has been routinely overlooked, and that the narrative aspects of the development of such language through these works has been largely ignored.3 The lack of attention to Lukan faith-

JETS 64:4 (December 2021) p. 768

language stems from the assumption that the Evangelist “largely follows the same patterns and themes” as Matthew and Mark, not adding significantly to the material in either of these.4 It does appear that Luke understands the semantics of πίστις in a way similar to the other Synoptics, but this article argues that Luke frames his material uniquely and develops faith-language in a manner that must be understood in view of the overall narrative of Luke-Acts, which emphasizes...