The topos of Divine Testimony in Luke-Acts. James R. McConnell

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The topos of Divine Testimony in Luke-Acts - James R. McConnell


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a whole” (Concept of Miracle, 9). More recently, D. Basinger and R. Basinger argue for two definitions of miracle: (i) “a permanently inexplicable event directly caused by God”; and (ii) “an awe-producing naturally explicable event directly caused by God” (Philosophy and Miracle, 23).

      Within the last forty years, the concept of the theios anēr as a point of entry for discussing the gospel miracle accounts has continued to be attractive to scholars; summaries of the development of the concept of the Hellenistic divine man and its application to gospel research can be found in the following: M. Smith, “Prolegomena,” 174–99; Tiede, Charismatic Figure; and Holladay, Theios Aner in Hellenistic-Judaism, 15–45. Holladay’s summary concentrates on the process of transmission of the concept of a Hellenistic divine man through Hellenistic-Judaism (in which it was combined with the OT idea of a “man of God”) to the Christian authors of the NT. For critiques and nuanced perspectives, see Tiede, Charismatic Figure; Holladay, Theios Aner in Hellenistic-Judaism; Betz, “Jesus as Divine Man,” 114–33; Achtemeier, “Gospel Miracle Tradition,” 174–97; Talbert, “Concept of Immortals,” 419–36. In this last essay, Talbert opines that the idea of a theios anēr is “an auxiliary concern because of its importance in current discussion in NT study” (“Concept of Immortals,” 419 n. 1, citing Achtemeier, “Gospel Miracle Traditions”). Rather than focus on the author’s intention, as Achtemeier and Betz do, Talbert emphasizes what the ancient audience would have understood, arguing that there were originally two concepts of divine men, namely the immortals and that of the theios anēr. These two eventually merged, the point of contact between them being the virtuous life that characterized both types of figures. While some early Christians argued that Jesus was unique, others embraced the idea of a virtuous immortal, and used it in their portrayals of Jesus. For a more recent critique of theios anēr Christology, see Pilgaard, “Hellenistic Theios Aner,” 101–22.


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