Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 The plan of God in Luke–Acts
- 2 The Programmatic role of providence in hellenistic historiography
- 3 Providence: God at work in human history
- 4 Portents: signs of divine action in human history
- 5 Epiphanies: inspired indications of the plan of God
- 6 Prophecy: foretelling and fulfilling the plan of God
- 7 Fate: the necessity of the plan of God
- 8 Conclusions
- A select bibliography
- Index of Greek words
- Index of subjects and authors
- Index of biblical references
5 - Epiphanies: inspired indications of the plan of God
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 The plan of God in Luke–Acts
- 2 The Programmatic role of providence in hellenistic historiography
- 3 Providence: God at work in human history
- 4 Portents: signs of divine action in human history
- 5 Epiphanies: inspired indications of the plan of God
- 6 Prophecy: foretelling and fulfilling the plan of God
- 7 Fate: the necessity of the plan of God
- 8 Conclusions
- A select bibliography
- Index of Greek words
- Index of subjects and authors
- Index of biblical references
Summary
At strategic places throughout his work, Luke reports epiphanies in which God, or a divine agent, appears and guides the course of events. Such epiphanies occur at the beginning of Jesus' life and his ministry as well as in various places in the history of the early church. In addition, the final chapter of the Gospel includes reports of three epiphanies of Jesus and angelic figures. Each of these incidents is strategically related to the course of events in Luke's history, for such epiphanies indicate the intentions of God with regard to the direction in which history proceeds. This function of asserting the divine will and guiding human actions is similar to the role played by such phenomena in hellenistic histories, especially the significance attached to dreams as indicators of the gods' desires.
Epiphanies in hellenistic historiography
Philosophic views of divination and providence
In the previous chapter, we noted the relationship between divination and providence which was part of Stoic belief in the ancient world, paying particular attention to divination by ‘artificial’ means. Our attention now turns to those ‘natural’ means of divination which, in Stoic belief, provided still further evidence for the existence of the gods and their providential guidance of events.
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- The Plan of God in Luke-Acts , pp. 103 - 120Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1993