06 — Lukan Theology
Beyond the questions of authorship, sources, and history lies the distinctive theological vision of the third Gospel — the reason the Church receives Luke not merely as a careful historian but as an inspired Evangelist. This section gathers the great theological signatures of Luke–Acts: the pervasive presence of the Holy Spirit, the good news to the poor and the great reversal, the architecture of salvation history, the Gospel of prayer and joy, the universal horizon, and the Christology of the Savior who sets out on his “exodus” to Jerusalem.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Apostle and Evangelist)
Luke is, with John, the most theological of the four Evangelists, and his theology is worked out across two volumes rather than one. These files set out the themes that mark his Gospel off from the others and that the Orthodox tradition has most cherished — the Spirit-Christology that frames the Lord’s ministry from conception to Pentecost; the concern for the poor that runs from the Nazareth manifesto through the Beatitudes and the parables of wealth and fed the patristic theology of almsgiving; the salvation-historical reading associated with Hans Conzelmann and the debate it provoked; and the notes of prayer, joy, universality, and salvation that pervade the whole. The two files below treat these themes in turn, the first taking the Spirit and the poor together, the second surveying the wider theological architecture.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Spirit and the Poor | The two interlocking Lukan signatures: the Holy Spirit who fills both volumes (Luke 1:35; 3:22; 4:1, 14, 18; 11:13; Acts 2) and the good news to the poor and the great reversal (the Nazareth manifesto, the Beatitudes and Woes, the rich fool, Lazarus, the call to almsgiving), with the Orthodox reception in Chrysostom and Basil on wealth and the poor. |
| The Theology of the Third Gospel | The wider theological architecture: salvation history and Conzelmann’s “three epochs” with Marshall’s critique; the Gospel of prayer; joy and praise; the universal horizon (Gentiles, Samaritans, women, the genealogy to Adam); and the Christology of Jesus as Savior, prophet, and Lord on his “exodus” to Jerusalem. |
See Also
- The Third Gospel — the Gospel as a book, its structure and universal horizon
- The Gospel of Mercy — the parables and persons of Luke’s special material
- The Magnificat — the canticle of reversal that the Gospel of the poor enacts
- The Acts of the Apostles — the second volume in which the Spirit’s work continues
- Christology — the Orthodox confession of Christ behind Luke’s Christology
- St. John Chrysostom — the homilist of wealth and poverty on the Lukan texts
References
- The Gospel According to Luke and The Acts of the Apostles. Cited throughout by chapter and verse.
- Conzelmann, Hans. The Theology of St Luke. Trans. Geoffrey Buswell. London: Faber & Faber, 1960. (German Die Mitte der Zeit, 1953.)
- Marshall, I. Howard. Luke: Historian and Theologian. Exeter: Paternoster, 1970.
- John Chrysostom. On Wealth and Poverty (Homilies on Lazarus). Trans. Catharine P. Roth. Popular Patristics Series. Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1984.
- Basil of Caesarea. On Social Justice. Trans. C. Paul Schroeder. Popular Patristics Series. Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2009.