The Theologian’s Theologian

This intriguing book is one to use, rather than read. It is Professor Lemcio’s fourth book designed to guide users to engage thoughtfully with an NT book: previous ones covered Mark, John and Revelation. His Preface explains what he is and isn’t doing He is not helping users to dig beneath the Third Gospel to the historical sources and events which Luke narrates. Rather, he aims to sensitise users to ‘that which makes Luke Luke’ (p. 3). Lemcio’s approach is a mix of reading horizontally across the page of a Gospels Synopsis to compare Luke’s account with those of Mark and Matthew, and vertically through Luke for themes, ideas and developments (I owe the horizontal/vertical metaphor to Craig Blomberg). In addition, he periodically compares Luke’s account with salient OT passages, other Jewish sources and GraecoRoman texts. His method is to pose questions and suggest observations to users, using the classic interrogatives: who, what, when, where, how, how far/ much/many, what kind, why, and so what? He builds on established approaches to Bible study, such as that of David R. Bauer and Robert A. Traina’s Inductive Bible Study (Baker Academic, 20110—itself a revision of a book first published in 1952). His target audience is (US) college and seminary students and their teachers. He makes occasional reference to Greek, but the vast bulk of the book is accessible to those without Greek; his base English version is NRSV. His footnotes and bibliography signal the scholarly resources behind his thinking, and support his intention that this book complements, rather than replaces, traditional commentaries and introductions. The whole is divided into 42 ‘Plots’, each considering part of Luke with other sources. Each Plot identifies passages for study with a stated goal, followed by observations and questions. For example, Plot 8 considers Luke 4:5-8 with Daniel 7:13-14 to enable users to see the influence of LXX Daniel on Luke. This is accomplished using a table of parallels, followed by three observations, two questions, and a suggestion for further reading. Plot 17 studies Luke 6:27-36 with Matthew 5:43-48 for the significance of their similarities and differences, with three observations and five questions. Plot 21 places Luke 9:1-6; 10:1-22 and the Testament of Levi 18 in parallel to locate Jesus’ sending out of the disciples in the context of some second temple Jewish expectations, using a table with four observations and one question. Generally, Lemcio’s observations and questions are helpful, although some questions are ‘closed’, requiring a yes or no answer, which in my experience is less helpful in a classroom than giving students more ‘open’ questions, asking them to assess, consider, evaluate, describe in their own words, etc. Lemcio is a seasoned scholar and there is much that is helpful here. This book will be valuable to those who teach Luke as a resource to draw on, both for themselves and for their students.