Luke's social location of Paul: cultural anthropology and the status of Paul in Acts

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. FOCUS AND HYPOTHESIS When scholars study the relationship of Luke's description of Paul to that found in Paul's authentic letters, they tend to work out of either a strictly historical or an ideological framework. Is Acts a reliable source for the history of Paul's life and times? Is Acts the “synthesis” of the conflict between conservative Jewish Christianity and liberal Pauline thought? More recently, scholars have examined the literary structure of Acts with attention to the parallels between Jesus and Paul (Luke and Acts) and Peter and Paul (Acts). Thus a shift is occurring in the study of Acts, with more attention given to the perspective of the author and his rhetorical agenda. This chapter belongs in the latter. Historical questions about the veracity of Luke's portrait of Paul are important and valid. But I focus here on the social status which the author of Acts attributes to Paul. Where did Luke imagine Paul fitted into the highly stratified society of his world? Where did he wish to locate him? I suggest that Luke portrays Paul in the company of the elite of his world, acting comfortably in the role of a citizen trained for public duties. In terms of his social status, Paul appears as a retainer to the elites of Jerusalem and as a person who can speak eloquently to Greek philosophers, Roman proconsuls, and Jewish kings. He enjoys the patronage of elites. He resides, moreover, in many of the most honorable cities of the Empire, which suggests a high level of sophistication for him.

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