Are Luke’s Community Summaries in Acts 2 and 4 a Cultural Appeal?

• Published in: Journal for the study of the New Testament Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 607 - 629
• Main Author: Wendel, Jason S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.06.2024
• Subjects: Acts 4; Philo; philosophy; Josephus; Acts 2; apology
• ISSN: 0142-064X; 1745-5294
• DOI: 10.1177/0142064X241226936

Scholars have long suggested that Luke employs idealized, philosophical language to describe the life of the Christ-believing community in Acts 2.44–47 and 4.32–35 for the purpose of garnering social capital for the movement. In defense of this case, many scholars point to the similar cultural appeal evident in descriptions of the communal life of the Essenes in the works of Josephus and Philo. Against this consensus, I argue that the communal summaries of Acts 2 and 4, unlike the comparable accounts in Josephus and Philo, do not share enough distinctive language or themes with any of the various philosophical traditions to merit the claim that Luke alludes to them. Undue attention to these unlikely parallels distracts from the way Luke’s allusion to LXX Deuteronomy, which stands on firmer ground, rhetorically portrays the early Christian community as fulfilling the ideals set down in the Law of Moses—a credible legitimizing technique within an intra-Jewish apologetic context.