British New Testament Society

Drawing on the arguments of Richard Bauckham concerning the communities to which the canonical Gospels were directed, this paper will first challenge the notion that there were distinctively 'Pauline' communities in earliest Christianity. Despite the common use in scholarly writing of phrases like 'Pauline churches', 'Pauline communities', etc., and despite the obvious fact that Paul founded churches and communicated his distinctive theology to them, the evidence we have suggests rather that there existed early Christian communities, in which figures like Paul, Peter, James, et al., exercised theological influence, sometimes in opposing or antagonistic ways. But crucially, these sometimes conflicting influences were exercised within the same communities, rather than in distinct ones of 'Pauline', or 'Petrine' character. The paper does not seek to challenge the notion that early Christianity was diverse, locally variable, and riven with conflict. It does, however, challenge the notion that these aspects of difference were embodied in distinct communities, factions, or churches, despite both explicit claims and unexamined assumptions to the contrary.

This paper will explore how economics is an underlying factor that fuels or minimizes violence within and between communities of faith and shapes theology. Economic impacts fall into two categories: 1) those caused by natural events, such as drought and resultant famine, and 2) those derived from human decisions, such as taxation, military conflict, religious enforcement, or debt relief. These two categories and their implications for the interaction of violence, faith communities and theology will be assessed through a brief review of events in the territories of Roman Syria from 38 to 66 CE.

Through the application of archaeoclimatology, and primary sources including Josephus, intertestamental Judean literature, DSS, and NT, I will argue that economic disruption was a foundational cause for heightened conflict and violence in Judean and non-Judean territories of provincial Syria and between its peoples.[2] I will suggest how it created ruptures that led to violence within the Judean community of faith, and between it and other communities of faith, and how it heightened the politicization of theology within and between ethnic groups in rivalrous response to economic disruption. I will conclude that this politicization of theology tended in two directions - first as claims and counter claims of religious purity in and between communities of faith, and second, enhanced extremist application of apocalyptic theology to legitimize violence.

[1] For the sake of brevity the term Roman Syria is used to include the territories of Roman provincial Syria, including Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Chalcis, Antioch, the Decapolis and others.

[2] In light of recent scholarship, I have decided to use the terms, Judean and non-Judean to describe ethnicities that have previously been termed "Jew" and "Gentile." See Philip Esler, Conflict and Identity in Romans (Minneapolis, Fortress, 2003), 54-74.

It is a commonplace that the OT, especially the LXX, contributed to forming the NT. For instance, OT scriptures are constitutive of Paul's epistles (D. A. Koch, Schrift als Zeuge,1986), Deuteronomy helped shape Luke (C.F. Evans, 'Central Section of Luke',1956), and the Elisha account is the best literary model for the gospels (R. E. Brown, 'Jesus and Elisha', 1971). Recent work has begun to uncover other connections.

The connection between the Elisha narrative and the gospels is part of a further phenomenon: the entire Elijah-Elisha narrative constitutes a gospel-like text that opens a pathway into the gospels' formation and into the synoptic problem.

The Elijah-Elisha narrative (1 Kings 19:26-2 Kings 13) constitutes a climactic prophecy-centered interlude within Genesis-Kings. Like some other OT texts, its unity has recently been uncovered; and that unity is precise and eightfold---four sections for Elijah, and four longer sections for Elisha (Brodie, Crucial Bridge, 2000).

Within Luke-Acts lies a stream of texts with a distinctive dependence on the LXX, especially on the eightfold Elijah-Elisha narrative. These texts are:
** Jesus' infancy narrative: Luke 1-2
* Jesus' early ministry: 3:1-4:22a (except 3:7-9; 4:1-13); 7:1-8:3
* Jesus' journey to Jerusalem: 9:51-10:20; 16:1-9,19-31; 17:11-18:8; 19:1-10
* Jesus' death and resurrection: chaps. 22-24 (except 22:31-65)
** The church's beginnings: Acts 1:1-2:42
* The church's early ministry: 2:43-5:42
* The church's move away from Jerusalem: 6:1-9:30
* The church's transformation, integrating the Gentiles: 9:31-15:35
The variations between the texts---the LXX and Luke-Acts---are governed significantly by the procedures of Greco-Roman rhetorical imitatio and aemulatio. For convenience, these Lukan texts may be called by an old term, Proto-Luke.

Once Proto-Luke is in place, the sequence of the canonical gospels becomes traceable. Each gospel, while using distinctive genre and sources, built on the predecessors. Mark built on Elijah-Elisha and Proto-Luke. (It reshaped church experience [Acts 1-15] into a picture of the disciples). Matthew expanded Mark, partly by Deuteronomizing it---building discourses---but also by absorbing and reshaping Proto-Luke. John absorbed all three, Proto-Luke, Mark and especially Matthew, sometimes surpassing Matthew's discourses. Canonical Luke-Acts absorbed Proto-Luke word-for-word; Mark, in modified form; Matthew, further modified; and John very modified.

The crucial difference between this proposal and the Two-Source Theory is that---given enough time and patience---every element is verifiable. There are no unknown texts. Proto-Luke's entire structure can be verified through an extant text---the LXX.

Among the many forces and sources underlying Luke-Acts, the Elijah-Elisha Narrative (1 Kings 16:29-2 Kings 13:25) has been particularly decisive. This thesis is supported by many arguments:
(1) The Elisha-Elisha Narrative is an appropriate model both because of its content and its role within Genesis-Kings.
(2). Elisha-Elisha and Luke-Acts are the only ancient twopart narratives bridged by an ascent into heaven.
(3) In the opening scene of Luke-Acts the first OT name mentioned by the announcing angel is Elijah.
(4) In Jesus' opening speech at Nazareth, he explicitly invokes the example of Elijah and Elisha.
(5) Every episode of Elijah-Elisha narrative has been systematically reworked or distilled into the fabric of Luke-Acts; at times this reworking process is easy to see; at other times it requires patience.
(6) The role and shape of the Elijah-Elisha narrative helps explain larger issues in the formation of Luke-Acts.