Presence Deferred: The Name of Jesus and Self-Referential Eschatological Prophecy in Acts 3
äºBiblical InterpretationSearch for other papers by Austin Busch in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
In Acts 3, Peter calls God "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers" (3:13), a surprisingly rare OT appellation occurring thrice in Exodus 3. Acts 3's story of the healed cripple rewrites LXX Exodus 3, reversing various markers of God's presence prominent therein, the most significant of which is God's resistance to being named. Initially calling himself òÏν (3:14), God ultimately acquiesces to a periphrastic self-designation: the unnamed god of named others (3:15-16). In "Edmond Jabès and the Question of the Book," Jacques Derrida explains why God's presence resists naming: to call something something else involves a conceptualization of being that effaces Being itself. Following this logic, Acts 3's repeated references to "the name of Jesus" (3:6, 16) signify the ascended Christ's absence (1:6-11), whose implications Peter's sermon explores. Although Peter speaks of the eschatological consummation that the "holy prophets" announced (3:20-21), when recalling such a prophecy he quotes from Deuteronomy 18, "the Lord will raise up a prophet like me" (3:22-23), going on to assert that "all prophets" speak of the time when God will do this (3:24). Prophets' prophesy about a time when God will raise up a prophet who, according to 3:24, will prophesy about a time when God will raise up a prophet. This circular prophecy of an eschatological prophet gestures at the infinite deferral of Christ's eschatological presence, or ÏαÏoÏ ÏÃα. In dialogue with Hans Conzelmann, I consider the implications of this and a related episode (Luke 17:22-37) for Lukan eschatology.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
| å ¨é¨æé´ | è¿å»ä¸å¹´ | è¿å»30天 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| æè¦æµè§æ¬¡æ° | 439 | 61 | 14 |
| å ¨ææµè§æ¬¡æ° | 125 | 10 | 0 |
| PDFä¸è½½æ¬¡æ° | 155 | 19 | 0 |
Presence Deferred: The Name of Jesus and Self-Referential Eschatological Prophecy in Acts 3
äºBiblical InterpretationSearch for other papers by Austin Busch in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
In Acts 3, Peter calls God "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers" (3:13), a surprisingly rare OT appellation occurring thrice in Exodus 3. Acts 3's story of the healed cripple rewrites LXX Exodus 3, reversing various markers of God's presence prominent therein, the most significant of which is God's resistance to being named. Initially calling himself òÏν (3:14), God ultimately acquiesces to a periphrastic self-designation: the unnamed god of named others (3:15-16). In "Edmond Jabès and the Question of the Book," Jacques Derrida explains why God's presence resists naming: to call something something else involves a conceptualization of being that effaces Being itself. Following this logic, Acts 3's repeated references to "the name of Jesus" (3:6, 16) signify the ascended Christ's absence (1:6-11), whose implications Peter's sermon explores. Although Peter speaks of the eschatological consummation that the "holy prophets" announced (3:20-21), when recalling such a prophecy he quotes from Deuteronomy 18, "the Lord will raise up a prophet like me" (3:22-23), going on to assert that "all prophets" speak of the time when God will do this (3:24). Prophets' prophesy about a time when God will raise up a prophet who, according to 3:24, will prophesy about a time when God will raise up a prophet. This circular prophecy of an eschatological prophet gestures at the infinite deferral of Christ's eschatological presence, or ÏαÏoÏ ÏÃα. In dialogue with Hans Conzelmann, I consider the implications of this and a related episode (Luke 17:22-37) for Lukan eschatology.
| å ¨é¨æé´ | è¿å»ä¸å¹´ | è¿å»30天 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| æè¦æµè§æ¬¡æ° | 439 | 61 | 14 |
| å ¨ææµè§æ¬¡æ° | 125 | 10 | 0 |
| PDFä¸è½½æ¬¡æ° | 155 | 19 | 0 |
