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Moral Metaphors and Narrative Ethics in Luke-Acts
Series: - Biblical Interpretation Series, Volume: 239
Author:
This monograph examines ethical discourse in Luke-Acts by bringing narrative ethics into sustained conversation with cognitive linguistics. It argues that the Lukan narrative forms moral perception not simply through rules or exemplars, but through narratological patterns and devices that presume readerly agency, freedom, and participation. Focusing on three recurring moral metaphors—the social family, moral accounting, and the life journey—the study offers a phenomenological account of how the Lukan narrative shapes ethical reasoning at the level of embodied cognition. In so doing, it reframes longstanding discussions in Lukan ethics by attending to the largely tacit, formative processes through which narratives shape readers’ moral understanding. By attending closely to narrative form, conceptual metaphor, and moral imagination, this book clarifies how Luke-Acts guides ethical interpretation without prescribing it, contributing a methodologically rigorous approach to New Testament ethics.
Michael J. Falgout, Ph.D. (Fuller Theological Seminary), is Assistant Professor of Biblical Literature at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. His research interests include Luke-Acts, New Testament ethics, canonical criticism, theological hermeneutics, and cognitive linguistics.
Contents
List of Figures
Abbreviations
Introduction
1 Moral Metaphors and Narrative Ethics for Model Reading
1 The Narrative Form of Luke-Acts
2 Literary, Ethical, and Cognitive Strategies for Narrative Interpretation
3 A Cognitive-Narratological Methodology for Lukan Ethics
2 Social Ethics and the Social Family Metaphor
1 Reframing Racialized Discourse and Ethnic Reasoning
2 Framing the Family/Household (οἰκία) in Luke 1–2
3 Framing the Society/Community (κοινωνία) in Acts 1–2
4 The Social Family Metaphor in Luke-Acts
5 Reevaluating “Family Values” with Lukan Narrative Ethics
3 Wealth Ethics and the Moral Accounting Metaphor
1 Lukan Wealth Ethics in Recent Interpretation
2 Reframing the Question of Lukan Wealth Ethics
3 Reframing Wealth/Riches in Luke-Acts
4 Decompressing Wealth Ethics with Luke-Acts
4 Human Freedom and the Life Journey Metaphor
1 The Lukan “Shall” and “Must” in Recent Scholarship
2 Conversion and Religious Experience in Recent Scholarship
3 The Moral Metaphor, life is a journey
4 Luke’s Recurring Question: What Shall We Do?
5 Yes, We Can: Human Freedom and Divine Agency in Luke-Acts
Conclusion: Narrative Ethics for Embodied Minds
Bibliography
Index of Ancient Sources
Index of Modern Authors
Index of Subjects
List of Figures
Abbreviations
Introduction
1 Moral Metaphors and Narrative Ethics for Model Reading
1 The Narrative Form of Luke-Acts
2 Literary, Ethical, and Cognitive Strategies for Narrative Interpretation
3 A Cognitive-Narratological Methodology for Lukan Ethics
2 Social Ethics and the Social Family Metaphor
1 Reframing Racialized Discourse and Ethnic Reasoning
2 Framing the Family/Household (οἰκία) in Luke 1–2
3 Framing the Society/Community (κοινωνία) in Acts 1–2
4 The Social Family Metaphor in Luke-Acts
5 Reevaluating “Family Values” with Lukan Narrative Ethics
3 Wealth Ethics and the Moral Accounting Metaphor
1 Lukan Wealth Ethics in Recent Interpretation
2 Reframing the Question of Lukan Wealth Ethics
3 Reframing Wealth/Riches in Luke-Acts
4 Decompressing Wealth Ethics with Luke-Acts
4 Human Freedom and the Life Journey Metaphor
1 The Lukan “Shall” and “Must” in Recent Scholarship
2 Conversion and Religious Experience in Recent Scholarship
3 The Moral Metaphor, life is a journey
4 Luke’s Recurring Question: What Shall We Do?
5 Yes, We Can: Human Freedom and Divine Agency in Luke-Acts
Conclusion: Narrative Ethics for Embodied Minds
Bibliography
Index of Ancient Sources
Index of Modern Authors
Index of Subjects
This book would be of interest to researchers and advanced students working in Luke-Acts, New Testament ethics, narrative criticism, and cognitive linguistic approaches to biblical interpretation.