Overview

"New Testament scholars typically assume that the men who pervade the pages of Luke's two volumes are models of an implied ""manliness."" Scholars rarely question how Lukan men measure up to ancient masculine mores, even though masculinity is increasingly becoming a topic of inquiry in the field of New Testament and its related disciplines. Drawing especially from gender-critical work in classics, Brittany Wilson addresses this lacuna by examining key male characters in Luke-Acts in relation to constructions of masculinity in the Greco-Roman world. Of all Luke's male characters, Wilson maintains that four in particular problematize elite masculine norms: namely, Zechariah (the father of John the Baptist), the Ethiopian eunuch, Paul, and, above all, Jesus. She further explains that these men do not protect their bodily boundaries nor do they embody corporeal control, two interrelated male gender norms. Indeed, Zechariah loses his ability to speak, the Ethiopian eunuch is castrated, Paul loses his ability to see, and Jesus is put to death on the cross. With these bodily ""violations,"" Wilson argues, Luke points to the all-powerful nature of God and in the process reconfigures--or refigures--men's own claims to power. Luke, however, not only refigures the so-called prerogative of male power, but he refigures the parameters of power itself. According to Luke, God provides an alternative construal of power in the figure of Jesus and thus redefines what it means to be masculine. Thus, for Luke, ""real"" men look manifestly unmanly. Wilson's findings in Unmanly Men will shatter long-held assumptions in scholarly circles and beyond about gendered interpretations of the New Testament, and how they can be used to understand the roles of the Bible's key characters."

Full Product Details

Author:   Brittany E. Wilson (Assistant Professor of New Testament, Assistant Professor of New Testament, Duke Divinity School)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 23.60cm , Height: 2.80cm , Length: 16.50cm
Weight:   0.612kg
ISBN:  

9780199325009

ISBN 10:   0199325006
Pages:   360
Publication Date:   07 May 2015
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Note on Sources Introduction: Why Study Men in Luke-Acts? PART I: PRELIMINARY SKETCHES: MASCULINITY IN LUKE-ACTS AND THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD 1) Masculinity in Luke-Acts 2) Masculinity in the Greco-Roman World PART II: PORTRAITS OF UNMANLY MEN: MINOR MALE CHARACTERS IN LUKE-ACTS 3) Preparing the Way: Zechariah As A Silenced Soon-To-Be Father (Luke 1) 4) Propagating the Gospel: The Ethiopian Eunuch As An Impotent Power (Acts 8) PART III: SNAPSHOTS OF UNMANLY MEN: CENTRAL MALE CHARACTERS IN LUKE-ACTS 5) An Out-Of-Control Convert: Paul On The Way To Damascus (Acts 9) 6) A Crucified Lord: Jesus On the Way to the Cross (Luke 22-23) Conclusion: God, Men, and Power in Luke-Acts Bibliography Index

Reviews

this volume is a welcome contribution to gender studies in general and Luke-Acts in particular. Sean A. Adams, Journal for the Study of the New Testament

Engaging both feminist biblical criticism and contemporary scholarship on gender in antiquity, Brittany E. Wilson turns her gaze on vulnerable male bodies--the silenced Zechariah, the Ethiopian eunuch, the blinded Paul, and the crucified Lord--to argue that Luke-Acts subtly subverts Greco-Roman paradigms of masculinity, an argument with significant theological implications for Christians struggling with issues of gender today. --Jennifer A. Glancy, author of Corporal Knowledge: Early Christian Bodies Brittany E. Wilson's Unmanly Men is an ideal resource not only for a wide range of scholarly interests but for classroom use as well... [the book] is accessible, well-organized, and comprehensive. I am especially pleased with Wilson's comfortable and adept knitting together of historical criticism and textual criticism (really, all biblical critical methods) with current and complex gender theory. --Journal of Theological Studies

A fine, insightful study well written and limpidly clear. We are in debt to Wilson for this exploration, which invites studies on further male characters in Luke-Acts and other early Christian narratives. --Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society This is an important book that advances the discussion about the construction of gender in Luke and Acts Wilson's exegetical and historical-cultural work is well done and she has persuasively demonstrated her thesis. Though explorations of the notions of reversal and of Jesus's powerlessness have long been standard in Lukan studies, Wilson has taken the analysis to a new level by applying the lens of masculinity studies not only to the character of Jesus, but to other males in Luke-Acts as well While this book makes an important contribution to scholarly discussions on the construction of gender in Luke and Acts, it is written in a manner that also makes it quite accessible for nonspecialists. Ministers, preachers, and teachers will appreciate the implications Wilson draws out for disciples today. --Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology Engaging both feminist biblical criticism and contemporary scholarship on gender in antiquity, Brittany E. Wilson turns her gaze on vulnerable male bodies--the silenced Zechariah, the Ethiopian eunuch, the blinded Paul, and the crucified Lord--to argue that Luke-Acts subtly subverts Greco-Roman paradigms of masculinity, an argument with significant theological implications for Christians struggling with issues of gender today. --Jennifer A. Glancy, author of Corporal Knowledge: Early Christian Bodies Brittany E. Wilson's Unmanly Men is an ideal resource not only for a wide range of scholarly interests but for classroom use as well... [the book] is accessible, well-organized, and comprehensive. I am especially pleased with Wilson's comfortable and adept knitting together of historical criticism and textual criticism (really, all biblical critical methods) with current and complex gender theory. --Journal of Theological Studies Wilson's monograph is a most welcome addition to early Christian studies, and contributes to the broader discussion of Christian masculinities and religious men. --Journal of Religion and Culture This well argued volume moves feminist criticism of Luke-Acts into a fascinating new area of inquiry the construction of masculinity in Luke-Acts...This volume is strongly recommended for scholars of Luke-Acts and of gender issues in the Greco-Roman world. The volume is likewise commended to all intellectually curious persons. Wilson is a gifted thinker and writer. --Religious Studies Review

Engaging both feminist biblical criticism and contemporary scholarship on gender in antiquity, Brittany E. Wilson turns her gaze on vulnerable male bodies--the silenced Zechariah, the Ethiopian eunuch, the blinded Paul, and the crucified Lord--to argue that Luke-Acts subtly subverts Greco-Roman paradigms of masculinity, an argument with significant theological implications for Christians struggling with issues of gender today. --Jennifer A. Glancy, author of Corporal Knowledge: Early Christian Bodies

Author Information

Brittany E. Wilson is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Duke University Divinity School. She is a Regional Scholar for the Society of Biblical Literature and a recipient of the Kenneth Willis Clark Award for the Society of Biblical Literature-Southeast. She has published in a variety of journals, including New Testament Studies, the Journal of Biblical Literature, and The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, and is a contributor to the Women's Bible Commentary, Third Edition (2012).

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