Plots of Epiphany: Prison-Escape in Acts of the Apostles

348 Pages·2004·19.139 MB·English

by  John B. Weaver

John Β. Weaver
Plots of Epiphany
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die
neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
und die Kunde der älteren Kirche
Herausgegeben von
James D. G. Dunn · Carl A. Holladay
Hermann Lichtenberger · Jens Schröter
Gregory E. Sterling · Michael Wolter
Band 131
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Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
John Β. Weaver
Plots of Epiphany
Prison-Escape in Acts of the Apostles
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DE
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Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
© Printed on acid-free paper which falls within
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ISBN 3-11-018266-1
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© Copyright 2004 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin
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Printed in Germany
Cover design: Christopher Schneider, Berlin
For Vivi

Acknowledgements
This book is a slight revision of my doctoral dissertation, which was
completed at Emory University in 2004. During its writing I have benefited
immensely from the generosity of others. Special gratitude is here
expressed for the financial support provided by the Graduate Division of
Religion at Emory University and the Christian Scholarship Foundation.
Even more valuable was the knowledge and wisdom of the faculty at
Emory, particularly Peter Bing, Luke T. Johnson, and Walter T. Wilson. My
advisor, Carl R. Holladay, has given gifts from his mind and time that
demand my most profound gratitude and admiration.
Family has sustained me to an extent that I try to communicate, and
always inadequately. My daughter, sisters, parents, and grandparents are
constant sources of strength and stability, and I thank them again for their
love and support. The one I love the most in this world has sacrificed the
most during the course of my doctoral studies, and I dedicate this book to
her as a gesture of my appreciation for the woman she is.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Chapter One: Prison-Escape and Myth-Criticism 1
1.1. Mythistory in Ancient and Modern Historiography 1
1.2 Myth and History in Acts 6
1.3. Prison-Escape Narratives in Acts 11
1.3.1. Previous Scholarly Approaches 11
1.3.1.1. Otto Weinreich 12
1.3.1.2. Richard Pervo 15
1.3.1.3. Reinhard Kratz 19
1.3.2. A Myth-Critical Approach 22
Chapter Two: Epiphanie Rescue from Prison
in Ancient Myth and History 29
2.1. Dionysian Epiphanies and Resistance Myths 29
2.2. Liberating Appearance in Mythic Context 32
2.2.1. Appearance of the Divine Guest 32
2.2.1.1. Excursus: Theoxeny in Ancient Myth 34
2.2.2. Royal Resistance to Dionysus 36
2.2.2.1. Excursus: Tyrannical ΰβρις and θεομαχία 40
2.2.3. Prison Epiphany as Miraculous Salvation 44
2.2.4. Avenging the God and Cult 49
2.2.5. (Re)establishing the Cult 51
2.2.5.1. Excursus: Non-Dionysian "Resistance Myths" 53
2.2.6. Political Functions of Prison Epiphany 57
2.3. The Recrudescence of Dionysian Myth 59
2.4. Artapanus' Concerning the Jews 64
2.4.1. Author and Fragments 64
2.4.2. Artapanus Mythistoricus 66
2.4.3. Miraculous Exodus from Prison 69
2.4.4. Functions of Prison-Escape in the "Moses Fragment" 72
χ Table of Contents
2.5. Third Maccabees 78
2.5.1. Third Maccabees and Bacchae 79
2.5.2. Myth and Epiphany in 3 Maccabees 82
2.5.2.1. Epiphanie Rescue from Imprisonment 84
2.5.2.2. Functions of Epiphany in 3 Maccabees 87
2.6. Conclusions 89
Chapter Three: "Beginning from Jerusalem:" Prison-Escape
and the Mythopoesis of Christian Origins in Acts 1-7 93
3.1. Prison-escape as Angelophany 94
3.1.1. Appearance of the "Αγγελος Κυρίου 96
3.1.2. Liberating Character of the Angelophany 101
3.1.3. Revelatory Character of the Angelophany 104
3.1.3.1. Liberation to a New Beginning 105
3.1.3.2. Liberation to a New Place 108
3.1.3.3. Liberation to a New Life 112
3.1.4. Fearsome Character of the Angelophany 114
3.2. Epiphany and the Poetics of Cult Foundation in Acts 1-7 117
3.2.1. Narratives and Epiphanies of Commencement
in the Ancient World 117
3.2.2 Acts 1-7: An Early Christian Foundation Story 121
3.2.2.1. Acts 2 and Pentecost 123
3.2.2.2. Acts 3 and the Temple Miracle 123
3.2.2.3. Acts 4 and the Shaken Assembly 125
3.3. The Architectonics of Arche:
The Role of the Prison-Escape in Acts 1-7 126
3.4. The Myth of the God-fighter 132
3.4.1. The God-fighter and Bacchae 132
3.4.2. The God-fighter in Ancient Myth and History 136
3.4.3. God-fighters in Acts 139
3.5. Conclusions 144
Chapter Four: Rescue and Regicide: The Poetics and
Politics of Group Validation in Acts 12 149
4.1. An History of Comparisons 149
4.1.1. Euripides' Bacchae 150
4.1.2. Homer's Iliad 151
4.1.3. Exodus Traditions 155
4.1.4. Present Questions 159