Old Testament Conceptual Metaphors and the Christology of Luke's Gospel

by Gregory R. Lanier, Chris Keith (Editor)

Extensive scholarship has been devoted to Jesus' depiction in the Gospels, and how such depiction is influenced by the Old Testament. Gregory R. Lanier presents a newcase for the importance of conceptual metaphor, arguing that the Gospel of Luke employs certain metaphors reflected in Israel's traditions-such as "horn of salvation," "dawn from on high," "mother bird gathering Jerusalem's children," and "crushing stone"-in order to portray the identity of Jesus as both an agent of salvation and, more provocatively, the one God of Israel.

Setting his argument at the intersection of three sub-fields of New Testament scholarship-early Christology, the use of Israel's Scriptures in the New Testament, and contemporary metaphor theory-Lanier suggests ways to overcome the "low"-"high "binary and perceive the Gospel's Christology as multi-faceted. Applying metaphor theory to the influence of the Old Testament metaphors on Luke's Christology, Lanier adds methodological rigor to the tracing of such influences in cases where standard criteria for quotations and allusions/echoes are stretched thin.

304 pages, Paperback

Published January 23, 2020

About the author

Gregory R. Lanier (Ph.D. University of Cambridge) is Associate Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando). He specializes in early Christology, Synoptic Gospels, Greek OT (Septuagint), and textual criticism. He also serves part-time as an associate pastor at River Oaks Church (Lake Mary, FL). He lives in Orlando with his wife and three children.

Reviews

[Emily Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely informative and interesting about metaphors in the Gospel of Luke.