Ethnic Negotiations: The Function of Race and Ethnicity in Acts 16 Open Access

Barreto, Eric Daniel (2010)

Permanent URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/d791sg38r?locale=en
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Abstract

Biblical scholarship has recently begun to explore the complex notions of race and ethnicity. However, the book of Acts has not received the full attention of such efforts. Focusing on Acts 16--a chapter teeming with the language and discourse of ethnicity--this dissertation inquires as to the function of ethnic identities in Luke's composition. After developing a working definition of ethnicity, the dissertation turns to three critical moments of ethnic discourse in Acts 16.


First is the condensed account of Timothy's circumcision as the child of an ethnically mixed marriage of a Hellene father and a Jewish mother. Throughout the narrative, Timothy's ethnicity remains an ambiguous matter, and he thus represents a potent ethnic seam through the end of Acts. Next are the cartographic and narrative transitions of 16:6-15. Opting against imbuing the arrival of proclaimers of Christ on European soil as a consequential theological moment, I suggest instead that these verses play a crucial function by claiming that these early followers of Jesus are not mere pretenders on the grand stage of ancient culture and history. Finally the dissertation turns to the closing verses of Acts 16, which record a dramatic conflict of ethnic visions. To suggest that Paul's claim to be "Roman" is solely an assertion of certain legal protections misses the contrast in ethnic discourse between the merchants's accusations and Paul's defense.


Ultimately, current study of Acts curtails a full appreciation of Luke's expansive theological vision by either neglecting racial and ethnic categories or construing them as relatively static designations. I contend instead that race and ethnicity were theologically vital yet flexible notions in Acts. Luke does not imagine the creation of a new ethnicity of Christians, gathered from among the many peoples of the world; instead, he projects an interstitial ethnic space between the competing and overlapping ethnic claims of Jews, Romans, Greeks, and the other peoples that populate the pages of Acts. Luke does not erase ethnic difference but employs the flexible bounds of ethnicity in order to illustrate the wide reach of the early church movement.

Table of Contents

  • I. Introduction
    • a. Race, Ethnicity, and the Acts of the Apostles
    • b. Race, Ethnicity, and the Ancient World
    • c. Negotiating Ethnicity: A Proposal on Race, Ethnicity, and Acts 16
  • II. Negotiating Race and Ethnicity in the Ancient World: The Challenges of Method and Definition
    • a. Excursus: On the Terms "Race" and "Ethnicity"
    • b. Previous Efforts in Conceptualizing Ethnicity
      • i. A Common Heuristic Division of Critical Inquiry into Race and Ethnicity
      • ii. Barth's Ascriptive Model
      • iii. Hutchinson and Smith's Six-fold Criteria of Ethnicity
    • c. New Developments in Conceptualizing Ethnicity
      • i. Beyond the Primordialist/Instrumentalist Divide: Siân Jones's The Archaeology of Ethnicity
    • d. A Summary of Implications for a Study of Race and Ethnicity in Acts 16
      • i. Ethnicity is a social construction
      • ii. Ethnicity is a real social factor
      • iii. Ethnic reasoning characteristically includes elements of both primordial and circumstantial theories
      • iv. Ethnicities are flexible, even mutable
      • v. The elements of ethnic identity are not fixed
    • e. Reading Ethnicity in Acts
    • f. Ethnic Fictions, Racial Realities
  • III. Negotiating Identities upon Timothy's Body: Circumcision, Multiculturalism, and Jewish Identity: 16:1-5
    • a. A Preliminary Exploration of Acts 16:1-5
    • b. Trending toward Ethnic Discourse: Four Basic Exegetical Approaches
      • i. Conzelmann - An Explanation via Rabbinics
      • ii. Fitzmyer - A Theological Explanation
      • iii. Johnson - An Apologetic, Cultural Explanation
      • iv. Cohen - An Ethnic Binary Explanation
      • v. Summary
    • c. Between Geography and Religion: (Re)defining Ioudaios and Hellen
      • i. Judean or Jew?: Defining Ioudaios
      • ii. The Uses of Ioudaios in Acts
        • 1. Naming Individuals
        • 2. Ioudaioi specified by place
        • 3. References to the prerogatives and/or possessions of the Ioudaioi
        • 4. Pairings between Ioudaios and other groups
        • 5. Ioudaios and the political powers
        • 6. Sites of contestation
        • 7. Wide ethnic appeals
      • iii. Ethnic Discourse in Acts 15
      • iv. Summarizing the Uses of Ioudaios in Acts
      • v. Diverse Opinions on the Ethnic Functions of Circumcision
    • d. Greek or Pagan? Defining Hellen
    • e. Neither Jew nor Hellene but Both? Rereading Acts 16:1-5 as Ethnic Discourse
  • IV. Negotiating Ethnic Boundaries as Macedonia Beckons (16:6-15)
    • a. Is the Arrival of Christianity in Europe Significant in the Narrative of Acts?
    • b. Showing the Way: The Macedonian Dream Vision
    • c. Establishing the Local, Colonial Patriotism of Philippi
    • d. Lydia's Ambiguous Identities and Her Unexpected Conversion
    • e. Cartographical Shifts, Ethnic Transitions
  • V. A Citizen of Rome?: The Negotiation of Paul's Ethnic Identities (16:16-40)
    • a. The Narrative Shape of Acts 16:16-40
    • b. History of Interpretation
    • c. Threats to the Philippian Ethnic Fabric (Acts 16:16-21)
    • d. Ethnic Claims and Paul's Defense (Acts 16:35-40)
      • i. Postcolonial Discourse of Hybridity in Philippi
      • ii. A Hybrid Claim: Paul's "Roman" Claim
    • e. Blurring the Lines: Rereading the Philippian Incidents
  • VI. Conclusion: Race and Ethnicity, Exegesis and Theology
    • a. Summary of Findings
    • b. Implications: The Function of Ethnic Discourse in the Acts of the Apostles
      • i. Ethnicity, Religion, and Biblical Studies
      • ii. The Identity of Paul and His Mission
      • iii. The Genre of Acts
      • iv. The Aims of Luke-Acts
    • c. Suggestions for Further Research
  • VII. Bibliography

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