Yong-sung Ahn

The Reign of God and Rome in Luke's Passion Narrative: an East Asian Global Perspective (Biblical Interpretation Series) Yong-sung Ahn

Through a cultural analysis of hegemonic (post)colonial relations, which characterize both the narrative world of Luke and the author?s own reading context ?Korea? this study examines how Luke?s Passion Narrative (19:45-23:56) constructs the space-time of the Reign of God both in contest to and in compliance with that of the Roman Empire.

The author argues that Luke?s colonial relations profoundly complicate the Gospel?s theological perspectives. By contesting the established but anachronistic dichotomies of politics vs. religion, this world vs. the other, and by addressing scholarly neglect of the colonial collaboration between the Jerusalem leadership and Rome, this project seeks a holistic way of reading Luke.

Ahn?s book may be conceived as the first phase of a larger project on the postcolonial interpretation of Luke-Acts in a self-conscious East Asian perspective. Seminary students and scholars, both biblical and East Asian, will find this book helpful.