Joyous Encounters E-Book

J. Lyle Story

• Herausgeber: WS
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 598

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

Any list of emotions characterizing true Christian spirituality must include joy. In his two volumes, Luke summons his audience to joy-filled living in personal and community life. This study supplements a dearth of biblical and theological attention to the topic of joy.Luke's paired volumes show people encountering the numinous (supernatural) world through a plethora of charismatic experiences with the divine. These experiences include angelic visitations, visions, healings, and baptism in the Spirit. Within the broad canon of Scripture, Luke draws his readers into the affective experiences of others. In examining biblical texts, interpreters must not ignore important features like the emotional atmosphere, the charismatic experiences of individuals and groups, and their expressions of joy. Embracing these features supports the reality that God wills joy for his people. This study will show that Luke links charismatic encounters with the Christian experience of joy, confirmed by the repeated references to joy in the text. Numerous texts reflect an atmosphere, experience, and expression of joy, all intended to attract readers, then and now, to joyful living, as persons and communities of faith. Thus, Luke argues for a "lived theology" of joy when people encounter the supernatural world

Leseprobe

ENDORSEMENTS FOR

Joyous Encounters

“Exploring the original Greek texts of Luke in great detail, Joyous Encounters powerfully reveals how Luke’s paired books exalt the great joy and unbounded love from God as the fulfillment of the Christian message, life, and salvation, and how faith communities can learn and flourish.”

—David J. Theroux, President, C.S. Lewis Society of California, and Founder/President, Independent Institute

I have long thought that the scholarship of the church has lacked ways to explore the emotional side of faith. Scholars promote the goal of critical thinking, as if the emotions will thus take care of themselves. This book takes a valuable step towards redressing this imbalance by a careful, scholarly treatment of perhaps the key emotional response to the gospel in the New Testament: joy.

In both a broad survey and careful attention to detail, Lyle Story takes us through Luke’s account of the gospel, and demonstrates the ubiquitous presence of the one response which is genuinely congruent to the Luke-Acts narrative. Of course, such a study raises numerous pastoral questions, many of which are treated in the final chapter. One in particular I would paraphrase thusly:

Given that the early church was saturated in this positive emotion, why does joy often seem rather a faint feature in contemporary church life? Why have churches which historically emphasized the charismatic signs of faith too often found themselves under the pressure of exhortations by pastors and musicians to experience a state of joy, when in the primary texts of faith, as Story ably demonstrates, joy is a natural, not a coerced response to good news?

May this careful study contribute to helping the church attend to the source of joy, and help it worry less about its manufacture or fabrication.

—Roger J. Newell, Professor Emeritus, George Fox University, and author of The Feeling Intellect: Reading the Bible with C.S. Lewis

In Joyous Encounters Dr. Story reveals the relational connection of joy between God and humanity. This new presentation of joy shows how central it is to Luke’s writing about Christ and the Church in Luke-Acts. We then see how joy is God’s purposeful outcome of the new covenant.

The way Luke describes Jesus’ ministry announcement is breath-taking to me. I can only imagine the fire ignited when he repeated the prophetic words first recorded in Isaiah 61:1. Then Dr. Story narrates Luke’s explanation of how Jesus was introducing the “purposeful and powerful agenda of a joyful ministry.” When I read those words, I realized I had not thought seriously enough about Jesus’ own excitement of what he was setting out to do. We also learn about the energy of Jesus in his days on earth and how joy was his and for everyone who connected with it.

“In highlighting God’s activity, Luke suggests that the nascent community, in joyous celebration, catches up with God’s purposeful activity in joyous celebration.” This statement is certainly worth underlining and memorizing as a communal call for those of us in this generation who choose the with-God life: What would happen if we did the same? It certainly would affect the current state of today’s church.

I love this book.

—Rev. Kerrie L. Palmer, Founding Pastor, Red Door Community Church, and blogger at FaithFamilyCreativity.com

“Joy, I believe, is the emotion of union. Moltman describes it as the very meaning of life. In this scholarly and very accessible book, Lyle Story argues for putting the emotional music back into Scripture. He focuses on Joy in Luke-Acts and makes the case that joy is a passionate reaction of elation over something very good that has happened, is occurring, or will take place—like being able to remain in the love of the Trinity, right now and forever.”

—Gary W. Moon, M.Div., Ph.D. Executive Director Martin Institute and Dallas Willard Center, Westmont College, Author, Apprenticeship with Jesus, and Becoming Dallas Willard: The Formation of a Philosopher, Teacher and Christ-Follower.

“Luke’s Gospel and the book of Acts, both written by Luke the physician, come alive with affect in Joyous Encounters by J. Lyle Story. Reading the two New Testament books in concert with the author’s treatise on joy reminded me of the words of Indonesian educator and emancipator Raden Adjeng Kartini: “Those who cannot feel pain are not capable, either, of feeling joy.” J. Lyle Story details Luke’s emotion-filled recounting of painful experiences of doubt and loss by Jesus’ followers, and the lives of the sick, wounded, and broken who cross paths with Jesus, are then miraculously touched by his divine healing and filled with unexpected, deepening joy.”

—Roger A. Marum, Ph.D., psychologist, and lecturer, Middlebury College, and author of blog:www.yourreluctantdisciple.com

JOYOUSENCOUNTERS

ALSO BY THE AUTHOR

Greek to Me: Learning New Testament Greek through Memory Visualization (with Cullen I.K. Story)

JOYOUSENCOUNTERS

DISCOVERING THE HAPPYAFFECTIONS IN LUKE-ACTS

J. LYLE STORY

A Herder & Herder Book

The Crossroad Publishing CompanyNew York

A Herder & Herder Book

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© 2018 by J. Lyle Story.

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

1.Joyful Encounters

2.Luke’s Joy-Vocabulary

3.Charismatic Activity and Joy in The Annunciation/Birth Narratives

4.The Spirit, Jesus’ Agenda, and Joy (Luke 4:16-30)

5.Joyous Healings, Exorcisms and Mighty Works

6.Joy in Post-Resurrection Stories (Luke 24:1-53)

7.Joyful Encounters in Acts

8.Joyous Life-Together

9.Joyous Deliverance from Threats

10.The God of Emotion

Acknowledgments

Selected Bibliography

To my wife, Sherri, who has brought such joy into my life.

FOREWORD

Over forty-five years have elapsed since Lyle Story and I began our studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. Our paths have crossed too seldom since then, yet I readily remember with warm gratitude Lyle’s fine gifts and his earnest pursuit of the things of Christ. Both of these are manifest in this volume, the mature fruit of his scholarship, teaching, and discipleship.

The book is especially timely in a season when not joy but suffering, rage, self-interest, and despair drive so much public discourse, even among Christians. There seems to be a pervasive, frustrated helplessness and hopelessness, along with a laudable determination not to wound the injured further, that has led to the divorce of the whole idea of Christian joy from anything resembling ordinary human happiness. Now, almost no one, least of all Story and I, would deny that there is a self-centered, sinfully self-indulgent “happiness” that deserves censure, not embrace. Nor can one deny that true joy has an eschatological thrust, that the day when all tears will be wiped away has not arrived, and that meanwhile there are many pressing needs calling for comfort, sustenance, and the vigorous pursuit of justice. The point is surely not to punish or doubt the faith of those overwhelmed by suffering. Scripture contains much lament spoken by the faithful; and not all biblical writers emphasize joy.

However, Luke in particular—both in his Gospel and in Acts—does give remarkable and too-often-overlooked attention to the emotionally positive concomitants of the Spirit’s work in and among God’s people. Story has done ordinary Christians hungry for the goodness of the Christian life a favor in reminding us all that the good Lord does will joy for his people, and that the Spirit can bring it, sometimes miraculously, in circumstances both good and bad. Furthermore, by his close reading of Luke’s narratives, scrupulously annotated and carefully engaging scholarly debates, he challenges the academic community to reconsider the too-tidy disconnect between joy and happiness; and to engage the affective character of the Lukan narratives and its implications for the Christian life as lived, even in the midst of trials and persecution. I can only hope that this book might open our eyes to what has long been before us if we were willing to look honestly, and that it may encourage us yet again to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8).

Marguerite ShusterHarold John Ockenga Professor Emerita of Preaching and TheologyFuller Theological Seminary

PREFACE

During my seminary days as an M.Div. student, I embarked on a journey for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, which extended well over a year. During this period of time, a pastor-friend, Rev. Bob Whitaker, took me to any number of home prayer meetings or services and I was struck and attracted by the atmosphere of joy that characterized such gatherings. This feeling was far different from my upbringing in a mainline denominational tradition. Simply put, I sought an experience with God that touched all aspects of my Christian experience, including the affections, not just the rational aspect of my Christian faith. I ended up teaching and working with small prayer group leaders in Southern California and was encouraged by the vibrancy of student life with their experiences, ethos, and contagious vitality of Christian witness.

Over the years of teaching biblical studies, biblical languages, and hermeneutics, I explored more of the relational nature of the Trinitarian fellowship of love and joy. As I explored biblical texts, wrote journal articles, dictionary articles, and book chapters, it became abundantly clear to me that not only is God affective, but that the Trinitarian fellowship wills joyous affection for the people of God, in their experience and communal life-together. Our Western world and Western exegesis has an inbuilt tendency to interpret texts in a purely rational manner, leading to propositional preaching.

Am I saying that propositions are unimportant? Certainly not. Paul’s teaching about justification through trust is solid and must be constantly communicated to the people of God. However, emotions are a vital aspect of human experience and must not be denied or denigrated. For example, as we look at the Psalter, we discover the full gamut of human experience and human emotions, from the deepest grief and sorrow to ecstatic joy, and everything in between. There is an ongoing dialogue between the poets and God as well as an ongoing conversation with the people of God, and their communal exchange with God. Emotions belong to the very fabric of biblical texts and need to be factored into the holistic interpretation of Scripture.

Over the years I have been drawn to the topic of emotions in the biblical texts. The writers of the sacred texts wish to draw their readers into the emotions of the Scriptures. In particular, I became fascinated with the topic of joy as I worked with Luke-Acts. Luke’s vocabulary is replete with full and rich nuances of joy, both explicit and implicit. As I worked with commentaries and journal articles, I was struck by the lack of scholarly attention to the emotion of joy that permeates the stories that Luke tells. No mention is made of the emotions inherent in the narratives. I will argue that Luke makes the case for a lived theology of joy.

Is this book only for the biblical scholar? Surely not. Luke wants his readers to be people who are affected by the stories he tells. Luke intends that his readers experience joy in personal and communal life. For pastors, this means that when they preach the good news that their people are moved with joy; joy is the implicit and expected response to good news. When my oldest son sent an email about the birth of their daughter, my immediate response was that of joy, and a joy, which is contagious and must be shared. Indeed, something is inherently wrong when good news is met with a joyless response.

When people experience God in any number of incursions, they experience joy. Indeed, the constant refrain in both testaments is, “Do not be afraid, but rejoice.” God is a joyful God who wills joy for his people. I have been unimpressed by scholars who make a false distinction between an “inner joy” and an “external happiness,” as if God is uninterested in external happiness. The Bible makes no such distinction between the two. This imbalanced attitude represents the Western proclivity to downgrade human emotions as if they’re not to be trusted or are merely transitory and fleeting. Sometimes we hear the negative epithet, “That’s just emotionalism.” Yet, we live within our emotions and our relationships with others and with God include the human and God-given affections.

Joy is one emotion among many feelings that we as humans experience. Indeed, the fruit of the Spirit that Paul lists in Gal 5:22-23 includes joy that follows love in his inventory. These are not only privatized emotions but are also communal in nature, and are to be experienced and expressed in the full range of Christian life. God created people with emotions, to be experienced and expressed in the here and now, which will be eclipsed by the joyous bliss of the Eschaton. Luke wants his readers to be impacted by his stories in a powerful and life-giving manner.

I trust that as you read through the exegesis of Luke’s stories that they will affect you in a new way and that you will be drawn into the joyous emotions of the stories that Luke recounts. May these stories elicit joyous affection for the very nature and being of God, his Son, and the Holy Spirit; may you be genuinely receptive to divine incursions into your life. And may that joyous affection spill over into your expressions in your faith communities and witness to the world in an attractive and winsome manner—this leads to effective and appealing evangelism and missional expression.

CHAPTER 1

JOYFUL ENCOUNTERS

“Joy is the meaning of human life, joy in thanksgiving and thanksgiving as joy. In a way, this answer abolishes the intention of such questions as: For what purpose has man been created? For what purpose am I here? For the answer does not indicate ethical goals and ideal purposes but justifies created existence as such.”1

–JÜRGEN MOLTMAN

Any list of emotions characterizing true Christian spirituality must include joy. In his two volumes, Luke summons his audience to joy-filled living in personal and community life. This study aims to supplement a dearth of biblical and theological attention devoted to the topic of joy, specifically in relationship to the global Pentecostal and charismatic experience. Luke’s paired volumes emphasize the importance of joy in narrative form, showing people encountering the numinous (supernatural) world through a plethora of charismatic experiences with the divine. These experiences include angelic visitations, visions, healings, and baptism in the Spirit. Within the broad canon of Scripture, Luke draws his readers into the affective experiences of others.

In examining biblical texts, interpreters must not ignore important features like the emotional atmosphere, the charismatic experiences of individuals and groups, and their expressions of joy. Embracing these features supports the reality that God wills joy for his people.

Affective language is inextricably woven into the very fabric of Scripture and cannot be separated from the cloth of Scripture in favor of more propositional or theological threads to be highlighted. For this monograph, the word, “affection” refers to emotion, not “fondness.” Writers of the biblical texts draw readers into the stories, and invite the audience to experience the events, including the emotional responses. Thus, readers can sympathize with their expressions, whatever the genre might be. For example, Luke describes an incident when Jesus was critiqued for his disciples’ non-fasting practice. Through parabolic language, Luke points to joy as the only appropriate response to Jesus’ presence. Jesus uses images of a wedding and groom, a patch and garment, and wine and wineskin to underscore the truth that the only natural and correct response to the groom is joy. Fasting and related mourning do not belong to a wedding celebration—like “wet-blankets,” they are out of order at a wedding (Luke 5:33-39). Jesus’ shared life with his disciples and God’s people should inspire joy. Furthermore, joyous emotion is an important part of Christian spirituality, identified by Paul as a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22).

This study will show that Luke links charismatic encounters with the Christian affection of joy, confirmed by the repeated references to joy in Luke-Acts in his narratives. Numerous texts reflect an atmosphere, experience, and expression of joy, all intended to attract readers, then and now, to joyful living, as persons and communities of faith. Thus, Luke argues for a “lived theology” of joy when people encounter the supernatural world.

From a statistical standpoint, Luke emphasizes the “joy” word-family much more than the other gospels. He continues this emphasis in Acts. For the purpose of this monograph, I pay attention to explicit passages in Luke-Acts where joy is associated with some event of divine intervention, invasion or charismatic experience from the supernatural world. I will discuss these passages seen through this lens.2

The Motif of Joy in Luke-Acts

I propose that joy is a key motif in Luke-Acts. According to William Freedman, “A motif, then, is a recurrent theme, character, or verbal pattern, but it may also be a family or associational cluster of literal or figurative references to a given class of concepts or objects . . . It is generally symbolic—that is, it can be seen to carry a meaning beyond the literal one immediately apparent . . . .”3

Thus, when Luke uses the emotional language of joy, he propels his readers beyond the actual recorded events. Certainly, he informs his readers. He invites them to reflect upon the atmospheres, experiences and expressions of joy in the narrative. But he also elicits joy from his readers, as they are drawn into the emotions of the text, and he invites them to sympathize with certain events and key figures. He communicates, “This is the way life can be lived,” and he intends for his readers to embrace this thrust in personal and community relationships, as people encounter the divine. Luke indicates that joy should characterize the new people of God.

For example, in Acts 15 Luke compares what Cornelius and others experienced with the same joyous encounter that Peter and others enjoyed on the initial Day of Pentecost. Luke’s narrative includes Peter’s statement: “And God who knows the heart bore witness to them (Cornelius and others), giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us” (Acts 15:8). Acts 15 shows that feelings shaped deliberations by members of the Jerusalem Council. Such Lucan texts of joy express Christian affection and lead to a communal solidarity.

I intend to demonstrate that Luke emphasizes joy in the context of various encounters with the numinous. To this end, I will probe the joy-vocabulary and repetition of the joy word-family in Luke-Acts in comparison/contrast with the other gospels, themes and Luke’s special material (Sondergut). The text includes other occurrences of the joy-vocabulary in connection with other teachings of Jesus, e.g., “rejoicing and leaping for joy” in suffering and persecution (Luke 6:22-23)4; these passages will not be covered, since they are not immediately linked with charismatic experience. Further, Luke does describe other healings or exorcisms, which do not contain words from the joy-vocabulary. While I am unable to argue or exegete from silence, I also assume that such miraculous actions did produce joy from various individuals and witnesses to a powerful event.5 The fact that Luke does not draw from the joy-vocabulary in these events does not mean that joy was not present. I suggest that Luke assumes such acts of liberation would produce joy, and he did not feel compelled to express it in specific language. Certainly, Luke would assume a natural “spill-over” between paragraphs. My selected texts bear upon Luke’s theological and pastoral agenda of joy as a vital aspect of Christian experience and Christian affections in the human encounter with the other-worldly.

The Nature of Joy

I propose that joy is a term that serves as the broader umbrella covering the numerous vocabulary words that express nuances of the joy-vocabulary, e.g., delight, happiness, ecstasy, pleasure, gladness, blessedness, peace, celebration, excess, even laughter. The various Greek cognates all contain emotional content. As Marianne Meye Thompson argues, other texts express the ways joy replaces conditions of sorrow, grieving, affliction,6 which directly relate to the distressed conditions of ill or possessed persons in Luke-Acts.

In contrast to many scholars who devalue emotion in biblical texts, I suggest that joy is an emotion of elation over something good that has happened, is occurring, or will take place. In this study, joy is a vital part of various charismatic experiences. As an emotion, joy has an object, and it is felt for a positive reason, deemed so by a person. For example, Luke refers to a healed leper, who is overjoyed at his healing. He is no longer an outcast, is set free, and returns to Jesus to give thanks to God and to Jesus for his healing (Luke 17:11-19). Something would be strangely amiss if he was joy-less. Here, joy is felt and expressed for the right reasons. Conversely, joy can be felt and expressed for the wrong motivation. Luke also notes the delight of religious leaders at Judas’ offer to betray Jesus (Luke 22:4-6), or Herod Antipas’ misguided joy, “rejoiced exceedingly” (e0xa/rh li/an 23:8), followed by the explanation for his excessive joy: “for a long time he wanted to see him” “hoping to see some sign performed by him” (23:8). Clearly, Herod’s “joy” is a sham, a far cry from the genuine joy believers experience when they encounter the miraculous.

Joy is a similar emotion, felt and experienced both by the leper, the religious leaders, and Antipas. However, the reasons for the emotion are poles apart. Thus, the same emotion is right in one instance and wrong in the other. This is what Matthew Elliott labels as “the cognitive content” associated with the emotions.7 Thus, we find the rich fool, whose reason for joy is altogether immoral, because he lives only for himself without regard for God or others in his community (Luke 12:19). On the other hand, Jesus directs his disciples to the real grounds for their joy, “your names have been written in heaven”—not successful exorcisms alone (Luke 10:20). Occasions for a felt-joy can be grounded or motivated by both right and wrong reasons.

Matthew Elliott makes a solid case that “many New Testament scholars have taken their theology and defined emotion words by drawing on these beliefs. In other words, emotional vocabulary has often been redefined to mean a theological concept devoid of its emotional meaning. This method is the wrong way around; the cart is before the horse!”8 This is why he counters the notion that “theological ‘joy’ is held to be important while the significance of how a Christian should feel is rarely mentioned . . . The word ‘inner’ provides a way to assert that it is not an emotion while maintaining the claim that joy is present.”9

Many scholars draw a misleading distinction between “joy” and “happiness,” “inner joy” and “outward happiness,” “religious joy” and “secular joy.” These divisions can minimize, trivialize or even delete the emotional content of joy. Examples of this approach are numerous. For example, Bultmann dismisses the affective content of Luke’s statement that Jesus “rejoiced with exuberance in the Holy Spirit” (h0gallia/sato [e0n] tw=| pneu/mati tw=| a(gi/w| Luke 10:21); he regards this merely as “inspiration.”10 Jesus’ emotional response is occasioned by the seventy [two] returning from their successful short-term mission-trip. The verbs, “I exult, I am overjoyed, I am filled with exuberant joy” (a0gallia/w a0gallia/omai)11 suggest a joyous and ecstatic condition, since it is “in the Holy Spirit.”

Similarly, in his article on “Joy,” Creath Davis argues that “Joy is a gift of God . . . a quality of life and not simply a fleeting emotion.”12 Thus, for Davis, if joy is God’s gift and a quality of life, then the emotional or personal component is absent. The only time Davis uses the word “emotion” in his article, he frames it in a negative expression. Dorothy Harvey’s article on “Joy” begins with the statement, “The experience of joy, as related to praise and thanksgiving in public worship, or to the quiet confidence of the individual in God, or to the proclamation of God’s saving power . . . .”13 She draws attention to corporate worship, quiet confidence, and public proclamation, all without addressing emotion in her article.

Eric Beyreuther and Günter Finkenrath provide extensive and solid reasons for joy in the NT, but the word emotion is found only once in their nine-page article, and then, it is used in a pejorative expression, “the joy of the festive company, not the subjective emotion of an individual.”14 How can joyous festivity not touch emotions? Similarly, Gerald Hawthorne consistently argues that joy is something “inner” and not “outer,” and he distinguishes between “joy” and “happiness.” Hawthorne continues his demeaning premise, “Further, these writers do not appear to equate joy with happiness, as happiness is commonly understood today (this in spite of the fact that makarios is translated as “happy” in numerous versions), nor can any of them be termed advocates of what might be called “holy laughter” or other such ecstatic, visible expressions of joy.”15 He minimizes expressions of joy and happy feelings and points to something “more profound . . . akin to faith . . . a settled state of mind, marked by peace . . . an attitude toward life.”16 In his work, Joy in the New Testament, William Morrice also points to “this inward state of joy to the Christians.”17 In John Painter’s article, “Joy,” the words emotion or feeling do not appear.18 However, the NT writers do not distinguish joy from happiness.19 Thus, Wolfgang Bilner begins his article on “Joy” with the statement, “Joy, as a basic emotion, corresponds to the state of happiness.”20

Experienced joy—an anticipatory (proleptic) celebration of the untold joy of the future

The delight that Luke’s characters experience in the present anticipates the untold joy they will experience in the future. People who are freed from illness or troubling demonic spirits experience joy, but their emotional response foreshadows the sheer delight awaiting them in the eschaton, “a reality that transcends the world’s horizons . . . that anticipates the fullness of God’s remaking the world.”21 Emotions of joy are orientations to the present world, and also the future world. For example, the joy of the shepherd finding a lost sheep, or a woman finding a lost coin is contagious—it must be shared with others. Jesus clearly indicates that such joy is matched by the joy of heaven or the angels of God (Luke 15:8, 10). Human joy is concurrent with divine joy. When people discover God’s miraculous power, they experience wonder, gratitude, and joy. They serve as contagious witnesses to God’s unexpected grace. Their response is not anchored in duty or obligation. Their lives have been touched by God’s charismatic power. From Luke’s perspective, their joy is eschatological, a foretaste of the final consummation. As Karl Barth says, a Christian finds election in Jesus Christ who is the “incarnate gratitude of the creature . . . the original of this representation and illustration of the gracious God which is free of all self-will and therefore joyful, the true imitator of his work.”22

With reference to Miriam’s song of “wild delight” (Ex. 15), N.T. Wright is certainly on target when he states, “Something has happened as a result of a new world opened up. The thing that has happened is simultaneously an act of ‘judgment’ and an act of ‘rescue.’ God has put things right, to put a stop to evil, and to deliver his people from their enslaving enemy.”23

He also points to a contrast between an emphasis upon “hope” in Second Temple Judaism, juxtaposed with the dominant note of joy by early Christians,24 that is both theological and eschatological in nature.25 Joy and communal celebration are “brought into a startling new focus because of Jesus. I have suggested that in the key passages we see the early Christian belief that in Jesus there has come about a new union between heaven and earth, with the celebrations of one spilling over necessarily into the celebrations of the other.”26

N.T. Wright then grounds joy, “The fact of the resurrection and exaltation of the crucified Jesus opens up a new world, launches the new creation, over which Jesus himself is sovereign; that is the root cause of joy.”27 At the same time, Wright stops short, not taking into account the affirmation by Peter that subsequent to Jesus’ exaltation at God’s right hand, “he received the promised Holy Spirit from the Father, and has poured forth what you see and hear” (Acts 2:33). This is why the last days have already begun (Acts 2:17; Joel 2:28-32) in both a present and anticipatory celebration. The joyful experience in the initial Day of Pentecost is both participatory and proleptic.

The various charismatic incursions through powerful verbal proclamation of God’s kingdom, along with healings, exorcisms, and other deliverances, all highlight God’s will for life in the fullest sense. Thus Jesus fights against sickness which impairs life. By its very nature, the experienced joy of a new life seeks continuance, not only in this life, but in the age to come. This joy is not a means to an end, but it is an end in itself. Jesus clearly conveys this to the dying criminal, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 24:43).

Gratitude is the flip-side of joy—they are so often paired in Luke. An outcast Samaritan leper receives healing on his journey to a Jewish priest and what is his response? He expresses gratitude to the giver Jesus, and he does so with great joy (Luke 17:15-16). Gratitude completes the circuit of joy. And what is Jesus’ response? “Your faith has saved you” (Luke 17:19). He pairs gratitude with trust.

Joy is passive, in that it is a response to some grand occurrence in the life of a person in deep need and distress, such as this outcast leper. At the same time, joy is active, also expressed by the leper in spontaneous gratitude. This is why Charles Matthews argues for the “middle voice—that is, a reality that is not purely passive, happening to us, nor simply active, something we do; but partaking of both receptivity and dynamism.”28 People can be summoned to joy, and they have a choice of feeling and expressing joy, “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Similarly, the experienced joy of the shepherd, the woman, and the father upon finding lost things or a lost son pointedly leads to the active summons, “Rejoice with me” (Luke 15). The joy of Jesus and the joy of God in the unconditional acceptance of the toll-collectors and sinners (Luke 15:1-2) should also characterize God’s people. In experiencing joy, they share in both the joy of Jesus and the joy of God. This joyful response is neither shared by the religious critics or the older brother—they are joy-less and stand aloof from the celebration.

The affective language of joy

Commentaries on Luke-Acts present a famine of attention for the important emotion of joy.29 The same holds true for some systematic theologies.30 Joy belongs to the broader category of experiential language from narratives that are not propositional in nature, clearly defined, which easily lend themselves to theological or systematic correctness. Experiential language in narrative form expresses the mood or atmosphere for reading and interpreting biblical texts. As to the language of religious experience, Luke Timothy Johnson writes, “It occurs everywhere in the earliest Christian writings and points to realities and convictions of fundamental importance to both writers and readers of these writings. Yet precisely this register of language is least recognized or appreciated by the academic study of early Christianity.”31 The quote comes from Johnson’s chapter, “What’s missing from Christian origins?” in which he supports the legitimacy and importance of religious experience,32 as “both elusive and disputable.”33

The difficulty of analyzing and speaking about religious experience must be taken seriously. But the category of religious experience, for all its elusiveness and ambiguity, remains necessary if we are not to deny or neglect certain important forms of human discourse and behavior. We need the category to account for people whose behavior, otherwise perfectly within the range of what we consider normal, appears in other respects to be organized around what they claim are convictions and experiences concerning powers that are neither reducible to immanent causes nor verifiable by neutral observation.34

Sarah Maitland suggests, “It is the very nature of this joy, born out of risk and uncertainty, that it is very difficult to pin any concrete solid meaning on to it, let alone stabilize it long enough to take a hard look at it.”35 Joy is one such religious experience, atmosphere, or expression, wherein people are invaded by the other-worldly (numinous), which involves whole persons and communities of faith in an intensive way.

Numerous texts from Luke-Acts describe joy as spontaneous and contagious. People who experience joy also feel a compulsion to share the experience, thus engaging the community. Joy belongs to the broader context of expressive language, helping the writer capture emotions and elicit feelings from the audience. Readers can draw near to the narratives with sympathy and shared experiences, or they may distance themselves from certain events or people, e. g. meanness by Jesus’ joyless critics who are unable to celebrate the joy of a healing on the Sabbath.36 With affective language, readers may gravitate between attraction and repulsion. G. B. Caird says, “For one half of the religious mind is utilitarian and regards all things, including life itself as raw material to be used in the service of purpose, while the other half is experiential, looking on all things as gifts to be enjoyed, objects of delight and wonder, signposts to the greater wonder of their Creator.”37

Affective language provides the emotional climate of various stories and must be taken seriously if texts are to be understood in their fullness. Luke encases the truth he wishes to express within the emotional atmosphere of various accounts. He uses the joy-vocabulary, paired with his readers’ imagination to feel the atmospheres, experiences, and expressions of joy, drawing his audience into the stories, and inviting them to feel fully alive as they experience the emotions of the text.38 For example, Gabriel’s announcement to an aged Zechariah infuses Luke’s readership with a joyous expectation of what will follow in the narrative(s). Listeners and readers become not only spectators, but participants in the joyous narratives. Luke anticipates that his readers both accept and embrace such joyful experiences as people encounter the other-worldly. Such joyful encounters prompt spontaneity and contagion—joy must be shared by individuals in the narrative and by Luke’s readers. Joy is completed when it is communicated with others in communal celebrations.

Joy and witness

When Pentecostal scholars view Luke-Acts, they frequently latch on to the important themes of empowered or inspired witness,39 and the charismatic community in mission,40 particularly in the book of Acts. Yes, Luke-Acts is concerned with the widening spheres of witness. At the same time, Luke’s interpreters often minimize or ignore the experience or atmosphere of joy. If God grants charismatic experiences for missional purposes alone, then God becomes utilitarian in terms of how he views people and wants to use them. Thus, the meaning of their existence is bound up with the divine purpose, so that individuals and communities become “purpose-driven.” To be sure, Acts 1 directs the Pentecostal community to the purpose of mission, subsequent to their baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). Yet their experience yields so much more than simple functionality or purpose. God does not relate to people as mere automatons, created to complete a task.41

Haya-Prats initially notes, “I recognize that the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts has predominantly utilitarian-historical effects, whether kerygmatic or ethical: an impulse to testimony and evangelization, wisdom and fearlessness. This is natural, since Luke wishes to present the development of the church and sees in it a sign of divine assistance.”42 Yet, Haya-Prats goes on to affirm “rapturous effects . . . celestial fullness, joy . . . and exultant praise.”43 As unfolded in Acts 2, the actual experience is that of joy. God is not primarily interested in people because of a job he gives them to perform.44 In a similar manner, Robert Tannehill argues that the “second noteworthy emphasis in Luke-Acts is the surprising link between repentance and joy rather than mourning, the traditional expression of repentance . . . to the joy of a restored relationship, a joy that excludes the demonstrations of sorrow normally associated with repentance.”45 For example, when the risen Jesus confronts Saul on the Damascus Road, he does so with grace; there is no catalogue of sins that Saul must own up to and then confess. It is as if the risen Jesus says to Saul, “Look, this chapter of your life is over. Here is the new direction and orientation for your life. Get up and go . . . .” (Acts 9:6).

As Moltmann looks at the Western Church, he launches a broad-side attack on a “purpose-driven” God. As he argues, God becomes oppressive, demanding, “the supreme projected Father-figure, an abuser, whose primary concern is the human response of ethics, duty, usefulness and a burdensome slave morality.”46 He traces the Western pathology to Augustine and his view of the human person, leading to sickness and morbidity.47 The charismatic experience of joy is primary, and then it yields purpose. This negates the idea that doing leads to being, indicating instead that being leads to doing. “Man is not liberated from his old nature by imperatives to be new and to change, but he rejoices in the new which makes him free and lifts him beyond himself. Where repentance is understood as a spiritual return to the evil and rejected past, it deals in self-accusation, contrition, sackcloth and ashes. But when repentance is a return to the future, it becomes concrete in rejoicing, in new self-confidence and in love.”48

Again, joy is proleptic. This is precisely what happens to Saul in his encounter with the risen Jesus. Purpose-free rejoicing in God may then take the place of the uses and abuses of God. Moltmann cites Karl Barth’s statement related to God and joy, “Karl Barth was the only theologian in the continental Protestant tradition who has dared to call God ‘beautiful’ . . . Another corresponding term is love, a love which does not merely manifest itself ethically in love to the neighbor but also aesthetically in festive play before God.”49

Works on joy

Pentecostal scholar James Shelton provides a chapter in Mighty in Word and Deed, which discusses joy in the context of “Prayer and Praise.”50 He takes note of some of the joy-vocabulary words and concentrates on Jesus’ rejoicing in the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21), subsequent to the powerful mission of the seventy [two]. S. Paulo J Bernadicou’s dissertation, Joy in the Gospel of Luke, explores some of the Lucan vocabulary of joy, specifically in the communitarian dimension, noted especially in the Lucan banquet scenes, but he fails to explore the relationship between joy and numerous charismatic invasions in both Luke and Acts.51 John Navone provides a chapter on joy in his book Themes of St. Luke, however his treatment does not express thorough analysis of various texts.52 Building upon his dissertation, William Morrice has written two books on the theme of joy: Joy in the New Testament,53 and We Joy in God.54 Given the breadth of his approach, he provides no exegesis of texts, only nine pages devoted to Luke-Acts,55 little interest in miraculous encounters, and a distinction between happiness and joy.56 He bases his argument upon four main doctrines, without really dealing with the Christian emotion of joy as something to be felt.

Recently, Kindalee Pfremmer De Long has written a fine monograph, Surprised by God: Praise Responses in the Narrative of Luke-Acts in which she accentuates the praise-responses to divine visitation in Luke-Acts.57 She does investigate numerous texts in her treatment in which she links joy and praise, or joyous praise, notably in the birth narratives in Luke 1-2. However, in doing so, the language of emotions and feelings is notably absent. She says very little about the joyous atmosphere that leads individuals to experience joy. She also does not address how these affective experiences lead to spontaneous and contagious expressions of joy, voiced through praise. Charismatic experiences of supernatural events receive minimal or no attention, e.g. the various Pentecosts in Acts. I will interact with her contributions through the course of this monograph.

In the last two decades, more attention has been given to the emotions and their role in understanding biblical texts. Robert C. Roberts work, Spirituality and Human Emotion58 argues that emotions are “construals” or “ways of seeing things,” including one’s own circumstances.59 He states, “Emotion-dispositions are concerns, and concerns of a special type which can be called passions constitute our character, our inmost self.”60 In his work, he draws attention to the particular fruit of the Spirit, gratitude, hope, and compassion, all built upon the emotion of humility. However, Roberts does not specifically address the affection of joy.

In his book, Faithful Feelings: Rethinking Emotion in the New Testament, Elliott, builds upon Roberts’ arguments in terms of his emphasis upon the cognitive element, associated with Christian affections. He argues against an “anti-emotion bias in modern scholarship.”61 In his work, he analyzes the emotions of love, joy, and hope, in particular. His analysis of joy in the diverse writings of the NT is solid as he points to the cognitive element of joy, and provides numerous reasons for the human emotion of joy. Although he devotes fourteen pages to the Christian affection of joy in the NT, he does not discuss joy-texts. While he draws attention to Luke as the “gospel of joy,”62 the companion volume of Acts is unaddressed. Certainly I sympathize with his basic thrust and argument; however, he provides no interpretation of texts in his treatment of emotions in the context of charismatic encounters.

The emotional language found in the gospels and Acts expresses Jesus’ joyous involvement with people. The Church has long argued for a Trinitarian-fellowship, a fellowship of love in mutuality and communication. Traditionally, the Church has focused upon orthodoxy (right doctrine) and orthopraxis (right practice), but in recent years, attention has been given to orthopathos (right affections). Thus, Steven Land argues, “Orthodoxy (right praise-confession), orthopathy (right affections) and orthopraxy (right praxis) are related in a way analogous of the Holy Trinity. God, who is Spirit, creates in humanity a spirituality which is at once cognitive, affective, and behavioral, thus driving toward a unified epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics.”63 Land carefully develops the progression of thought from John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Karl Barth, Jürgen Moltmann, to the Methodist theologian T. H. Runyon—to pave the way for a fresh understanding and appreciation for the vital role of Christian affections.64 And most certainly, the Holy Spirit is the vital aspect for Christian spirituality and the related affections.65

Land quotes from Runyan, “[It is] feelings that focus our energies, enlist us, motivate us, and give us passion. Who will fight against injustice, prejudice, and corruption who does not have feelings of justice and outrage against injustice?”66 From his Latin American and Pentecostal perspective, Samuel Solivan makes a solid case for orthopathos (right affections) that he calls an “interlocutor between North American Protestant orthodoxy and praxis-oriented liberation theologies.”67 Such contributions build upon Abraham Heschel, in his two-volume work, The Prophets, more specifically in Vol. 2.68 In his book, Land argues in a similar way to Elliott, but he highlights the Christian affections of gratitude, compassion, and courage.69 He does narrate the experiences of early Pentecostals and emphasize, “The joy of the fullness of the Spirit was strength and encouragement to believers as they walked in the Spirit and not after the flesh.”70 He also affirms that the Christian life “is a pattern of deep emotions, which are the fruit of the Spirit . . . and are the definition of Christian spirituality.”71 He affirms the integration of beliefs, affections, and actions (of knowing, being, and doing).”72 However, when Land makes a chart of “Pentecostal Affections,” he does not mention joy.

Thus, in the last two decades, some more scholarly attention has been devoted to the affections and their import for Christian spirituality. Fraser Watts, Rebecca Nie, and Sarah Savage summarize that “recent theories of emotion have emphasized the close intertwining of cognition and emotion, that emotion can be an integral part of human understanding, rather than an impediment to it. The phrase, ‘emotional intelligence’ captures well this new view of emotion.”73

Still, there has been no exegetical approach to Luke-Acts taking into account the plethora of joy-vocabulary terms that are used to set the stage for a charismatic event, which express the emotional experience of the people of God, or narrate their affective responses, such as gratitude, thanksgiving, or praise, or glorifying God.

Paul Elbert’s recent article highlights Luke’s use of Pauline material, and his expression of similar themes through his narrative examples and precedents.74 Since Paul himself has an extensive joy vocabulary,75 is it not possible that Luke provides stories of examples and precedents of Paul’s theological statements as a lived-theology?76

To be sure, many detractors object to emotional experiences and expressions, often with the statement, “They’re just emotional,” in a negative manner. Roberts interprets this epithet, “We mean that he is not quite in possession of himself. He is weak, immature, hollow, shallow, flabby, ‘not-together.’”77 Land responds, “The Enlightenment view of the opposition of reason and emotion, as well as the fundamentalist emphasis on their ‘balance’, combine to produce a cultural suspicion, if not outright derogation, of ‘Holy Rollers.’”78 He then applies this attitude to persons who perceive others through the lens of socio-economics, race, socio-politics and education. Christians can be discounted as “emotional” and in need of a proper “balance” in their lives, with the presupposition that reason trumps emotion. One example of such a dismissive response is Calvin Miller, who entitles a full chapter, “Happiness—Mind over Mood.”79

People who experience a supernatural incursion into their lives express emotion in praise and thanksgiving with affective language. God’s grace-gifts affect people deeply, eliciting spontaneous response to the giver. If Christians receive a supernatural answer to prayer, the only reasonable response is spontaneous joy and gratitude. Something vital is missing without expressive and shared gratitude. For example, Mary’s excited “haste” to see Elizabeth (Luke 1:39) reflects a spontaneous and contagious joy as does the mention of “singing and dancing” in a father’s house (Luke 15:25). To be sure, the Christian life is not a series of emotional outbreaks, but Christian affections are integrated in the whole of life, beliefs, practices, theological reflection, relationships with God and the community—within the broader umbrella of the kingdom of God, expressed in love and power.

Certainly, joy is not the conclusive emotion; it is but one fruit of the Spirit. This affection can be both elevated and discounted in importance; this emotion needs to be integrated into the whole of one’s person and faith-community. This is what Luke does in his two volumes. Joy is an important affection and does reveal the truth about what Christians believe and value. Luke highlights the Christian emotion of joy as he describes the response of people experiencing a divine incursion.

Organization of this study

Why should we pay attention to Luke’s vocabulary of joy? In this monograph, Chapter 2 compares the word-frequencies of joy-related terms in the gospels and Acts, with reference to the standard lexicons and theological dictionaries. Luke uses forty-seven terms of the joy-vocabulary. More specifically, he taps into nine unique words, not used by the other evangelists. Often Luke records a miracle story shared by the other gospels, but Luke alone narrates the account with an expression of joy. Frequently his miracle stories lead to the climax of joy. Luke’s rich joy-vocabulary draws his readers into affective reading, interpretation, and application to their own faith-communities.

Chapter 3 of this monograph describes how Luke begins his gospel. He uses a clear link between charismatic activity and joy in the annunciation and birth narratives (Luke 1-2), through his narration of divine incursions (in numerous modes) to various individuals (Zechariah, Mary, Elizabeth, John the Baptist (in utero), shepherds, Simeon, Anna, neighbors). Luke intends to draw his readers into charismatic events of joy, so they feel the expressions of joy, e.g., “Behold I bring you good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). Joy is voiced through various songs of joyful praise, fulfilled prophecy. Luke paints a word picture showing joy as spontaneous, contagious, and meant to be shared. He communicates this through extensive affective vocabulary.

Chapter 4 of this study features Luke’s description of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Luke highlights the Spirit, Jesus’ agenda, and joy (Luke 4:16-30), empowered by “the descent of the Spirit in bodily form as a dove.” Luke prods his community to ponder Jesus’ personal Pentecost that prepares him for his purposeful and powerful agenda of a joyful ministry in so many life-giving ways.

How do people respond to Jesus’ ministry, and how does Jesus respond to others? Chapter 5 will show that joy is integral to the whole of Jesus’ miraculous activity (healings, exorcisms, and mighty works, the joyous short-term mission-trips of his disciples, and Jesus’ affective response to their mission). Luke notes the atmosphere, experiences and expressions of joy that are a vital part of these narratives, expressed through extensive emotive language. Through these expressions, Luke invites his readers to embrace Jesus’ powerful ministry with attendant joy.

How do people respond to the resurrected Jesus? Chapter 6 focuses on Luke’s post-resurrection stories (Luke 24:1-53) including angelic visitations, experiences with an unrecognized Jesus and a recognized Jesus, the promise of the Spirit, and the ascension. Throughout these encounters, Luke notes how people are in-process as they discover the joyful wonder of the risen Jesus. All of these numinous events are positioned within contexts of joy. Luke includes the climax of “great joy” at the end of his narrative, which matches the announcement of “great joy” to the shepherds at the beginning of his narrative of Jesus. Luke’s readers should ponder the wonder of these appearances to individuals or groups, further reflecting and joyfully receiving the “promise of my Father” when they are “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Joyous anticipation and experience of the Holy Spirit are intended for the initial community, with the intention of extending beyond, moving far and wide through Luke’s communities.

Chapter 7 describes how people respond to the Jesus-event and gift of the Holy Spirit through the book of Acts. In numerous miraculous encounters, Luke pairs joy in conversion and baptism in the Holy Spirit. Luke’s initial Pentecost story is followed by several other Pentecostal stories, recounting a powerful witness and mission with attendant joy. He encourages his audience to visualize joy-propelled witness through the courageous witness of Peter, Philip, and Paul, coupled with the happy and ecstatic response of people experiencing God’s power. Luke also records three vignettes in which the apostles confront demonic powers and magic. Through numerous climaxes of joy, Luke anticipates that his readers feel and experience the joy of a Spirit-filled life and community.

What about life-together in the nascent church? Chapter 8 examines Luke’s interjected “narrative summaries,” in which he pairs joy with miraculous activity, making a case for the reader to see the recorded events as illustrating the joyous and powerful way that the Christian life is meant to be lived. These short summaries are more than stops in the narrative, for they serve Luke’s case for a lived-theology of joyful encounter through charismatic experience. In life-together, how does the community go about making important decisions? Luke tells the story of the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), which constitutes a call to celebrate the inclusionary purpose of God. Luke couples numinous aspects with joy, indeed great joy. Luke emphasizes the joyful and joint involvement of the divine (numinous) and human—seeking to discern God’s will in changing circumstances.

How does the community respond to threatening circumstances? Chapter 9 examines Luke’s stories of how individuals (Peter, Paul) deal with threats, including abuse, imprisonment, even a shipwreck. Charismatic power trumps threats and even within these stories, Luke records the language of joy. Luke intend for his readers to experience joyous affection in their threatening circumstances?

Finally, chapter 10 examines the implications of Luke’s pairing joy with charismatic power. Luke makes the case that Christian joy is a vital aspect of life in the Spirit and is a vital part of biblical narratives. As such, it is a fitting subject for proper interpretation of biblical texts. Luke summons the Christian community, then and now, to appreciate the wonder that God is a God of great joy, who encounters people in numerous charismatic experiences, who seeks to elicit joy. God wills joy for his people. It is hoped that the scholarly community and the Church would pay more attention to the affective language of joy in the sacred texts. This is an important part of the exegetical process. Narrative theology is just as important as some of the propositional theology that we may find in the Pauline letters. Scholars and faith-communities need to be open and receptive to charismatic experience (whatever form that may take), and discover joy in such encounters.

NOTES

1Jürgen Moltmann, Theology and Joy (London: SCM Press LTD, 1973), 42.

2Thus, my primary purpose does not include extensive source-critical or historical work on Luke-Acts or full exegesis of select passages.

3William Freedman, “The Literary Motif: A Definition and Evaluation,” Novel 4 (1970/71): 131, cited also by Robert J. Karris, Luke: Artist and Theologian (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 1985), 5. In this study, the motif of joy can be discerned by: 1) The frequency and repetition of the extensive joy-vocabulary in Luke-Acts as compared with the other gospels, 2) The significance of the joy-vocabulary in charismatic contexts, 3) How the atmosphere, experience and expression of joy is consistent within the whole of Luke-Acts, 4) The instances where Luke uses the joy-vocabulary, while the other evangelists do not include this vocabulary when referring to the same event, 5) Uses of the joy-vocabulary in distinctly Lucan texts, 6) Negative attitudes (suspicion, indignation, jealousy, anger, lying in wait, murderous intent, rejection), “the deep gloom which hangs over the ‘good,’” to highlight a celebration of joy. Günther Bornkamm, Jesus of Nazareth (trans. Irene and Fraser McLuskey; New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1960), 85.

4Marianne Meye Thompson labels her third kind of joy as “a joy notwithstanding one’s condition, state, or circumstances, joy when one’s circumstances seem not to warrant it.” Marriane Meye Thompson, “Reflections on Joy in the Bible” in Joy and Human Flourishing (ed. Miroslav Volf and Justin E. Crisp; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015), 20.

5For example, Luke’s paragraph on the healing of the leper makes no explicit mention of joy (Luke 5:13-16), although it may be assumed in the growing popularity of Jesus (Luke 5:15-16).

6Marianne Meye Thompson, 19.

7Matthew A. Elliott, Faithful Feelings: Rethinking Emotion in the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2006).

8Elliott, 128.

9Elliott, 165-166. He also cites evidence for the bifurcation of theological words and emotional content, seen in several articles in TDNT, e.g. “a distinctive religious joy which accrues to man from his share in the salvation of the kingdom of God.”, 165, F. Hauck, “maka/riov,” TDNT, 4:367.

10R. Bultmann, “a0gallia/omai, a0galli/asiv,” TDNT 1:21.

11BDAG, 3-4, “a demonstrative joy.” LS, 5, “express great joy, exult, pay honor to a god.”

12Creath Davis, “Joy” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (ed. Walter A Elwell; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001), 636.

13Dorothy Harvey, “Joy, IDB E-J (ed. George A. Buttrick; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962), 1000.

14Eric Beyreuther, Günther Finkenrath, “Joy, Rejoice,” NIDNTT, Vol. 2 (ed. Colin Brown; Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House, 1971), 355.

15Gerald Hawthorne, “Joy” Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments (ed. Ralph P. Martin, Peter H. Davids; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997), 604. Donald Hagner also argues for an “inner joy.” Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1-13 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993), 91.

16Hawthorne, 604.

17William Morrice, Joy in the New Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1984), 75.

18John Painter, “Joy” Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (ed. Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, I. Howard Marshall; Downers Grove IL; InterVarsity Press, 1992), 395-396.

19A further example of such a division between joy and happiness is voiced through Calvin Miller, The Taste of Joy (Downers Grove IL: InterVarsity Press, 1983). He argues from Webster’s Dictionary, not a sound Greek lexicon, “The word happiness has the same root as the word happening. Happiness happens.” 12.

20Wolfgang Beilner, “Joy” Encyclopedia of Biblical Theology (ed. Johannes B. Bauer; New York: Crossroad, 1981), 438.

21Thompson, 33.

22Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics II/2, 413-414.

23N.T. Wright, “Joy, New Testament Perspectives and Questions” in Joy and Human Flourishing (ed. Miroslav Volf and Justin E. Crisp; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015), 41-42.

24N.T. Wright, 46.

25N.T. Wright, 47.

26N.T. Wright, 59.

27N.T. Wright, 59.

28Charles Matthews, “Toward a Theology of Joy” in Joy and Human Flourishing (ed. Miroslav Volf and Justin E. Crisp; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015), 66.

29e.g. Fitzmyer’s introduction in his critical commentary provides extensive discussion of Luke’s theology (115 pages), with hardly a mention of joy. Joseph A Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke (I-IX), (Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1979), 143-258. In Richard Pervo’s commentary on Acts, under theology, there is no mention of joy. Richard I. Pervo, Acts (ed. Harold W. Attridge; Minneapolis: Fortress Press), 22-25.

30Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998). Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994).

31Luke Timothy Johnson, Religious Experience in Early Christianity (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998), 12.

32Johnson, 1-37.

33Johnson, 55.

34Johnson, 59.

35Sarah Maitland, A Joyful Theology (Minneapolis: Augsburg Books, 2002), 125.

36Luke 6:6-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-6.

37G. B. Caird, The Language and Imagery of the Bible (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1980), 32.

38Luke’s stories resemble the ekphrasis of Greek rhetoric, in which an orator/writer recounts, “A speech that brings the subject matter vividly before the eyes.” Ruth Webb, Ekphrasis, Imagination and Persuasion in the Ancient Rhetorical Theory and Practice (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2009), 1. More broadly, the term, ekphrasis can refer to pictorial or sculptural works of art. Ekphrasis falls under Greek rhetorical principles found in the Progymnasmata, which are rhetorical exercises designed to lead practitioners in their speech (both oral and written), which find formal expression in the second and third centuries CE. For a historical overview of this discipline, see Vernon K. Robbins, “Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation,” The Blackwell Companion to the New Testament, Journal of Theological Studies (April 2012) (ed. David Aune), 192-219. See also George A. Kennedy, Progymnasmata: Greek Texbooks of Prose Composition and Rhetoric (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003), 47.

39Gonzalo Haya-Prats, Empowered Believers: The Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts (ed. Paul Elbert; trans. Scott A. Ellington; Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2011); Robert Menzies, Empowered for Witness: The Spirit in Luke-Acts