Luke's gentile motif. The defense of Paul's mission to the gentiles

Essay from the year 2014 in the subject Theology - Biblical Theology, Trinity Theological College Perth, course: Theological Themes in Luke-Acts, language: English, abstract: This essay addresses the question: How does Luke develop his defence of Paul s mission to the Gentiles? Can this teach us anything today for our understanding of our practice of cross-cultural mission? In addressing the aforementioned question, this essay follows various stories and assertions in Luke-Acts that show his (Luke) development of the defence of Paul s Gentile mission. The literary and narrative study of the accounts on Peter, the Jerusalem Council and Cornelius, significantly help resolve the imminent and crucial theological and missiological approach to the Gentile mission. Luke develops the Gentile motif, which begins earlier on in the Gospel of Luke through Acts. He is without question setting up a platform for a Gentile mission agenda, even before Paul appears on the scene. Luke systematically addresses the vivid and crucial cosmographic and trans-historical movement of the missio-dei. This paper follows these arguments to see how Luke validates and defends Paul s mission to the Gentiles. Lessons learnt from Luke s validation of the Gentile mission will be applied for present day hermeneutical and cross-cultural missional approach. A conclusion will then be drawn.