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Unmanly Men: Refigurations of Masculinity in Luke-Acts. By Brittany E. Wilson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015, xv + 341 pp., $74.00.
Questions of gender identity have entered biblical studies in recent years, initially through feminist readings of texts, and lately through considerations of masculine identity. This fine, insightful study reads Luke's portraits of four men in the context(s) of ancient understanding of the "manly man," both Greco-Roman and Jewish. It is yet another from the rich vein of revised doctoral theses supervised by Beverly Gaventa at Princeton Theological Seminary. Wilson is Assistant Professor of NT at Duke Divinity School.
After an introduction, the book is in three parts: (1) "Preliminary Sketches" of masculinity in Luke-Acts and the Greco-Roman world; (2) studies of two minor characters in Luke-Acts, Zechariah and the Ethiopian eunuch; and (3) studies of two major characters, Paul and Jesus, followed by a conclusion. The whole is a model of clear structure and flowing prose. The coverage of secondary literature is excellent (the bibliography is 36 pp. long); it was rare that I thought of something with which Wilson might have engaged.
The introduction points out that previous studies have not studied Lukan men as men, which involves questions of power and the relationships of men and women. Chapter 1 then sketches previous work, identifying Michel Foucault's History of Sexuality as highly influential on subsequent studies in many fields, including Classics and biblical studies. NT studies is something of a latecomer to the party, the first major work being NT Masculinities, edited by Stephen Moore (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003). It is thus unsurprising that there are few treatments of Luke-Acts as yet. Wilson draws four key pointers from what there is, that: Luke emphasizes "the boundary-crossing nature of the gospel" (p. 21); Luke presents masculinity in ways closer to Jewish texts than elite Greco-Roman texts; Luke locates true power with the Holy Spirit (and God and Jesus); and Luke's focus is the good news of Jesus, even when it conflicts with elite/imperial views. Wilson proffers as a working definition of "masculinity": "a configuration of historically located social and personal practices that fall within the larger realm of gender relations" (pp. 21-22). This definition avoids the trap of seeking a transcultural "essence"...