Recovering Jesus’ Honor: Luke’s and Justin Martyr’s Apologetic Strategies on Jesus’ Crucifixion in Luke-Acts and the First Apology

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In the Greco-Roman world, the concept of honor and shame was the pivotal social and cultural code by which every person was valued and recognized. In the honor and shame society, crucifixion was the most dishonorable and scandalous state execution which would utterly destroy one’s honor. Thus, early Christian apologists had to deal with Jesus’ death by crucifixion. In this paper, I explore how two Christian apologists, Luke and Justin Martyr, who recognized the problem of Jesus’ crucifixion, deal with such a problem to defend Christianity and to persuade their audiences/readers in their works, the Luke-Acts and the First Apology.
By comparing their understandings and interpretations on Jesus’ crucifixion described in their works, I argue that both Luke and Justin employ similar apologetic strategies in order to restore and elevate Jesus’ honor. I present three apologetic and rhetorical strategies that Luke and Justin take. Firstly, they identify Jesus’ crucifixion as the divine plan. Secondly, they make a connection between the suffering and death of Jesus and those of the Greco-Roman figures. And Thirdly, they emphasize Jesus’ role as moral source and Jesus as model of moral excellence. With some differences in detail, Luke and Justin make an almost identical approaches to Jesus’ crucifixion in order to defend Jesus’ disgraceful death and to prop up Jesus’ honor.

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