Dialogue Not Dogma

Lukan scholars offer varying responses to the issue of divergent viewpoints in the gospel regarding the identity of Jesus, wealth, women, and the emphasis on doing vis-à-vis hearing. Many forms of criticism attempt to explain or harmonize these apparent contradictions. Conversely, Raj Nadella argues that there is no dominant viewpoint in Luke and that the divergence in viewpoints is a unique literary feature to be celebrated rather than a problem to be solved.

Nadella interprets selected Lukan passages in light of Bakhtinian concepts such as dialogism, loophole, and exotopy to show that the disparate perspectives, and interplay between them, display Luke’s superior literary skills rather than his inability to produce a coherent work. Luke emerges as a work akin to Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov that accommodates competing views on several issues and allows them to enter into an unfinalizable dialogue as equal partners.

--- About the Author ---

Raj Nadella is an Assistant Professor of Religion at Adrian College in Michigan.