Spectral Lives by Luke and Philostratus

"By harnessing post-structuralist's 'affect' and 'queer' readings of ancient narrative, Williams takes us on exploratory tours of two holy men, Jesus of Nazareth of the evangelist Luke, and Apollonius of Tyana, of the philosopher-writer Philostratus of Second-Sophistic Rome. Both authors feature their hallowed heroes on long journeys to gain true life but whose destinations divulge very different conceptions of the Life of the Deity who controls the fates of all humankind: the willing submission to death by execution which releases true life for all humanity, and escaping from the penalty of death as embracing true life, respectively! Recent scholarship concerned with the New Testament and Christian origins has rightly focused on the Greco-Roman world of literature and imagination. In this stimulating study Robert Lee Williams compares the role played by ""journeying"" in Philostratus's Life of Apollonius of Tyana and Luke's Gospel and book of Acts. The comparison is insightful and fascinating. Modern readers will acquire new understanding of how ancient readers and auditors heard the narratives of Luke in their own time. - Craig A. Evans, Houston Christian University This book on ancient travel itself crosses borders. The author of Luke-Acts journeys with Philo, Iamblichus, and above all Philostratus through ancient landscapes, but also through contemporary affect theory, queer historiography, and Derridean hauntology. The result is a unique and illuminating exercise in interdisciplinarity. --Stephen D. Moore, Drew University"