Soldiers in Luke-Acts: Engaging, Contradicting, and Transcending the Stereotypes

The author of Luke-Acts constructs a portrait of the Roman military that relies on a variety of literary stereotypes, anticipating that his authorial audience, familiar with the stereotypes, will bring their experience to bear in the process of more fully characterizing the soldiers. Expecting their antipathy, Luke upsets his authorial audience's expectations. Laurie Brink demonstrates that the soldiers, in fact, do not wholly live up to their bad reputations. Engaging, contradicting and transcending the literary stereotypes, Luke creates a progressive portrait of the Roman soldier that demonstrates the attitudes and actions of a good disciple, and that serves as a critique of the authorial audience's original response.