Justice, Righteousness, and Wealth Ethics
The Acts of the Apostles in Light of Greek Deuteronomy and Graeco-Roman Philosophy
By (author) Anton Deik
Paperback (Forthcoming)
(January 2027)
ISBN: 9783162006110
6.1 x 9.13 inches
Price: $135.00
Anton Deik argues that the wealth ethics of the Acts of the Apostles articulate a radical vision of justice/righteousness (δικαιοσύνη). This vision not only fulfils but also surpasses the demands of the Deuteronomic law while fundamentally reshaping Graeco-Roman conceptions of justice.
It is widely recognised that the wealth ethics of the Acts of the Apostles echo both Graeco-Roman philosophy and Greek Deuteronomy. Yet a central question remains unresolved: What is the significance of these echoes? While scholarship commonly explains Luke’s depiction of early Christian communal life through the lenses of Graeco-Roman friendship or utopia, Anton Deik advances a third proposal: the wealth ethics of Acts articulate a vision of justice/righteousness (δικαιοσύνη). This vision not only fulfils but also surpasses the demands of justice and righteous living in the Deuteronomic law, while partly fulfilling yet fundamentally subverting Graeco-Roman conceptions of justice. Using a text-centred, comparative, diachronic intertextual approach, the author offers a comprehensive examination of passages in Acts concerning communal sharing, wealth distribution, greed, care for the vulnerable, almsgiving, proportional giving, damage to wealth, and work ethics. Special attention is given to Luke’s δικαιοσύνη language and to Acts’s conceptual and lexical correlations with Greek Deuteronomy and with four major Graeco-Roman philosophical traditions: Pythagoreanism, Platonism, Aristotelianism, and Stoicism. Although the thesis proffered in this study contributes primarily to scholarly discussions concerning Acts’s wealth ethics, it has significant implications (1) for understanding the composition of Luke’s text; (2) for assessing his level of education; (3) for wider δικαιοσύνη studies within NT research; (4) for the question of Luke and the Mosaic law; and (5) for the new perspective on Acts and Graeco-Roman culture.
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Previous research
1.2 Vocabulary
1.3 Method and hermeneutical posture
1.4 Outline
Chapter 2: Justice and wealth ethics in Greek Deuteronomy
2.1 Deuteronomy and justice
2.2 Need elimination, work ethics, and personal and collective responsibilities (with reference to Deut 2:7)
2.3 Need elimination and distributive justice (Deut 8; Exod 16)
2.4 Need elimination, promised land, and the Shema (with reference to Deut 8:9)
2.5 Discourse on δικαιοσύνη and ὁσιότης (Deut 9:1-11:32)
2.6 Wealth ethics in the Deuteronomic Code (Deut 14:22[21]-16:17)
2.7 Conclusion
Chapter 3: Justice and wealth ethics in Acts
3.1 Worshipping God in ὁσιότης and δικαιοσύνη (Luke 1:74-75)
3.2 Luke's summaries (Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35)
3.3 Barnabas, Ananias, and Sapphira (Acts 4:36-5:11)
3.4 Immigrant widows: preferential attention to 'the least of the least' (Acts 6:1-7)
3.5 Almsgiving and justice: Tabitha (Acts 9:36), Cornelius (10:2, 4, 31), and Jesus's admonition of the Pharisees (Luke 11:41-42)
3.6 The Antiochene collection and proportional giving (Acts 11:27-30)
3.7 Damage to wealth in Philippi and Ephesus (Acts 16:16-24; 19:18-41)
3.8 The exemplary work ethics of Paul (Acts 20:33-35)
3.9 Conclusion
Chapter 4: Justice and wealth ethics in Graeco-Roman philosophy
4.1 Pythagoreanism
4.2 Platonism
4.3 Aristotelianism
4.4 Stoicism
4.5 Conclusion
Chapter 5: Summary and implications
5.1 Summary
5.2 Implications
Born 1987; 2010 Bachelor of Information Technology in Computer Systems Engineering, Birzeit University; 2014 MA with Merit in Transformation: Scripture, Church and World, London School of Theology; 2025 PhD in Divinity, University of Aberdeen and Trinity College Bristol; Executive Director, Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice; Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, Bethlehem Bible College; Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors, International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation; Research Associate, Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence.
- By (author) Anton Deik
Other Titles in this Series
Der Heilige Geist bei Lukas
Theologisches Profil, Grund und Intention der lukanischen Pneumatologie
Volume 389
The Ransom Logion in Mark and Matthew
Its Reception and Its Significance for the Study of the Gospels
Volume 327
2 Corinthians – a Letter about Reconciliation
A Psychagogical, Epistolographical and Rhetorical Analysis
Volume 239
Die Starken und die Schwachen in Korinth und in Rom
Zu Herkunft und Funktion der Antithese in 1Kor 8,1-11,1 und in Rom 14,1-15,13
Volume 200
Cosmic Christology in Paul and the Pauline School
Colossians and Ephesians in the Context of Graeco-Roman Cosmology, with a New Synopsis of the Greek Texts
Volume 171
Ephesians and Empire
An Evaluation of the Epistle's Subversion of Roman Imperial Ideology
Volume 573
Thaumaturgic Prowess
Autonomous and Dependent Miracle-Working in Mark's Gospel and the Second Temple Period
Volume 491
Figuren als Handlungsmodelle
Simon Petrus, die samaritische Frau, Judas und Thomas als Zugänge zu einer narrativen Ethik des Johannesevangeliums. Kontexte und Normen neutestamentlicher Ethik / Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics. Band VI
What was Mark for Matthew?
An Examination of Matthew's Relationship and Attitude to his Primary Source
Volume 344
Christ as the Telos of Life
Moral Philosophy, Athletic Imagery, and the Aim of Philippians
Volume 371
Allegory Transformed
The Appropriation of Philonic Hermeneutics in the Letter to the Hebrews
Volume 269
Makrothymia im Neuen Testament
Semantik und Ethik einer vergessenen ethischen Norm. Kontexte und Normen neutestamentlicher Ethik / Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics. Band XV
Sunde als Zielverfehlung bei Paulus
Eine Studie zum stoisch-sokratischen Kolorit paulinischer Hamartiologie
Volume 614
The Memory of Ignatius of Antioch
The Martyr as a Locus of Christian Identity, Remembering and Remembered
Volume 581
John 4:1-42 among the Biblical Well Encounters
Pentateuchal and Johannine Narrative Reconsidered
Volume 542
Redescribing Jesus’ Divinity Through a Social Science Theory
An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Forgiveness and Divine Identity in Ancient Judaism and Mark 2:1-12
Volume 438
Similar Books
Cyril of Alexandria’s Christological Exegesis
Explorations of Partitive Exegesis in the Dialogues on the Trinity
Volume 70
Extracanonical Traditions and the Holy Land
Texts, Rituals, and Material Culture in Late Antique Palestine
From Joseph to Jesus
The Joseph Narrative as a Compositional Template from Old Greek Esther to the Gospel of Luke
Volume 125
Nicholas of Lyra’s Commentaries on the Gospels of Matthew and Luke
Franciscan Exegesis in a Time of Crisis
Punning in Odd or Elegant Constructions in Jeremiah
The Convergence of Linguistics, Rhetoric, and Textuality in the Hebrew Text of Jeremiah
Reformed Covenantal Eudaimonism
Wilhelmus à Brakel (1635–1711) on Highest Good, Virtue, and Law
Volume 87
The Biblical Tale of Judah and Tamar in Fourteenth-Century Iran
A Judeo-Persian Versified Account by Shāhīn with Scholarly Edition, Annotated Translation and Persian Transliteration
Volume 94, 951
The Body
Lived, Cultured, Adorned: Essays on Dress and the Body in the Bible and Ancient Near East in Honor of Nili S. Fox
The Therapeutae as the Best Paradigm for the Contemplative Life
A Contextual Reading of Philo of Alexandria's De Vita Contemplativa
