Reading Luke in Rome:

This paper aims to identify Luke ’s attitude toward the Temple of Jerusalem in the light of his interest to introduce Christianity in consistency with the Roman value of piety ( Pietas ). I will show Luke’s editorial work which led him to give an image of Christian-ity’s attitude to the Temple that is different to his sources. This peculiar view connects the elements of God’s visitation to the Temple through the person of the Kurios who also brings peace to the Temple. The image is then defended in a series of speeches in Acts against any allegation of disrespect towards the Temple by the peculiar expression ‘the customs of our ancestors’ which appears prominently in Luke-Acts (in the New Testament) and in Augustus’ definition of the Pietas in his Res Gestae . The possibility of such reading could be supported by its clearer existence in 1 Clement , which is another contemporaneous and independent text. The text makes a direct connection between the Roman Pietas and Christian theology which is manifest in the author’s apology against novelty as well as devotion to the Temple of Jerusalem and its centrality as an expression of allegiance to the customs of the ancestors. I will show that the Pietas elements in Luke-Acts and 1 Clement could justify speaking of a common interest to reconcile the Gospel with Roman moral conduct proclaimed in Trajanic Roman literature, and most importantly featured in the Lukan materials unattested in the Evangelion, which is the Gospel text traditionally attributed to Marcion.