Historiographische Wunderdarstellung im lukanischen Doppelwerk

Abstract It is widely acknowledged among exegetes that Luke, unlike his contemporary historians, does not present his miracles in a distanced manner. The findings of recent studies in classics, however, challenge this view for two reasons. The first concerns the common notion of what is meant by miracle distance, and the second concerns the realization of such a distance. In this article, one of the distancing strategies—modifying the plausibility structure that is presupposed by the reader—will serve as an example to demonstrate that Luke is aware of these historiographical conventions. Contrary to his contemporaries, however, Luke does not interrupt his narrative with his auctorial “I” to implement this strategy. Instead, he incorporates this effect of distance into his account subtly. Finally, these findings correspond with another idea that recently gained ground in Lukan scholarship. Namely, that Luke also addresses his account to pagans and their cultural horizon.