Luke-Acts and the Transfiguration of History

Michael B. Cover reexamines Luke-Acts as a foundational site for a ‘theology of history,’ challenging prevailing linear and salvation-historical readings. While engaging debates shaped by Conzelmann and Cullmann, Cover proposes a fourth temporal framework: paradigmatic, eidetic, or typological time, in which diachronic history is transfigured by an eternal, synchronic vision. By drawing special attention to the prefaces of Luke-Acts, Luke’s adoption of two historiographical styles, and decisive moments such as the transfiguration, ascension, and genealogy of Jesus, Cover argues that Luke depicts not only history’s progression but also its metamorphosis.