Affiliation:
1. Bart B. Bruehler, PhD. (Emory University) is a Professor of New Testament at Indiana Wesleyan University. His email is . Dr. Bruehler is currently writing a commentary on the Gospel of Luke for the Rhetoric of Religious Antiquity Series published by SBL Press.
Abstract
Recent studies on the dynamics and purposes of storytelling have highlighted the ways that stories employ embodied, affective, and conceptual elements in order to reinforce cultural values and prompt further ethical reflection. These aspects of storytelling are supported and enriched by insights from ancient rhetoricians and contemporary cognitive scientists who have shown how vivid description, mental simulation of embodied activity, and conceptual blending work through our bodies and brains to move us affectively and mentally. The sacred stories of the Bible, strengthened by their divine dimensions and existential issues, work with the same elements to move their audiences. Luke 5:27–39 (Jesus’s encounter with Levi) and Luke 7:11–17 (Jesus raising a widow’s son) are explored as test cases to illuminate the power that embodiment, emotion, simulation, and conceptualization can have in stories that touch upon the sacred, prompting their audiences to ethical reflection and action.