Researching documents left by "common" readers, contributors suggest that American literature was experienced in a way not previously revealed by examinations of literary criticism. Ryan (English, U. of Missouri in Kansas City) and Thomas (English, Montana State U.) present 11 essays that discuss the act of reading as related to women's agency, "ordinary" critics of the critics, class and consumption, and societal reaction to single-parenthood. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Answers to the usual introductory questions do not yield sufficient harvest to enable an intelligent reading of Acts. The approach of Reading Acts is to ask how ancient Mediterranean auditors would have heard Acts when it was read in their presence. To be successful Talbert divides this approach into two parts- how Acts would have been heard in its precanonical context and in its canonical context.

The book of Acts tells the story of what happened after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The book is filled with adventure and entertainment as Acts narrates God's activity among his people and the world. In this book I explore one way of reading Acts that attends closely to the plotline of the book and seek to invite readers into the story that Acts tells. Along the way, I examine some of the most important themes of Acts, including divine activity, the extension of the gospel to surprising people in surprising ways, conflict and congruence between the gospel and the broader world, and the ongoing importance of Israel as God's people. While there are many excellent reasons to read Acts, I reflect too upon the theological and ethical vision of Acts for those who read this book as Christian Scripture.

Reading Acts Today provides a 'state of the art' view of study of Acts from a variety of perspectives and approaches. It is a fresh and stimulating collection of scholarly essays at the cutting edge of the discipline. The contributions come at Acts from many different angles including historical, theological, socio-economic, literary, narrative, and exegetical approaches. This enables a thorough examination of the way that other ancient writings illuminate Acts and locates the book in its ancient context. The wide range of contributors features some of the most influential names in modern New Testament studies, providing a remarkable assessment of current scholarship on the book of Acts. These include James D.G. Dunn, I. Howard Marshal, and Richard Burridge. It was formerly the Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement, a book series that explores the many aspects of New Testament study including historical perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and theological, cultural and contextual approaches.

William Shiell proposes that the book of Acts was performed orally by a lector in the early church following Greco-Roman rhetorical conventions for recitation and delivery rather than directly read by an audience that was minimally literate. Shiell’s study outlines the function of the lector in Greco-Roman times as a filter through which an audience would receive a text. He describes the conventions for performers’ gestures, facial expressions, and vocal inflections found in material from Greco-Roman literature and art that are mirrored in the book of Acts. He examines how a reading of Acts in this light can fill interpretive gaps left by literary and rhetorical-critical studies that focus on the reading rather than the hearing of biblical texts.

Steve Walton has consistently focused his research and scholarship upon the theological perspective of Acts, while considering the book's nature and focus, its portrait of the early Christian communities and their mission in the culturally varied first-century world, and its major theological themes. Walton now collects several of his key essays into an expansive and coherent perspective, bringing together studies published over nearly two decades during his time of study and reflection in the process of writing the Word Biblical Commentary on Acts. The collection begins with an exploration of what 'reading Acts theologically' means, the divine perspective of Acts, and how Luke theologizes through narrative. Walton presents analyses covering the nature of the early Church and the main terms used by the communities; the believers' sharing of possessions; early Christian attitudes to the Jewish temple; decision-making among the earliest Christians; and the church's engagement with the Roman empire and its representatives. This volume studies theological themes in Acts such as Jesus' role as a character in the text while also located in heaven, and the cosmology and anthropology communicated by Acts, thus providing a new reflection on the early Christian understanding of God, Jesus and humanity.

This book looks at the Acts of the Apostles through two lenses that highlight the two topics of masculinity and politics. Acts is rich in relevant material, whether this be in the range of such characters as the Ethiopian eunuch, Cornelius, Peter and Paul, or in situations such as Timothy's circumcision and Paul's encounters with Roman rulers in different cities. Engaging Acts from these two distinct but related perspectives illuminates features of this book which are otherwise easily missed. These approaches provide fresh angles to see how men, masculinity, and imperial loyalty were understood, experienced, and constructed in the ancient world and in earliest Christianity. The essays present a range of topics: some engage with Acts as a whole as in Steve Walton's chapter on the way Luke-Acts perceives the Roman Empire, while others focus on particular sections, passages, and even certain figures, such as in an Christopher Stroup's analysis of the circumcision of Timothy. Together, the essays provide a tightly woven and deeply textured analysis of Acts. The dialogue form of essay and response will encourage readers to develop their own critiques of the points raised in the collection as a whole.

Students who have completed a year of German read Brecht in their second year, those of Spanish read Cervantes. Teachers of first and second-year Japanese can often find nothing comparable. "Why aren't your students reading literature?" they are asked. "Why not Soseki? Or Murakami?" What are instructors of Japanese doing wrong? Nothing, according to the authors of this volume. Rather, they argue, such questions exemplify the gross misunderstandings and unreasonable expectations of teaching reading in Japanese. In Acts of Reading, the authors set out to explore what reading is for Japanese as a language, and how instructors should teach it to students of Japanese. They seek answers to two questions: What are the aspects of reading in Japan as manifested in Japanese society? What L2 (second-language) reading problems are specific to Japanese? In answering the first and related questions, the authors conclude that reading is a socially motivated, purposeful act that is savored and becomes a part of people's lives. Reading instruction in Japanese, therefore, should include teaching students how to work with text as the Japanese do in Japanese society. The second question relates more directly to traditional concerns in L2 reading. The authors begin with a general theory of reading. They then offer a welcome glimpse into the rich and complex perspectives-sometimes conflicting, other times symbiotic-on what reading is and how it is performed in L1 and L2, and, most importantly, on the web of interconnections between the phenomenology of reading and the demands it places on teaching approaches to reading in Japanese. With essays by Charles J. Quinn, Jr., Fumiko Harada, and Chris Brockett Foreword by J. Marshall Unger

Slow Down and Connect with God The Bible in contemporary language is placed here alongside the ancient Christian practice of lectio divina, or sacred reading. You'll enter the text of Scripture more fully than ever before and come out of each prayerful reading with a fresh encounter with our loving God, ready to live in the way of Jesus. A perfect resource for your devotional quiet time. This New Testament Bible portion includes the complete books of Luke and Acts. It introduces readers to the timeless practice of lectio divina and provides guided reflection. There is also ample space for journaling your observations, reflections, and prayers. Here are the steps of lectio divina to help you slow down and meet God: Stop: Take a moment to stop and prepare to encounter God. Read: Do a first reading and make observations of the text. Ponder: Read the text again and meditate on its meaning. Pray: Begin a conversation with God about this Scripture. Reflect: Take note of what this time with God has brought to the surface for you. Live: Consider how this time with God translates into our life with God.

By integrating conversations across disciplines, especially focusing on classical studies and Jewish and Christian studies, this volume addresses several imbalances in scholarship on reading and textual activity in the ancient Mediterranean. Contributors intentionally place Jewish, Christian, Roman, Greek and other reading circles back into their encompassing historical context, avoiding subdivisions along modern subject lines, divisions still bearing marks of cultural and ideological interests. In their examination, contributors avoid dwelling upon traditional methodological debates over orality vs. literacy and social classifications of literacy, instead turning their attention to the social-historical: groups of people, circles and networks, strata and class, scribal culture, material culture, epigraphic and papyrological evidence, functions and types of literacy and the social relationships that all of these entail. Overall, the volume contributes to an emerging and important interdisciplinary collaboration between specialists in ancient literacy, encouraging future discussion between two currently divided fields.