"A Michael Glazier book." Includes bibliographical references (p. [18]-21) and indexes.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus promised his disciples kingship and thrones of judgment at the Last Supper. Many commentators have long seen this as a totally futuristic promise that is unrelated to the book of Acts. David H. Wenkel argues that the Twelve inaugurated their co-regency with Christ in the events surrounding Pentecost. This study begins by situating the material of Luke-Acts within the framework of Jewish inaugurated eschatology. It then argues that the kingship promised to the disciples has begun to be fulfilled in the book of Acts. This explains why it was so critically important to replace Judas with Matthias and re-establish the Twelve. It is a step toward re-framing the whole relationship between Luke and Acts within inaugurated eschatology.

Who are the people of God? Luke's purposes in the Acts of the Apostles are to identify the church, to establish the legitimacy of its gospel and to demonstrate that God was an active force in history. He wanted to show that the communities of Jewish and Gentile Christians are the true heirs of God's promises to Israel. He gives the history of the early church from the last decades of the first century as the communities become separated from their Jewish origins, and Paul plays the lead role. Acts offers an apologetic for the mixed mission of the church: to Jews and Gentiles. Luke was an eyewitness to some of what he reports, but his authorship and views have been questioned. This is a theological interpretation of the history of the church within history: Luke is an artist, a narrator rather than a systematic theologian, but writes about the roles of God, Christ and the Holy Spirit, and of the church.

Introduces literary, historical, and theological issues of Luke and Acts. Biblical texts create worlds of meaning, and invite readers to enter them. When readers enter such textual worlds, which are often strange and complex, they are confronted with theological claims. With this in mind, the purpose of the Interpreting Biblical Texts series is to help serious readers in their experience of reading and interpreting by providing guides for their journeys into textual worlds. The controlling perspective is expressed in the operative word of the title--interpreting. The primary focus of the series is not so much on the world behind the texts or out of which the texts have arisen as on the worlds created by the texts in their engagement with readers. In keeping with the goals of the series, this volume provides an introductory guide to readers of the New Testament books of Luke and Acts. It focuses on both the synchronic and diachronic dimensions of the literature in an effort to acquaint readers with literary, historical, and theological issues that will facilitate interpretation of these important books. F. Scott Spencer is Professor of New Testament at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.

This groundbreaking commentary is the first to provide a detailed social and rhetorical analysis of the book of Acts. At the same time it gives detailed attention to major theological and historical issues.

Acts of the Apostles helps the preacher identify possibilities for sermons based on texts and themes in the book of Acts. While offering a basic exegetical framework for interpreting passages in Acts in their historical, literary, rhetorical, and theological contexts, this volume also suggests ways in which the preacher can relate passages and motifs from Acts to the congregation and world today. It also is useful in classes that seek to link text and sermon, and for congregational Bible study. Throughout his commentary, Ron Allen examines the relationship of Acts to the Gospel of Luke, discussing parallel passages between the two volumes and observing how themes in the Gospel carry forward into Acts. He notes how particular passages contribute to developing themes and to how the awareness of such a theme can contribute to the preacher's work with a particular passage.

By applying a linguistic stylistic analysis, this study argues that Luke's construal of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 and its related passages attempt to subvert a tradition within Second Temple Jewish literature that threatened the unity of multi-ethnic churches.

Literary Studies in Luke-Acts is a collection of essays by a group of distinguished biblical scholars who use literary-ciritcal analyses in the study of Luke-Acts. The variety of literary-critical approaches to Luke-Acts, as compiled uniquely in this volume, provides a needed resource by presenting methodological options for approaching biblical narrative texts with literary questions and considerations. Contributors include: Arthur Bellinzoni, C. Clifton Black, Darrell L. Bock, John A. Darr, William Farmer, Mikeal Parsons, Vernon Robbins, Jack Sanders, Charles Talbert, Robert Tannehill, and Victor Paul Furnish.

Peterson focuses on how Luke framed his narrative and speeches as well as his theology, demonstrating that Acts was written for Christian edification and to encourage mission.