Reading Acts Theologically

Description

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. Cover Series Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgements Abbreviations Part I Looking at Acts 1 Reading Acts Theologically 2 The Acts – of God? What Is the ‘Acts of the Apostles’ All About? 3 Doing Theology Lukewise: Luke as Theologian and Storyteller1 Part II The Believing Communities and Their World 4 Calling the Church Names: Learning about Christian Identity from Acts 5 Primitive Communism in Acts? Does Acts Present the Community of Goods (2:44–45; 4:32–35) as Mistaken?1 6 A Tale of Two Perspectives? The Place of the Temple in Acts 7 Deciding about Deciding: Early Christian Communal Decision-Making in Acts 8 Trying Paul or Trying Rome? Judges and Accused in the Roman Trials of Paul in Acts 9 What Does ‘Mission’ in Acts Mean in Relation to the ‘Powers That Be’?1 Part III Theological Themes in Acts 10 Jesus, Present and/or Absent? The Presence and Presentation of Jesus as a Character in the Book of Acts 11 Identity and Christology: The Ascended Jesus in the Book of Acts 12 ‘The Heavens Opened’: Cosmological and Theological Transformation in Luke and Acts 13 Turning Anthropology Right Side Up: Seeing Human Life and Existence Lukewise Bibliography Index of Biblical and Other Ancient Sources Index of Subjects Index of Names