In this stimulating analysis, Shipp provides the reader with an introduction and critique of literary-rhetorical analysis as well as an in-depth treatment of the triple account of Paul's Damascus Road experience in Acts. "Luke used the repetition of the Damascus narrative as a literary device identifying Pauline disobedience and resistance and the transformation of these characteristics. With the first Damascus narrative, Luke provided the reader with a paradigmatic image of resistance transformed. . . . Luke used the Damascus narratives and these themes to bracket the Paulusbild, fashioning the trial narrative into an extended period of transformation of Pauline resistance. Beginning in 19:21, Paul resisted the leading of the Holy Spirit and his appointed location of witness. He was an intentionally forceful actor resisting God. God bound this intentionally forceful actor in chains. In this opening scene of the Paulusbild Luke included the second Damascus narrative (21:33--22:24a). The themes emphasized in the narrative were those of Saul intentionally resisting gospel expansion and God's subsequent overcoming of Saul. Saul was physically restored through Ananias but not fully transformed. He is not yet an empowered and intentionally forceful witness. At the end of the Paulusbild, as Paul is headed to Rome, Luke included the final Damascus narrative (25:23--26:32). Paul was headed to Rome, but not in the freedom intended by God. He remained in chains because of his own actions. Thus, his character was one of tension. The Damascus narrative that Luke included demonstrates Saul's intentionally forceful resistance to the gospel. However, the vacating of power and overcoming of Saul is suppressed, and the theme of the transformation of resistance to empowered witness is emphasized. Nonetheless, the character of Saul in the speech does not match the character of Paul in the narrative. Tension remains, but the projected direction of transformation is evident. Paul is headed to Rome. The 'vision of grace' has effected a transformation in Saul but not yet in Paul. If the trajectory of transformation continues, then Paul should once again be an intentionally forceful, empowered witness for the gospel when he arrives in Rome." --from Chapter 5

Maria, a divorced mother with two small children works as a para-legal for a large law firm in Lockwood. While jogging along the Riverford trail and hidden by the trees, she witnesses a brutal murder. Traumatized, she recognizes the assailant as Carlos Domingues, the Vice President of Validity Trust Bank and a powerful, influential man in Lockwood. She immediately recognizes the danger she is in if she reports to crime to the police - no one would believe her and if Carlos knew she was a witness, she would be his next victim. When she receives a notice to serve on a grand jury, she realizes she needs help and turns to the only man she can trust. Karl Clayson, is a co-worker at the law firm and together they find a way to obtain evidence against Carlos. However Brad Wood of the Lockwood Police Department and a friend of Karl's begins to suspect Karl of deception in his involvement with Maria. Determination drives Maria into certain death situations if caught in her pursuit to bring Carlos to trial. Her investigation uncovers two more deaths she is certain Carlos is responsible for. The mystery and thrills hold the reader to the edge of suspension as tragedy strikes time and time again until justice is in the balance.

Don Everts grew up assuming that spiritual conversations are always painful and awkward. But his surprising—and sometimes embarrassing—stories affirm what Scripture and the latest research reveal: spiritual conversations can actually be a delight. With original research from the Barna Group on spiritual conversations in the digital age, this book offers fresh insights and best practices for how to become eager conversationalists.

In 2 Cor. 10–13, as in the entire Pauline corpus, the use of the first person plural is surprising. Paul oscillates between singular ('I') and plural ('We'), sometimes within the same sentence. While this literary feature has never been seriously explored, this study undertakes in the first part an investigation of the meanings of 'we' in ancient Greek texts through several literary genres, from Homer to the Hellenistic period. The second part, devoted to 2 Cor. 10–13, shows the neat architecture of these chapters, and the way the key theological message about weakness (ἀσθένεια) and power (δύναμις) is delivered. Also the occurrences of 'We' and 'I' throughout the text reveal a further underlying theology of authority. En 2 Co 10–13, mais aussi dans l'ensemble du corpus paulinien, l'utilisation de la première personne du pluriel est surprenante. Paul passe souvent du 'je' au 'nous', et inversement, parfois dans la même phrase. Ce trait littéraire n'ayant pas encore été examiné de manière approfondie, la présente étude commence par une enquête sur les sens du 'nous' dans plusieurs genres littéraires – dont le genre épistolaire – d'Homère jusqu'à l'époque hellénistique. La seconde partie, consacrée à 2 Co 10–13, montre l'architecture soignée de ces chapitres ainsi que la manière dont Paul communique le message théologique sur la faiblesse (ἀσθένεια) et la force (δύναμις). L’alternance des 'nous' et des 'je' exprime en outre une véritable théologie de l'autorité apostolique.

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.

Stephen Haynes takes a hard look at contemporary Christian theology as he explores the pervasive Christian "witness-people" myth that dominates much Christian thinking about the Jews in both Christian and Jewish minds. This myth, an ancient theological construct that has put Jews in the role of living symbols of God's dealings with the world, has for centuries, according to Haynes, created an ambivalence toward the Jews in the Christian mind with often disastrous results. Tracing the witness-people myth from its origins to its manifestations in the modern world, Haynes finds the myth expressed in many unexpected places: the writings of Karl Barth, the novels and essays of Walker Percy, the "prophetic" writings of Hal Lindsey, as well as in the work of some North American Holocaust theologians such as Alice L. and A. Roy Eckardt, Paul van Buren, and Franklin Littell.