In this first study of its kind, noted Pentecostal Lucan scholar Martin Mittelstadt has undertaken an extensive examination of Pentecostal scholarship with an eye toward assessing the influence of Luke-Acts upon it. Beginning with Azusa Street and continuing to the present Mittelstadt: 1) traces the emergence of Pentecostal scholarship in the academic marketplace with the various responses to the catalytic the work of James D.G. Dunn, 2) examines the influence of Luke-Acts on narrative theology, missiology, healing and exorcism, the role of women, spiritual formation, and Oneness theology, and 3) identifies Pentecostal contributions in the area social ethics, peace-making, suffering and persecution, ecumenism, globalization, and post-modernity. The work concludes with observations on possibilities for future engagement and an extensive bibliography.

This work illuminates the tension between divine empowering and the neglected element of the work of the Spirit in contexts of opposition. This lacuna, not addressed in previous Pentecostal scholarship, is at the heart of Mittelstadt's exegesis. Thus, Jesus not only lives and ministers in the power of the Holy Spirit, but also experiences opposition and persecution as a man of the Spirit. Further, the Lukan Jesus not only transfers the Spirit to his disciples, but also anticipates a similar fate for his followers. Finally, Luke forecasts that this divine enablement of the Spirit, also available for future witnesses, brings with it a similar anticipation of the same rejection and opposition as was experienced by Jesus and the disciples. While Pentecostals owe a debt of gratitude for the pioneering work of Pentecostal scholars, this book furthers their efforts by exploring the implications of Spirit-led witness in Luke-Acts.

What is the meaning of the Holy Spirit's activity in Luke-Acts, and what are its implications for today? Roger Stronstad offers a cogent and thought-provoking study of Luke as a charismatic theologian whose understanding of the Spirit was shaped wholly by his understanding of Jesus and the nature of the early church. Stronstad locates Luke's pneumatology in the historical background of Judaism and views Luke as an independent theologian who makes a unique contribution to the pneumatology of the New Testament. This work challenges traditional Protestants to reexamine the impact of Pentecost and explores the Spirit's role in equipping God's people for the unfinished task of mission. The second edition has been revised and updated throughout and includes a new foreword by Mark Allan Powell.

Lukan narrative takes its readers into God’s story: how his salvation plan in Jesus began on the slopes of Judea and at the Sea of Galilee, ending on the hill of Calvary and the Mount of Olives, yet moving on and telling how the Spirit descended onto the Temple Mount empowering God’s people, who then began to fulfill the given mandate in the presence of the Spirit. Yet, readers of Luke-Acts, throughout the centuries, have had a meandering journey as they have tried to understand the narrative’s persuasion and Spirit-references. This book seeks to bring awareness to these challenges by some of the most respected Pentecostal biblical scholars and systematicians. Here their vigorous labor with the questions of hermeneutics and theology in relation to Lukan writings have come to fruition. These contributions have been collected as a Festschrift in honor and celebration of the career of Roger Stronstad, a Pentecostal biblical scholar whose contribution to Lukan studies have moved Pentecostal scholarship from shadows into daylight. The editor of this volume invites the readers of Lukan narrative to journey together on the road to Emmaus, as we continue to ponder the events in the past, the present, and the future.

This volume on Luke-Acts as with all titles in the Texts@Contexts Series highlights readings that make explicit the diverse contemporary contexts of biblical interpreters. The global spread of contributors includes scholarly voices from South Africa, South America and Hong Kong, as well as from the United States. The chapters are organized around four themes. The first examines interpretations of Jesus, looking at his childhood, contemporary context, and his teaching – including whether Jesus' sympathetic response to disease and pain might be used to advocate euthanasia. The second examines social categories: gender, race, and class, including a political and racialized reading of the history of diasporic Black America as a model for reading Acts as a diasporic history. The third examines issues of empire and resistance. The final part looks at society and spirituality, with a focus on modern contemporary contexts.

This collection of previously published essays reveals a personal journey. Two decades ago, I could not have anticipated the twenty-first century theological and methodological shifts in biblical studies. In these essays, I encourage readers to observe my evolution by way of adventures in Luke-Acts. In so doing, I invite readers to reimagine a story not simply about the past, but rich with possibilities

"The meaning of this book is that the walls must come down between Pentecostals and evangelicals. If canonical Luke has a charismatic theology as Stronstad proves, we cannot consider Pentecostalism to be a kind of aberration born of experiential excesses buta 20th century revival of New Testament theology and religion. It has not only restored joy and power to the church but a clearer reading of the Bible as well." --