Ravens argues that Luke's belief in God's restoration of Israel provides the key context for understanding Luke-Acts. His attitudes to Jews, his surveys of Israel's history and his interest in the Samaritans combine to suggest his wider, pre-Davidic, view of Israel-a view that becomes the pattern for the restored Israel under its Davidic king. Luke's belief leads him to present Christology and atonement in ways that cohere with Jewish hopes and to correct apparently anti-Jewish elements in Paul's letters and Matthew's Gospel. This theme also determines his account of the gentile mission and his pastoral concern for unity.

This book, edited by Carey C. Newman, offers a multifaceted and critical assessment of N. T. Wright's work, Jesus and the Victory of God. Wright responds to the essayists, and Marcus Borg offers his critical appraisal.

Power from on High offers the first critical survey of scholarship on the subject of Luke's view of the Spirit, assessing the rival theories by means of three criteria: continuity with Luke's background, relationship to other aspects of Luke's theology, and Luke's place in the development of more general New Testament thinking about the Spirit. Turner provides fresh insight on specific Lukan concepts and favored terms (including such phrases as "full of the Holy Spirit" and "baptize with the Holy Spirit") that have been of significance not merely for the discipline of New Testament studies but also for confessional theologies of major streams of Christianity today, and seeks to advance a more coherent understanding of the general shape of Luke's pneumatology than has hitherto been offered.

These seminal essays, written by an international group of eminent scholars, introduce the reader to the subject of restoration in a roughly chronological approach, beginning with the formative period (the Old Testament), followed by the Greco-Roman period, formative Judaism, and early Christianity.

A fresh look at Acts of the Apostles and its depiction of Jewish identity within the larger Roman era When considering Jewish identity in Acts of the Apostles, scholars have often emphasized Jewish and Christian religious difference, an emphasis that masks the intersections of civic, ethnic, and religious identifications in antiquity. Christopher Stroup’s innovative work explores the depiction of Jewish and Christian identity by analyzing ethnicity within a broader material and epigraphic context. Examining Acts through a new lens, he shows that the text presents Jews and Jewish identity in multiple, complex ways, in order to legitimate the Jewishness of Christians.

The good news (euangelion) of the crucified and risen Messiah was proclaimed first to Jews in Jerusalem, and then to Jews throughout the land of Israel. In Jerusalem Crucified, Jerusalem Risen, Mark Kinzer argues that this initial audience and geographical setting of the euangelion is integral to the eschatological content of the message itself. While the good news is universal in concern and cosmic in scope, it never loses its particular connection to the Jewish people, the city of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel. The crucified Messiah participates in the future exilic suffering of his people, and by his resurrection offers a pledge of Jerusalem's coming redemption. Basing his argument on a reading of the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of Luke, Kinzer proposes that the biblical message requires its interpreters to reflect theologically on the events of post-biblical history. In this context he considers the early emergence of Rabbinic Judaism and the much later phenomenon of Zionism, offering a theological perspective on these historical developments that is biblically rooted, attentive to both Jewish and Christian tradition, and minimalist in the theological constraints it imposes on the just resolution of political conflict in the Middle East.

What Do the Five Points of Calvinism Really Mean? Many have heard of Reformed theology, but may not be certain what it is. Some references to it have been positive, some negative. It appears to be important, and they'd like to know more about it. But they want a full, understandable explanation, not a simplistic one. What Is Reformed Theology? is an accessible introduction to beliefs that have been immensely influential in the evangelical church. In this insightful book, R. C. Sproul walks readers through the foundations of the Reformed doctrine and explains how the Reformed belief is centered on God, based on God's Word, and committed to faith in Jesus Christ. Sproul explains the five points of Reformed theology and makes plain the reality of God's amazing grace.