This volume pulls together thirteen essays written by the author since the late 1970's which give a distinctive, coherent reading of Luke-Acts. Twelve of the essays focus on the theological perspectives of Luke and Acts as they can be discerned from the angle of vision of the "authorial audience" as delineated by the non-biblical literary critic, Peter J. Rabinowitz. The final essay focuses on the possible historical value of Acts and the methodology involved in judging that possibility.

The author of Luke-Acts constructs a portrait of the Roman military that relies on a variety of literary stereotypes, anticipating that his authorial audience, familiar with the stereotypes, will bring their experience to bear in the process of more fully characterizing the soldiers. Expecting their antipathy, Luke upsets his authorial audience's expectations. Laurie Brink demonstrates that the soldiers, in fact, do not wholly live up to their bad reputations. Engaging, contradicting and transcending the literary stereotypes, Luke creates a progressive portrait of the Roman soldier that demonstrates the attitudes and actions of a good disciple, and that serves as a critique of the authorial audience's original response.

Highly respected New Testament scholar Craig Keener is known for his meticulous and comprehensive research. This commentary on Acts, his magnum opus, may be the largest and most thoroughly documented Acts commentary available. Useful not only for the study of Acts but also early Christianity, this work sets Acts in its first-century context. In this volume, the first of four, Keener introduces the book of Acts, particularly historical questions related to it, and provides detailed exegesis of its opening chapters. He utilizes an unparalleled range of ancient sources and offers a wealth of fresh insights. This magisterial commentary will be a valuable resource for New Testament professors and students, pastors, Acts scholars, and libraries.

The book of ""Acts"" contains the only biblical narrative of the events that occurred in the early church between the early first-century ministry of Jesus and the early to mid-second-century emergence of the Christian apologists. This title includes essays that reveal the best in contemporary thought about this one-of-a-kind book.

Despite the striking frequency with which the Greek word kyrios, Lord, occurs in Luke's Gospel, this study is the first comprehensive analysis of Luke's use of this word. The analysis follows the use of kyrios in the Gospel from beginning to end in order to trace narratively the complex and deliberate development of Jesus' identity as Lord. Detailed attention to Luke's narrative artistry and his use of Mark demonstrates that Luke has a nuanced and sophisticated christology centered on Jesus' identity as Lord.

Through a close and informative reading of seven key texts in Acts, Kauppi analyses the appearances of Graeco-Roman religion, offering evidence of practices including divination and oracles, ruler cult and civic foundation myth. Foreign But Familiar Gods then uses a combination of these scriptural texts and other contemporary evidence (including archaeological and literary material) to suggest that one of Luke's subsidiary themes is to contrast Graeco-Roman and Christian religious conceptualizations and practices.

Based on the plot-oriented nature of the Acts narrative, a key thought behind this book is how God is revealed in the deployment of characters and events. God's supreme saving will and mission plan determine the development of human history as well as the narrative; God's sovereign authority and power governs the movement of characters and the development of events and thus assures the fulfilment of his salvific plan. From the carrying out of the divine redemptive plan emerges a God who is invisible-yet-perceivable, dominant-yet-cogent, and continuous-yet-changing.