Shelly Matthews

The Acts of The Apostles: An Introduction and Study Guide (eBook, ePUB)

Taming the Tongues of Fire

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

The book of Acts opens with the dramatic story of tongues of flame descending upon believers at Pentecost and the prophecy of an egalitarian dispensation of the Spirit being fulfilled. Yet, as the narrative unfolds, we become aware of a tension between the socially egalitarian promise of the Pentecost story and the author's underlying concern to provide reassurance for his elite patron Theophilus that Jesus followers do not disturb the existing social order.

In this guide, Acts is read as a struggle to tame the tongues of fire. Acts mutes the egalitarian promise of the Spirit through presenting an 'orderly account' (as its author calls it) of the Jesus movement that appeals to elite sensibilities. And, at the same time, the narrative contains contradictions, gaps and fissures that suggest the outlines of a more complex, and even subversive, religious movement.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury UK eBooks
• Seitenzahl: 112
• Erscheinungstermin: 12. Januar 2017
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780567671257
• Artikelnr.: 47146664

Autorenporträt

Shelly Matthews is Associate Professor of Religion at Furman University, the co-editor of Walk in the Ways of Wisdom: Essays in Honor of Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, and the author of First Converts: Rich Pagan Women and the Rhetoric of Mission in Early Judaism and Christianity.

Inhaltsangabe

1. TRADITIONAL QUESTIONS IN ACTS SCHOLARSHIP Luke-Acts or Luke and Acts?
The Lukan Preface Acts and the Question of Genre Acts among Ancient
Historical Narratives Acts and the Pauline Corpus Dating Acts 2. NARRATIVE
OVERVIEW The Jerusalem Section, Acts 1.1-8.3 Connecting Paul to the
Jerusalem Apostles, Acts 8.4-12.25 Paul's Gentile Mission, 13.1-20.38 Paul
in Roman Custody, 21.1-28.31 3. ACTS AND EMPIRE: SECURITY IN ROMAN TERMS
Gullible Women and the Dregs of Society Jabbering in Corners Worshiping the
Crucified Spitting at the Gods and Scorning Public Robes Worse than the
'Wretched Tribe' of the Jews 4. ACTS ON JEWS AND JUDAISM: VIOLENCE 'TURNED
INWARD' UNDER EMPIRE The Nature of Intramural Polemic Roman Perspectives on
Jews and Judaism Acts' Love of 'Things Jewish' First, to the Jews Beyond
the Pale Making Sense of Things 5. THE PENTECOST The 'Orderly Account' of
the Spirit's Descent Reading against the Grain Other Readings of the
Pentecost Imagining What Luke Attempts to Suppress