As a sequel to the hugely successful Jesus and the Heritage of Israel this book brings together fourteen internationally acclaimed scholars in antiquities studies and experts on Paul and Luke. The contributors provoke new approaches to the troubled relation of the Lukan Paul by re-configuring the figure and impact of Paul upon nascent Christianity, with the two leading questions as a driving force. First, 'Who is "Israel" and the "church" for Luke and Luke's Paul' and secondly 'Who is Jesus of Nazareth and who is Paul in relation to both?' The contributors provide challenging new perspectives on approaches to the figure of Paul in recent scholarship as well as in the scholarship of previous generations, 're-figuring' Paul by examining both how he is portrayed in Acts, and how the Pauline figure of Acts may be envisioned within Paul's own writings. Paul and the Heritage of Israel thus accomplishes what no other single volume has done: combining both the 'Paul of Paul' and the 'Paul of Luke' in one seminal volume. >

Luke's Acts of the Apostles is the only documentation available on the birth of Christianity, despite the author's vigorously disputed reliability as a historian. Daniel Marguerat avoids this true/false quagmire by establishing his evaluation of Luke's talent as an historian within the framework of ancient historiography (the rules of ancient historians and narrative criticism). His study portrays Luke as a skillful and sound theologian, and provides an original approach to the classic themes of Lucan theology.

As the first historian of Christianity, Luke's reliability is vigorously disputed among scholars. The author of the Acts is often accused of being a biased, imprecise, and anti-Jewish historian who created a distorted portrait of Paul. Daniel Marguerat tries to avoid being caught in this true/false quagmire when examining Luke's interpretation of history. Instead he combines different tools - reflection upon historiography, the rules of ancient historians and narrative criticism - to analyse the Acts and gauge the historiographical aims of their author. Marguerat examines the construction of the narrative, the framing of the plot and the characterization, and places his evaluation firmly in the framework of ancient historiography, where history reflects tradition and not documentation. This is a fresh and original approach to the classic themes of Lucan theology: Christianity between Jerusalem and Rome, the image of God, the work of the Spirit, the unity of Luke and the Acts.

As a sequel to the hugely successful Jesus and the Heritage of Israel, this book brings together fourteen internationally acclaimed scholars in antiquities studies and experts on Paul and Luke. The contributors provoke new approaches to the troubled relation of the Lukan Paul by re-configuring the figure and impact of Paul upon nascent Christianity, with the two leading questions as a driving force. First, 'Who is "Israel" and the "church" for Luke and Luke's Paul' and secondly 'Who is Jesus of Nazareth and who is Paul in relation to both?' The contributors provide challenging new perspectives on approaches to the figure of Paul in recent scholarship as well as in the scholarship of previous generations, 're-figuring' Paul by examining both how he is portrayed in Acts, and how the Pauline figure of Acts may be envisioned within Paul's own writings. Paul and the Heritage of Israel thus accomplishes what no other single volume has done: combining both the 'Paul of Paul' and the 'Paul of Luke' in one seminal volume.

The reception of Paul in the first century is a highly debated issue. In this collection of essays, Daniel Marguerat defends the position of a threefold reception of Paul in parallel ways: documentary (the canon of Pauline writings), biographical (the book of Acts and the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles) and doctoral (Deutero-Pauline and Pastoral Letters). Marguerat advocates that the value of the phenomena of reception be appreciated, in particular the figure of Paul in Acts. It should not systematically be compared to the apostle's writings, even though this image evolves from a Lukan reinterpretation. It actually gives us an aspect of Paul which forges the background of the epistolary literature, especially concerning his rapport with Judaism. The essays in this book concern the literary and theological construction of the narrative of Acts, focusing on the figure of Paul: his rapport with the Torah, the Socratic model, the Lukan character construction, the resurrection as a central theme in Acts, the significance of meals. In his analysis, Marguerat combines narratology and historical criticism. He is highly attentive to how Christology emerges as narrative Christology. Some of the essays treat classical or less classical themes of Pauline theology: Paul the mystic, the justification by faith, imitating Paul as father and mother of the community, and the affair of the woman's veil in Corinth. Concerning the statute of the Torah, Marguerat debates with the "New Perspective on Paul". He also sheds a fresh light on less known aspects of the apostle: his mystic dimension and the emotional impact in his correspondence to the Thessalonians.

A welcome supplement to the bestselling How to Read the OT and How to Read the NT, indicating more recent developments in biblical studies especially in the area of narrative criticism."

Reading the Acts of the Apostles is still essential to our knowledge of the beginnings of Christianity. The question is how credible Luke's historical account is from today's perspective. Daniel Marguerat's commentary wants to overcome the alternative between historical credibility and narrative fiction. To this end, he innovatively combines historical criticism and narrative analysis. On the one hand, he examines Luke's narrative art in order to grasp his interpretation of the events. The comparison with the Graeco-Roman historians makes it possible to recognize the rules of composition used. On the other hand, Marguerat looks for the possible traditions that Luke used. This methodological approach allows a new perspective on the work of Luke as the "first Christian historian". This commentary was originally written in French and is now available in German for the first time.