In "Acts," part of the eighteen-volume Paideia commentary series, leading biblical scholar Mikeal Parsons gleans fresh theological insight into Acts by attending carefully to the cultural and educational context from which it emerges.

Paideia commentaries explore how New Testament texts form Christian readers by:
- Attending to the ancient narrative and rhetorical strategies the text employs
- Showing how the text shapes theological convictions and moral habits
- Commenting on the final, canonical form of each New Testament book
- Focusing on the cultural, literary, and theological settings of the text
- Making judicious use of maps, photos, and sidebars in a reader-friendly format

"Parsons presents a masterful exposition both of the myriad strategies whereby the author of Acts attempted to persuade his original audience and of the ways in which this ancient book continues to speak powerfully to Christian faith in our own day. Readers will find here a treasure trove of insights into Hellenistic rhetorical conventions and their usage in Acts."--John A. Darr, Boston College

"Parsons's commentary on Acts takes an overtly rhetorical approach to the text while not losing sight of its important theological implications. I commend him for focusing his commentary on the final form of the text as it was read by the first readers and recognizing the author as a theologian in his own right. Parsons also provides useful supplemental comments to aid those unfamiliar with the terminology of ancient rhetoric. A number of Parsons's assumptions and conclusions will no doubt prompt significant further discussion."--Stanley E. Porter, McMaster Divinity College

"Parsons deftlyshepherds the reader through Acts of the Apostles in this rich and illuminating commentary. This book will be an ideal companion for students navigating Acts for the first time and a helpful resource for seasoned Acts scholars."--William Sanger Campbell, The College of St. Scholastica

"Mikeal Parsons has been on the forefront of reading the Lukan writings with strategies that combine the best of ancient literary criticism with social-world analyses and socio-rhetorical expertise with biblical-theological acumen. His "Acts" Paideia commentary is his most recent integrative "tour de force"!"--David P. Moessner, University of Dubuque Theological Seminary and University of Pretoria

Early Christianity developed in a world where moral significance was often judged based upon physical appearance alone. Exploring the manifestations of this ancient "science" of physiognomy, Parsons rightly shows how Greco-Roman society, and by consequence the author of Luke and Acts, was steeped in this tradition. Luke, however, employs these principles in his writings in order to subvert the paradigm. Using as examples the bent woman (Luke 13), Zacchaeus (Luke 18), the lame man (Acts 3-4), and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8), Parsons shows that the Christian community--both early and present-day--is established only in the image of Jesus Christ.

Interpretation and the Claims of the Text combines the writings of more than a dozen prominent biblical scholars to elucidate the theological building blocks for the New Testament. Beverly Roberts Gaventa, Mikeal C. Parsons, Jason A. Whitlark, Loveday Alexander, Warren Carter, Sharyn Dowd, Amy-Jill Levine, Bruce W. Longenecker, Frank J. Matera, David P. Moessner, Alicia D. Myers, Lidija Novakovic, Todd D. Still, C. Clifton Black, and R. Alan Culpepper chart the waters of creation and humanity, the problems of sin, Christ's redemptive power, and God's overarching plan for humankind. Students and scholars alike will benefit from their exegetical groundwork, perceptive discussion, and enlightening conclusions. Interpretations and the Claims of the Text illuminates multiple points of departure for further exploration of the depths of New Testament texts.

In Acts 1-14: A Handbook on the Greek Text, Martin Culy, Mikeal Parsons, and Josiah Hall provide a foundational examination of the Greek text of Acts. The analysis is distinguished by the detailed yet comprehensive attention paid to the text. The authors' exposition is a convenient pedagogical and reference tool that explains the form and syntax of the biblical text, offers guidance for deciding between competing semantic analyses, engages important text-critical debates, and addresses questions relating to the Greek text that are frequently overlooked or ignored by standard commentaries. Beyond serving as a succinct and accessible analytic key, Acts also reflects the most up-to-date advances in scholarship on Greek grammar and linguistics. This handbook proves itself an indispensable tool for anyone committed to a deep reading of the biblical text. This revised and expanded handbook on the Greek text of Acts, unlike its predecessor, includes comments on the grammar and syntax of every word in the text and incorporates insights from the Editio Critica Maior, now the standard critical Greek text for the Acts of the Apostles.

In this volume Mikeal C. Parsons provides an overview of Luke and Acts, reading Luke and Acts in the context of ancient rhetorical criticism as practiced in the Hellenistic world. Parsons first compares Luke's storytelling with narrative techniques of ancient rhetoric. He next compares Luke's interpretation of Jewish sources within the social conventions of Luke's day. Finally, Parsons profiles Luke's specific evangelistic theological artistry, one in which Luke creatively uses Isaiah to call for the conversion of the Gentiles. The depth and breadth of Parson's chapters root Luke's narrative strategy, interpretive moves, and theological imagination in the pagan, Jewish, and Christian contexts of the period.

In this volume Mikeal C. Parsons provides an overview of Luke and Acts, reading Luke and Acts in the context of ancient rhetorical criticism as practiced in the Hellenistic world. Parsons first compares Luke's storytelling with narrative techniques of ancient rhetoric. He next compares Luke's interpretation of Jewish sources within the social conventions of Luke's day. Finally, Parsons profiles Luke's specific evangelistic theological artistry, one in which Luke creatively uses Isaiah to call for the conversion of the Gentiles. The depth and breadth of Parson's chapters root Luke's narrative strategy, interpretive moves, and theological imagination in the pagan, Jewish, and Christian contexts of the period.

Rudolf Bultmann's Theology of the New Testament has stood the test of time. At the very moment modernity was threatening to splinter New Testament studies into a myriad of isolated disciplines, Bultmann was somehow able to hold history, exegesis, and theology together. Theology of the New Testament was, and still is, the definitive theological statement of a high modernist critic. In it Bultmann was as relentless in his historical judgments as he was unapologetic in laying bare the New Testament's existential claims.

Beyond Bultmann puts Bultmann's classic Theology of the New Testament to a new test. Thirteen contemporary New Testament scholars subject Bultmann's Theology to a comprehensive new reading. This fresh, critical examination of Bultmann not only places his magisterial work in a new context but also reveals the enduring features of Bultmann's achievement. Beyond Bultmann demonstrates that Theology of the New Testament, far from being a relic in the museum of interpretation, still speaks today despite its flaws.

This new volume in the popular handbook series provides students with a comprehensive guide through the Greek text of the Gospel of Luke. Together Culy, Parsons, and Stigall explain the text's critical, lexical, grammatical, and linguistic aspects while revealing its carefully crafted narrative style. In all, they show the author of Luke to be a master communicator, well at home within the Greek biographical tradition.

For the ancient Greeks and Romans, eloquence was essential to public life and identity, perpetuating class status and power. The three-tiered study of rhetoric was thus designed to produce sons worthy of and equipped for public service. Rhetorical competency enabled the elite to occupy their proper place in society. The oracular and literary techniques represented in Greco-Roman education proved to be equally central to the formation of the New Testament. Detailed comparisons of the sophisticated rhetorical conventions, as cataloged in the ancient rhetorical handbooks (e.g., Quintilian), reveal to what degree and frequency the New Testament was shaped by ancient rhetoric's invention, argument, and style. But Ancient Rhetoric and the New Testament breaks new ground. Instead of focusing on more advanced rhetorical lessons that elite students received in their school rooms, Michael Martin and Mikeal Parsons examine the influence of the progymnasmataathe preliminary compositional exercises that bridge the gap between grammar and rhetoric properaand their influence on the New Testament. Martin and Parsons use Theon's (50a100 CE) compendium as a baseline to measure the way primary exercises shed light on the form and style of the New Testament's composition. Each chapter examines a specific rhetorical exercise and its unique hortatory or instructional function, and offers examples from ancient literature before exploring the use of these techniques in the New Testament. By studying the rhetoric of beginners rather than experts, Martin and Parsons demonstrate that the New Testament was not simply the product of an elite scholastic culture. "Rhetoric was in the air," acting as a stock feature of the public discourse from which the New Testament arose. Martin and Parsons demonstrate that attention to the intimate relationship between medium (the how) and message (the what) is not new. The New Testament used common strategies to communicate its uncommon Gospel.

In this volume Mikeal C. Parsons provides an overview of Luke and Acts, reading Luke and Acts in the context of ancient rhetorical criticism as practiced in the Hellenistic world. Parsons first compares Luke's storytelling with narrative techniques of ancient rhetoric. He next compares Luke's interpretation of Jewish sources within the social conventions of Luke's day. Finally, Parsons profiles Luke's specific evangelistic theological artistry, one in which Luke creatively uses Isaiah to call for the conversion of the Gentiles. The depth and breadth of Parson's chapters root Luke's narrative strategy, interpretive moves, and theological imagination in the pagan, Jewish, and Christian contexts of the period.

The Acts of the Apostles: Four Centuries of Baptist Interpretation is a landmark work of research, containing examples of specific ways that Baptists have used Acts in their confessions, sermons, tracts, commentaries, monographs, devotional and denominational literature, speeches, and hymns. Including the entirety of the Acts as translated by Baptist luminary Helen Barrett Montgomery, this commentary beautifully illustrates the diversity of Baptist responses to this book of Scripture, and in so doing, a variety of hermeneutical approaches within the Baptist tradition.

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.

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. >

Synopsis: Mark's Gospel is much maligned for its redundancy and stylistic sloppiness. But is this indignity justified? The answer to this question hangs not only on the genre of this work but also on the life setting of its target audience. Rather than unwitting slip-ups of an inept writer, Mark's narrative repetitions and temporal dislocations are better understood as rhetorical strategies for a didactive oral performance. There is "method" to Mark's "madness," and the method maps his meaning. In recent decades, some scholars have become enamored with what they see as a generic affinity between Mark's Gospel and fictive literature, particularly ancient romance novels. Could this be the "method" behind Mark's madness? This book offers readers an exciting and profitable journey into two story worlds that likely share a common historical-cultural setting: Mark's "Gospel" and Chariton's "passion of love." Analyzing these works from the vantage point of narrative sequence, Starner identifies two contrasting worldviews: for Chariton, the world is controlled by the goddess Aphrodite who serves as a powerbroker distributing political, economic, and sociological power to agents who use that power for self-serving ends; for Mark, the world is governed by an All-Powerful God who, shockingly, operates from a posture of powerlessness, inviting (not coercing) humans to accept his lordship and urging them to adopt the self-sacrificial, service-oriented program of living that finds its quintessential expression in the historical Jesus of the Gospels. Endorsements: "This book offers an intriguing study of some notable narrative techniques in Mark's Gospel. In contrast to modern speculations of how Mark should have written, Starner's observations are grounded in ancient narration patterns. While noting parallels with Chariton's style, Starner is also careful to highlight some distinctive elements in Mark's account." --Craig Keener Professor of New Testament Palmer Theological Seminary "It is sometimes said that the Gospel of Mark is a clumsy concatenation of stories, thrown together willy-nilly. In Kingdom of Power, Power of Kingdom Rob Starner offers an alternative take: Mark uses the apparent disruptions in sequence, repetitions, and gaps in information to leverage the responses of his readers. Starner's argument is crisp, compelling, and critically important--a must read for anyone who wishes to understand both Mark and the current state of literary scholarship in biblical studies. Mark, like Starner, is anything but clumsy." --Jerry Camery-Hoggatt Professor of New Testament and Narrative Theology Vanguard University Author Biography: Rob Starner is Professor of Greek and New Testament at Southwestern AG University in Waxahachie, Texas.

The Bible and Disability: A Commentary (BDC) is the first comprehensive commentary on the Bible from the perspective of disability. The BDC examines how the Bible constructs or reflects human wholeness, impairment, and disability in all their expressions. Biblical texts do envision the ideal body, but they also present visions of the body that deviate from this ideal, whether physically or through cognitive impairments or mental illness. The BDC engages the full range of these depictions of body and mind, exploring their meaning through close readings and comparative analysis. The BDC enshrines the distinctive interpretive imagination required to span the worlds of biblical studies and disability studies. Each of the fourteen contributors has worked at this intersection; and through their combined expertise, the very best of both biblical studies and disability studies culminates in detailed textual work of description, interpretation, and application to provide a synthetic and synoptic whole. The result is a close reading of the Bible that gives long-overdue attention to the fullness of human identity narrated in the Scriptures. Not for sale in the UK.

The Bible and Disability: A Commentary (BDC) is the first comprehensive commentary on the Bible from the perspective of disability. The BDC examines how the Bible constructs or reflects human wholeness, impairment, and disability in all their expressions. Biblical texts do envision the ideal body, but they also present visions of the body that deviate from this ideal, whether physically or through cognitive impairments or mental illness. The BDC engages the full range of these depictions of body and mind, exploring their meaning through close readings and comparative analysis. The BDC enshrines the distinctive interpretive imagination required to span the worlds of biblical studies and disability studies. Each of the fourteen contributors has worked at this intersection; and through their combined expertise, the very best of both biblical studies and disability studies culminates in detailed textual work of description, interpretation, and application to provide a synthetic and synoptic whole. The result is a close reading of the Bible that gives long-overdue attention to the fullness of human identity narrated in the Scriptures. Not for sale in the UK.

This book examines visual representations of the public ministry of Christ in scenes unique to the Gospel of Luke. Scenes depicting the birth and suffering of Christ no doubt dominated the visual repertoire of medieval and renaissance artists. Nonetheless, the miracles and teachings of Jesus also inspired numerous depictions, not only during the period of the earliest Christian art but continuing throughout the Italian Renaissance and Baroque periods. The book demonstrates how this 'visual exegesis' might enrich our understanding of Luke's Gospel and at the same time inform the contemporary faith community's interpretation of Scripture. Each of these chapters begins with an overview of the biblical passage and its subsequent interpretation, noting significant rhetorical features and the overarching theological argument of the text, as well as outlining a brief summary of its subsequent interpretation in the ecclesiastical literature. Next, the selected work of art is lent context by a brief biography of the artist, placing the work within the artist's own oeuvre, discussing what is known of the patronage of the specific image, and exploring important social, political and religious factors which may facilitate our understanding of the painting. A stylistic and iconographic analysis is followed by brief hermeneutical reflections about how this visual interpretation might inform the church's reading of Scripture. Illuminating Luke will appeal broadly to students of the Bible and the history of Christian art. Scholars and students interested in the history of biblical interpretation will benefit from this book. Likewise, educated laypersons and pastors will find in its pages rich resources for theological reflection.