The Acts of the Apostles

 

combines erudition and accessibility, two attributes not often found in tandem. Her emphasis on Acts as a story of divine activity provides a welcome and engaging, theological reading of this important book.

It is not surprising that this outstanding short commentary on Acts has garnered endorsements from well-known Lukan scholars representing a broad range of theological traditions. This commentary is brief enough to be practical for a wide range of users, but those familiar with Acts studies will also recognize that it is informed by a wide range of scholarship. Like other commentaries in this series, this one approaches the text passage by passage rather than focusing on individual verses. Such an approach is ideal for a commentary this size, and Luke-Acts offers one of the most fruitful fields for such an approach. By focusing on the unity of Luke-Acts and reading passages as cohesive units, Gaventa develops the message and theology that run throughout Luke-Acts, thereby surfacing Lukes theological concerns. Her emphasis on larger literary units does not prevent the author from engaging more detailed questions where they arise, but it does provide a natural bridge for the synthetic theological analysis with which she follows such discussions. Because she helpfully reads Lukes language in each particular passage in the light of Lukes language and themes th roughout Luke-Acts, every passage is richly informed by Lukes use of analogous language or concepts elsewhere. Although this is a fresh reading, it is in the highly insightful tradition of Lukan literary critics such as Robert Tannehill and F. Scott Spencer. [Full Review]