The Acts of the Apostles

Alternate Titles

• Taming the tongues of fire

Description

This book offers an overview of common issues in understanding and interpreting the New Testament book of Acts. After this foundation has been laid, Matthews argues that the author of Acts was trying to provide, in his own words, an "orderly account" of the early Church, which had so much potential to be a radically egalitarian challenge to the social structure. Finally, Matthews returns to the story of Pentecost and attempts to read between the lines, with comparison to Pauline descriptions of manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

Description

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.

Subjects

Other Editions

• The Acts of the Apostles: an introduction and study guide : taming the tongues of fireBloomsbury T & T Clark2017-01-01
• The Acts of the ApostlesSheffield Phoenix Press2013-01-01