Like earlier volumes in the Social Science Commentary series, this volume situates Acts squarely in the cultural matrix of the first century Mediterranean world, elaborating its codes of patron and client, mediatorship, honor and shame, healing and sickening, wizardry and witchcraft accusations, and the understanding of the Spirit of God as well as deities and demons as personal causes of significant events.

Part 1: Jesus First Command to the Twelve – Their Activities Among Israelite Majority Populations (Acts 1:4-12:25)

Part 2: Jesus Second Command to Saul/Paul – His Activities Among Israelite Minority Populations (Acts 12:25-25:31)

This book explores the narrative significance of the “we” passages in Acts within the
boundaries of acceptable ancient grammatical practice. It contends that the occasional firstperson
plural narrator represents a character whose entrance at crucial moments in Paul’s
career parallels the role of Barnabas, the apostle’s earlier companion. Although consistent
with the grammatical practice of ancient writers, the use of the “we” style in Acts nonetheless
represents a variation of those conventions because the author of Acts wrote anonymously
and never claimed personal participation in the events narrated. In analyzing the function of
the narrator as narrative character, the book presents narrative literary strategy as a fruitful
approach to these enigmatic texts whose narrative possibilities have in the past been
subordinated to their historical potential.

SBL - Studies in Biblical Literature, 14

William Sanger Campbell is Assistant Professor of New Testament at The College of St.
Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota.

To Act According to the Gospel Xavier Léon-Dufour Retail Price: $16.95 HP Item Number: 63201x ISBN: 156563201x Offering the fruit of a lifetime of systematic study and teaching, one of the foremost gospel scholars of our generation seeks to present the whole message of the gospel in such a way that it can be seen at a glance. Exploring the fundamental experience of Jesus and his relationship to prior Jewish tradition, Léon-Dufour considers such vital domains of human action as money, sexuality, and human relationships—distilling essential principles that will allow Christians today to engage the realities of the modern world. Tempering scholarship with a pastoral tone, he highlights the love and forgiveness at the center of the gospel message.FROM THE PREFACE “This work has actually grown out of a lifetime of experience. It is my attempt to realize a dream I have had since youth: to present the whole message of the gospel in such a way that it can be seen at a glance, so that readers may have at their disposal those gospel texts that should guide their spiritual lives.””As Xavier Léon-Dufour grows older he doesn’t become less of an activist. Rather, his study of the gospels has led him to embrace a decidedly actional response to the teachings of Jesus. To hear and understand the gospel is to act! Léon-Dufour insists that the church in fact be the Church of Jesus Christ, to be open to all people, to rediscover the marginal status of the first Christians, and to renounce its current obsession with temporal power. A wonderfully encouraging book.” —Michael Frost, Morling College, Sydney, co-author of The Shaping of Things to Come and author of Seeing God in the Ordinary“After a long and distinguished career in biblical scholarship, Léon-Dufour gives us a summarizing, moving, and personal statement about bottom-line realities of the gospel. This is an example of superlative biblical theology in the service of faith and obedience. Because Léon-Dufour listens so carefully to Scripture, expounds it so faithfully, and applies it so wisely, this book will prove wonderfully helpful for all who quest after right living in an age of change and confusion.” — Donald A. Hagner, George Eldon Ladd Professor of New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary, author of Encountering the Book of Hebrews and editor of Conflicts and Challenges in Early Christianity

Xavier Léon-Dufour (Hendrickson Publishers, 2005)