Intrusive God, Disruptive Gospel

Encountering the Divine in the Book of Acts

Matthew L. Skinner

• Publisher: Brazos Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9781587433757
• eBook ISBN:
  9781441248602
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

This engaging book guides readers through one of the most colorful books of the Bible, illuminating passages from Acts that show the Christian gospel expressing itself through the lives, speech, struggles, and adventures of Jesus's followers. The book emphasizes the disruptive character of the Christian gospel and shows how Acts repeatedly describes God as upsetting the status quo by changing people's lives, society's conventions, and our basic expectations of what's possible. Suited for individual and group study, this book by a New Testament scholar with a gift for popular communication asks serious questions and eschews pat answers, bringing Acts alive for contemporary reflection on the character of God, the challenges of faith, and the church.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Road Map: As You Read This Book
• Acts 1:1–11 Waiting to Go
• Acts 2:1–21 Making Sense of Things
• Acts 2:22–41 Keeping an Old Promise
• Road Map: Emerging Realities
• Acts 3:11–26 and 4:5–12 The Ultimate Disruption
• Acts 4:32–5:11 Communal Harmony as a Matter of Life or Death
• Acts 6:1–7 Growth Brings Change—and Surprise
• Acts 7:54–60 Using Violence to Keep God under Control
• Road Map: Expansions
• Acts 8:4–25 Spiritual Power, Spiritual Gift, and Spiritual Greed
• Acts 8:26–40 Absurdly Good News
• Acts 9:1–30 Seeing a Different Reality
• Acts 9:32–43 The Work, Pain, and Tenderness of Christian Service
• Acts 10:1–11:18 Old Boundaries Obliterated
• Acts 12:1–19 Coming to Our Senses
• Road Map: God Is Still Speaking
• Acts 13:1–4 Called and Commissioned
• Acts 14:8–20 Learning to Recognize God
• Acts 15:1–35 Discerning God
• Road Map: Very Public Disturbances
• Acts 16:9–40 Battle of the Gods
• Acts 17:16–34 The Gospel in the Flesh
• Acts 18:1–17 When the Good News Escapes Attention
• Acts 18:24–19:20 There’s Power in the Name
• Acts 19:21–41 Far-Reaching Disruptions
• Road Map: The Witness Goes to Rome
• Acts 21:1–6 Spirit-Led Disagreement
• Acts 22:30–23:11 How to Be a Hero
• Acts 25:1–12 The Gospel and the Empire
• Acts 27–28 Open Horizons
• Conclusion
• For Further Reading
• Subject Index
• Scripture Index
• Back Cover