Acts

A Theological Commentary on the Bible

Willie James Jennings

• Verlag: Westminster John Knox Press
• Jahr: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781611648058
• Thema: Theology & Religion
• Thema: Biblical Commentary

In this new commentary for the Belief series, award-winning author and theologian Willie James Jennings explores the relevance of the book of Acts for the struggles of today. While some see Acts as the story of the founding of the Christian church, Jennings argues that it is so much more, depicting revolutionlife in the disrupting presence of the Spirit of God. According to Jennings, Acts is like Genesis, revealing a God who is moving over the land, "putting into place a holy repetition that speaks of the willingness of God to invade our every day and our every moment." He reminds us that Acts took place in a time of Empire, when the people were caught between diaspora Israel and the Empire of Rome. The spirit of God intervened, offering new life to both. Jennings shows that Acts teaches how people of faith can yield to the Spirit to overcome the divisions of our present world.

Index of Subjects

abandonment, 179

Abraham, 9, 28, 70–71

Achan, 52–53

Acosta, José de, 77–78

action/actions, 133

direct, 205

divine/God as active, 43, 62, 77

of joining, 254–57

of the many (crowds), 43

of the Spirit, 128

Acts, book of, xvii, 1–12, 44, 253–57

addiction

for control of bodies, 193

discipleship and, 160

to power, 79, 81

to prisons/incarceration, 125–26, 234

Aeneas, 99

aesthetics, 12

Agabus, 124–25, 197

agency, 133, 160

as complex, 160

divine, 2

human, 2, 113

of the Spirit, 11, 133

agrarian cultures/societies, 65, 194

Agrippa. See Herod Agrippa I; Herod Agrippa II

alignment, 140

allegiance tests, 156

almsgiving, 40, 196

America, United States of. See United States

Amerindians, 177

Ananias and Sapphira, 52–53, 57, 59, 78, 181, 215

Ananias of Damascus, 94–95, 98–99, 204

Ananias the high priest, 212

Anzaldúa, Gloria, 83, 85

Anderson, Ray, 24–25

angels, 62, 70, 104, 109, 127–29, 208, 234

animals, 101, 145, 148, 178, 248–49, 251

clean and unclean, 106–7, 111

Antioch in Syria, 121–25

Barnabas sent to, 122–23

founding of church in, 121–25

Gentiles, witne...