In Praise of Christian Origins: Stephen and the Hellenists in Lukan Apologetic Historiography (Emory Studies in Early Christianity) - Softcover

Penner, Todd

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0567026205 ISBN 13: 9780567026200

Publisher: T&T Clark, 2004

Synopsis

Almost all scholars look to Acts 6:1-8:3 as providing the bedrock of early Christian tradition. The incident between the Hebrews and the Hellenists are understood to reflect real historical and theological problems in the early Jerusalem community, demonstrating the Hellenist role as a historical bridge between Jesus and Paul. Penner's study challenges the fundamental assumptions
of this approach. Penner emphasizes the rhetorical and moral dimensions of ancient historiographical theory, especially the centrality of narrative and plot, the use of vivid description, the application of comparison using various type-scenes, and the role of speeches in terms of characterization and the presentation of narrative style.

Todd Penner is the Assistant Professor of Religion at Austin College and the co-editor with Caroline Vander Stichele of Contextualizing Acts: Lukan Narrative and Greco-Roman Discourse.

About this title

About the Author

Todd Penner is the Gould H. and Marie Cloud Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Austin College, Sherman, Texas, USA

Review

"Penner's Praise of Christian Origins draws on an extraordinarily wide range of reading in New Testament studies, classical rhetoric, ancient historiography, and Jewish-Hellenistic literature. Penner's grasp of all these fields is admirable and matched by few. Penner brings this rich array of scholarship to bear on a novel interpretation of Acts' narrative on the "Hellenists" and Stephen. Setting this narrative in the context of a historiography guided by the aims of epideictic rhetoric, he has shifted focus away from traditional questions of historicity or theology to the construct of Christian self-identity. The book is controversial, provocative, and stimulating in the best sense."—Erich GruenGladys Rehard Wood Professor of History and ClassicsUniversity of California, Berkeley (Erich Gruen)

"Steeped in the writings of ancient Greek, Roman, Hellenistic, and Jewish historians, Penner employs his impressive skills of interpretation to produce a ground-breaking study of Stephen and the Hellenists in Acts. He shows that Luke, like other ancient historians, was less interested in historicity than in writing a persuasive narrative. Penner's study will almost certainly encourage his peers to consider new approaches to the study of the Acts of the Apostles."—Joseph B. Tyson, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas (Joseph B. Tyson)

In Penner's skilled analysis, Acts 6-7 becomes a prism that reveals new understandings, as much about modern scholarship as about ancient texts and historiography. Penetrating insights emerge about genre, rhetoric, Christian origins, and our own quest to define those very categories. As a result, both the text of Acts and the modern interpreter are significantly enhanced in the bridge that Penner builds between the two." —Daryl Schmidt, John F. Weatherly Professor of New Testament, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas (Daryl Schmidt)

In this thoroughly researched study of Acts 6-7 Penner breaks new ground in our understanding of Acts as well as Greek and Roman history writing generally. He situates his work critically within a long and prominent tradition of New Testament scholarship and challenges it to take seriously the rhetorical narrativity of historia and the epideictic force of the Lukan presentation of Stephen and the Hellenists. The way in which Penner argues his case is admirable in regard to both its analytical sharpness and scholarly fairness. It is the kind of book that stimulates reflection and discussion, being provocatively bold and yet sophistically nuanced. It is a significant contribution to the study of Acts within the context of ancient history writing.Samuel ByrskogProfessor of New Testament and Hermeneutics, Göteborg University, Sweden, and Adjunct Professor of New Testament, Stockholm School of Theology, Sweden. (Samuel Byrskog Samuel Byrskog)

"In his study, Penner offers a well-argued rhetorical analysis of the Stephen materials in Acts and significantly advances our understanding of the rhetorical nature of New Testament texts, including the nature of Lukan historiography. But, he also presents Lukan studies with a formidable challenge by drawing attention to the ideological underpinnings of the history of interpretation of Lukan texts in general. It is hard to imagine the future of the conversation in Lukan studies independent of a response to Penner's work, a response he engagingly invites his readers to make." —Professor the Rev. L. G. Bloomquist, Faculty of Theology, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario (Professor the Rev. L. G. Bloomquist)

"It is not easy to make a contribution to the discussion of the Hellenists in Acts, but Penner has. He has done so by exploring how ancient historians and rhetoricians understood the writing of narratives and speeches. His application of ancient narrative strategies to the Stephen story is important not only for how we perceive this pivotal episode, but for how we read narratives in Acts."— Gregory E. Sterling, Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins (Gregory E. Sterling)

'...important, well-researched and effectively argued' (F. Gerald Downing Theology)

'...important, well-researched and effectively argued.' (F. Gerald Downing Theology)

"Among the many arguments in this ambitious book, those that should receive most attention from inspectors of Acts concern the nature of history writing in antiquity.Through this compelling elucidation of ancient historical/rhetorical project, Penner has taught us much about the aim of Luke-Acts."- Shelly Matthews, Furman University, SBL 2006

"This book demonstrates a scholar with an impressive grasp of scholarly literature on Acts as well as of relevant literature from the contemporary Greco-Roman world...Penner has written a highly well informed work that all who study the book of Acts hereafter cannot afford to ignore."- Torrey Seland, Society of the Biblical Literature, 2005

About this edition

• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0567026205
• ISBN 13: 9780567026200
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 440