The Divine in Acts and in Ancient Historiography

by Scott Shauf (Editor)

Overview

Scott Shauf compares the portrayal of the divine in Acts with portrayals of the divine in other ancient historiographical writings, the latter including Jewish and wider Greco-Roman historiographical traditions. The divine may be represented as a single deity (in Judaism) or many (in Greek and Roman traditions) and also includes representations of angels, Gods spirit, Jesus as a divine figure, or forces with divine status such as fate, chance, and providence. Shaufs particular interest is in how the divine is represented as involved in history, through themes including the nature of divine retribution, the partiality or impartiality of the divine toward different sets of people, and the portrayal of divine control over seemingly purely natural and human events. Acts is shown to be engaging historiographical traditions of the authors own day but also contributing unique historiographical perspectives. The way history is written in Acts and in the other writings is shown to be intimately tied to the understanding of the role of the divine in history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781451484779
Publisher:	Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
Publication date:	03/01/2015
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Scott Shauf is associate professor of religious studies at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, and the author of scholarly articles on Acts and ofTheology as History, History as Theology (2005), on theology in Luke-Acts.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 The Divine in Greco-Roman Historiography 17

3 The Divine in Biblical and Jewish Historiography 69

4 The Divine in Hellenistic Jewish Historiography 133

5 The Divine in Acts 181

6 Historiography and the Divine 267

Bibliography 301

Index of Authors 319

Index of Biblical and Ancient References 323