The Genre of Acts and Collected Biography

336 Pages·2013·1.62 MB·English

by  Sean A. Adams

THEGENREOFACTSANDCOLLECTEDBIOGRAPHY
It is widely accepted by New Testament scholars that the Gospel of
LukeandtheActsoftheApostlesprobablyoriginatedastwopartsof
one work by a single author. In spite of this, the books have been
assigned to very different genres: Luke is traditionally viewed as a
biography of Jesus, and Acts as a history of the early church.
ComparingindetailthestructureandcontentofActswiththeformal
featuresofhistory,novel,epicandbiography,SeanAdamschallenges
this division. Applying both ancient and modern genre theory, he
argues that the best genre parallel for the Acts of the Apostles is, in
fact,collectedbiography.Offeringanuancedandsophisticatedunder-
standingofgenretheory,alongwithaninsightfulargumentregarding
the composition and purpose of Acts, this bookwill beof interest to
those studying the New Testament, Acts, genre theory and ancient
literature.
sean a. adams is British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the
UniversityofEdinburgh.Heisco-editorofIssuesinLuke–Acts(with
Michael Pahl, 2012) and Paul and the Ancient Letter Form (with
Stanley E. Porter, 2010), and is also the author of a commentary on
theSeptuagintbooksofBaruchandEpistleofJeremiahforthcomingin
2014.

SOCIETY FOR NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES
MONOGRAPH SERIES
GeneralEditor:PaulTrebilco
156
THEGENREOFACTSANDCOLLECTEDBIOGRAPHY
SOCIETY FOR NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES
MONOGRAPH SERIES
Recenttitlesintheseries
127. Matthew’sTrilogyofParables
WESLEY G. OLMSTEAD
128. ThePeopleofGodintheApocalypse
STEPHEN PATTEMORE
129. TheExorcismStoriesinLuke–Acts
TODD KLUTZ
130. Jews,GentilesandEthnicReconciliation
TET-LIM N. YEE
131. AncientRhetoricandPaul’sApology
FREDERICK J. LONG
132. ReconstructingHonorinRomanPhilippi
JOSEPH H. HELLEMAN
133. TheologicalHermeneuticsand1Thessalonians
ANGUS PADDISON
134. Greco-RomanCultureandtheGalileeofJesus
MARK A. CHANCEY
135. ChristologyandDiscipleshipintheGospelofMark
SUZANNE WATTS HENDERSON
136. TheJudaeanPoorandtheFourthGospel
TIMOTHY J. M. LING
137. Paul,theStoicsandtheBodyofChrist
MICHELLE LEE
138. TheBridegroomMessiahandthePeopleofGod
JOCELYN MCWHIRTER
139. TheTornVeil
DANIEL M. GURTNER
140. DiscerningtheSpirits
ANDRÉ MUNZINGER
141. TheSheepoftheFold
EDWARD W. KLINK III
142. ThePsalmsofLamentinMark’sPassion
STEPHEN P. AHERNE-KROLL
143. CosmologyandEschatologyinHebrews
KENNETH L. SCHENCK
144. TheSpeechesofOutsidersinActs
OSVALDO PADILLA
145. TheAssumedAuthorialUnityofLukeandActs
PATRICIA WALTERS
146. GeographyandtheAscensionNarrativeinActs
MATTHEW SLEEMAN
147. TheIturaeansandtheRomanNearEast
E. A. MYERS
148. ThePoliticsofInheritanceinRomans
MARK FORMAN
149. TheDoctrineofSalvationintheFirstLetterofPeter
MARTIN WILLIAMS
150. JesusandtheForgivenessofSins
TOBIAS HÄGERLAND
151. TheCompositionoftheGospelofThomas
SIMON GATHERCOLE
152. PaulasanAdministratorofGodin1Corinthians
JOHN K. GOODRICH
153. AffirmingtheResurrectionoftheIncarnateChrist
MATTHEW D. JENSEN
154. Riches,Poverty,andtheFaithful
MARK D. MATHEWS
155. PaulandtheRhetoricofReversalin1Corinthians
MATTHEW R. MALCOLM

The Genre of Acts and
Collected Biography
SEAN A. ADAMS
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pages cm.–(Societyfornewtestamentstudiesmonographseries)
ISBN978-1-107-04104-2(hardback)
1. Bible.N.T.Acts–Criticism,interpretation,etc. 2. Literaryform.
3. Biographyasaliteraryform. I. Title.
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2013006197
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