Missional Acts
Rhetorical Narrative in the Acts of the Apostles
- Biblical Studies & Commentaries
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2022
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Publisher's Description
What is Luke's main purpose in writing the book of Acts? In this close study of the entire Acts narrative, McGinnis analyzes Luke's story of the first Christians in light of ancient rhetorical conventions, concluding that Luke presents his stories to strengthen the missional commitment and practice of his readers. Missional Acts approaches a vast amount of varied mission content systematically, dividing it into rhetorical instruction about missional stimuli, structures, strategies, and suffering, while using a body analogy to provide coherence. Even the enigmatic ending of Acts intentionally advances Luke's rhetorical purposes. Luke's teaching finds its culmination in the ministry of his archetypal missionary, the apostle Paul, whose missionary journeys are a Lukan masterclass in mission strategy with much to teach about ministry that transforms whole regions. McGinnis rejects the traditional dichotomy that Paul is either a missionary or a prisoner and shows that throughout his work Luke depicts suffering as an integral part of the mission, seeking to prepare his readers to face opposition of various kinds. Missional Acts will help readers approach Acts in innovative ways by reading it through a primary missional lens.
Endorsements (5)
“In this groundbreaking study, McGinnis critically evaluates the means Acts uses to champion a world-wide proselytizing mission. . . . Rooted in Luke’s idiosyncratic trinitarian theology, mission boils down to this: ‘Christians’ in the Roman world should open house churches to those of differing customs, laws, and ethnicities, and leaders should support planting new house churches.”
“It took a church planter/scholar to give us this brilliant overview, opening up the Book of Acts in line with Luke’s unashamedly strategic intentions. Missional Acts is packed with rich biblical insight for the church. . . . To read this book is to see Acts with new eyes. It is, in essence, to draw alongside the earliest Christians and be ignited by the same flame.”
“In this exhilarating study of Acts, the missional nature of the church is set forth with great vigor and academic skill. Like the book of Acts itself, we are confronted with the irresistible advance of the word, the unending empowerment of the Spirit, and the universal scope of salvation.”
“In Missional Acts, McGinnis offers a challenging reading of the book of Acts as a persuasive equipping narrative for mission. This book invites followers of Christ to discover (or rediscover) the missional stimuli, structures, strategies, and sufferings of the earliest churches—and to consider how to apply them in relevant and innovative ways in our own very different world.”
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