The BOOK of ACTS

Form, Style, and Theology

Martin Dibelius

Edited by K. C. Hanson

Fortress Press

Minneapolis

THE BOOK OF ACTS

Form, Style, Theology

Copyright © 2004 Ulrich Dibelius. Published by Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Augsburg Fortress, Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1209.

An earlier edition of this work was published by SCM Press, London, 1956.

Translated from the German by Mary Ling. Chapter 2 translated by Paul Schubert.

Scripture is from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. Some passages have been modified to conform to Dibelius’s more literal rendering of the Greek.

Cover image: Busts of the Apostles Peter and Paul, profiles turned toward each other. Early Christian. Bas-relief (unfinished) 4th C.E. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Aquilea, Italy. © Erich Lessing / Art Resource, N.Y. Used by permission.

Author photo and portrait: Used by permission of Ulrich Dibelius.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dibelius, Martin, 1883–1947.

The Book of Acts / Martin Dibelius; edited by K. C. Hanson.

p. cm.—(Fortress classics in biblical studies)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-8006-3644-9 (pbk: alk. paper)—ISBN 0-8006-6090-0 (hc: alk. paper)

1. Bible. N.T. Acts—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Hanson, K. C. (Kenneth C.) II. Title. III. Series.

BS2625.52.D53 2004

226.6’07—dc22

2004014292

ISBN 0-8006-6090-0 (hc)

ISBN 0-8006-3644-9 (pbk)

Contents

Editor’s Foreword

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Part I: History and Style in Acts

1. Acts in the Setting of the History of Early Christian Literature

2. The First Christian Historian

3. The Book of Acts as an Historical Source

4. Style Criticism of the Book of Acts

5. The Speeches in Acts and Ancient Historiography

Part II: Paul and Peter in the Book of Acts

6. Paul in the Book of Acts

7. Paul on the Areopagus

8. Paul in Athens

9. The Apostolic Council

10. The Conversion of Cornelius

Part III: The Text of Acts

11. The Text of Acts

Bibliography

Select Bibliography on the Book of Acts

Index of Authors

Index of Ancient Sources

Editor’s Foreword

Martin Dibelius was born the son of a Lutheran pastor September 14, 1883 in Dresden, Germany, a year before his colleague, Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1969), with whom he shared many influences and many interests. The year 1883 was notable also as the year that Krakatoa exploded; Italy signed a military pact with Austria-Hungary and Germany; Dvorák, Strindberg, and Brahms all debuted major works; the Orient Express began railroad service between Paris and Istanbul; and Adolf von Harnack published Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristliche Literatur.

Dibelius studied ...

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About The Book of Acts: Form, Style, and Theology

This volume brings together some of Dibelius’ most important work. While he is especially renowned for his commentaries, Dibelius was on the forefront of literary analysis, the relationship of theology to literary artistry, and the importance of contemporary Greco-Roman history for the analysis of the Book of Acts. As an aid to students, each essay has been supplemented with additional notes and bibliography to show where the discussion has continued since Dibelius. This will provide an excellent supplementary textbook for courses on the New Testament or the Bible.

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