The Book of Acts in Its Palestinian Setting

Front Cover
Richard Bauckham
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995 - Religion - 526 pages
Working to place the Book of Acts within its first-century setting, well-known historians and biblical scholars from Australia, the United States, Canada, Russia, Germany, France, Israel, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom have collaborated here to provide a stimulating new study that replaces older studies on Acts, including aspects of The Beginnings of Christianity. The composition of Acts is discussed beside the writing of ancient literary monographs and intellectual biographies. Recent epigraphic and papyrological discoveries also help illumine the text of Acts. Archaeological fieldwork, especially in Greece and Asia Minor, has yielded valuable information about the local setting of Acts and the religious life of urban communities in the Roman Empire. These volumes draw on the best of this research to elucidate the Book of Acts against the background of activity in which early Christianity was born. The Book of Acts in Its Palestinian Setting is devoted to a series of studies of those parts of the narrative of Acts that are specifically set in Palestine. The geographical, political, cultural, social, and religious aspects of first-century Jewish Palestine are all explored in order to throw light on Luke's account of the Palestinian origins of early Christianity. There are fresh assessments of the historical significance of key features, persons, and events in Luke's narrative.
 

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Contents

THE LOCATION OF CULTURES IN SECOND TEMPLE PALESTINE THE EVIDENCE OF JOSEPHUS
1
I Jew versus Greek
3
II The Cultures of Palestine
5
III Constructed Identities
7
IV Ethnic Identities in Josephus
9
V Jews in Josephus
10
VII Greeks in Josephus
11
VIII Greeks and Syrians in Josephus
12
I Questioning the Figures Reliability
238
II The Size of the Population of Jerusalem in the Time of the Earliest Church
240
III The Number of Pilgrims in Jerusalem at the Great Feasts Especially Pentecost
259
IV Conclusion
263
JEWISH PRAYER LITERATURE AND THE JERUSALEM CHURCH IN ACTS
267
I Introduction
268
II Lukan Evidence for Jewish and Christian Worship
269
III Pre70 Jewish Worship from Other Sources
277

ACTS AND ROMAN POLICY IN JUDAEA
15
I The Incorporation of Judaea
16
II Judaea Under Agrippa
19
IV Felix
21
V Porcius Festus
25
Prefects of Judaea AD 641
26
THE GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE IN ACTS
27
I The Problem
28
II The Temple in Jerusalem
35
III Jerusalem and the Hill Country of Judah
45
IV The Cities of the Coastal Plain
51
321118 Lydda Joppa and Caesarea
59
VI Antipatris and the Road from Jerusalem to Caesarea
64
VII Samaria in the Acts of the Apostles
67
PALESTINIAN JEWISH PERSONAL NAMES IN ACTS
79
I Palestinian Jews in Acts in English Alphabetical Order
81
II First Names
84
III Second Names
101
IV General Character of the Palestinian Jewish Onomastikon
106
Palestinian Jews in Actsthe Doubtful Cases
110
Abbreviations
113
CHIEF PRIESTS SADDUCEES PHARISEES AND SANHEDRIN IN ACTS
115
I The State of the Question
119
An Interpretation of the Story
127
III Chief Priests Sadducees Pharisees and Sanhedrin in LukeActs
133
IV In Josephus
158
V General Conclusions
174
SYNAGOGUES IN JERUSALEM
179
I The Pre70 Synagogue
180
Literary Sources
187
Archaeological Evidence
192
IV Palestinian Synagogues in LukeActs
202
V Conclusion
209
THE COMPOSITION OF THE JERUSALEM CHURCH
213
I The Social Groups in Jerusalem
215
II The SocioEconomic Composition of the Jerusalem Church
226
III The Cultural Groups Among Jerusalems Jews
230
IV Cultural Diversity in the Jerusalem Church
234
THE POPULATION SIZE OF JERUSALEM AND THE NUMERICAL GROWTH OF THE JERUSALEM CHURCH
237
IV Acts and the Jewish Heritage of Pre70 Christian Worship
298
THE CENACLETOPOGRAPHICAL SETTING FOR ACTS 24445
303
I A 2ndCentury Church on Mount Zion
305
II The Christian Community of Aelia Capitolina
310
IIIThe Camp of the Tenth Legion
313
IV Flight from Jerusalem?
316
V The Quality of Life in IstCentury Mount Zion
318
THE PALESTINIAN CULTURAL CONTEXT OF EARLIEST CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY OF GOODS
323
I Introduction
324
II Community of Goods as a Feature of Palestinian Culture
327
4445 and 432 34
335
Acts 436511
337
V Influence from an Essene Quarter on Mount Zion?
341
16
350
VII Conclusions
355
JEWISH ACTIVITY AGAINST CHRISTIANS IN PALESTINE ACCORDING TO ACTS
357
PAULS PRECHRISTIAN CAREER ACCORDING TO ACTS
365
I Born in Tarsus Citizen of Tarsus and Rome
366
II Paul in Jerusalem
373
III The Persecutor
379
IV Conclusion
390
PETER AND BEN STADA IN LYDDA
391
I Peter in Lydda
392
II Ben Stada in Lod
394
III Identifying Ben Stada
397
IV The Mesit of the Rabbis
400
V Peter as Mesit and Mesit as Healer
403
VI Peter and Ben Stada
412
JAMES AND THE JERUSALEM CHURCH
415
I Introduction
416
II Jerusalem at the Centre
417
III The Leadership of the Jerusalem Church
427
IV The Jerusalem Church and the Gentiles
450
INDEX OF MODERN AUTHORS
481
INDEX OF ANCIENT SOURCES
491
INDEX OF BIBLICAL REFERENCES
505
INDEX OF PLACE AND PERSONAL NAMES AND SELECTED SUBJECTS
517
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