Book Report Summary on “ACTS” by Darrell L. Bock

Book Report Summary on “ACTS” by Darrell L. Bock

Introduction

The “ACTS” is written by Darrell L.Bock who is serving as a research professor teaching New Testament studies at Dallas. The readers who are familiar with the writing style of Darrell will appreciate this book as well. This book is an addition in the writer's volume of Luke's Commentaries. The introduction provided by the writer is comparatively very comprehensive, because he has opted for a time period before 70 AD for his contribution in Acts and in the book he has regarded this book as a part of Hellenistic and Jewish historiography. This historiography is merged with the concept of theology which aimed to produce a “Theography”. Some of the authors have really appreciated this book. There is a quote from E. Earle Ellis for Vielhauer about the fact of Paulinism of Acts: "When he [Vielhauer] Has Difficulty in Recognizing Luke's Paul, This Writer Often Finds A Similar Difficulty in Recognizing Vielhauer's Luke" (Ellis 1974: 47).

The author of this book Darrell has argued for the importance and criticality of historicity of Acts through the reference of the traditions of Bruce, Hemer and Hengel. Considering this fact, the main purpose of the book Acts is to identify from the prologue an apprehension in order to clarify (Theophilus) that considering a Gentile in an actual manner, the Jewish movement is a component of God's design. The author has touched in depth upon the claims by Luke in order to legitimize the modern movement in the world of Greco Roman, but this act and apologetic aspect of Acts has several more for it. Darrell has treated the theology of Acts very sensitively and fairly.

In this book, there is a discussion considering the topic of “New Community's Emerging Separate Identity” the author has fairly identified the way in which a main and major problem in the early church raised the question of whether Gentiles will be taken as prosleytes to Judaism and what has being expected from them in the formation of a modern and new community considering the facts from Torah. Even though at one point while discussing this issue, Bock's progressive and dispensational ensign sparkling through the comment: "Whether this new community saw itself as the 'restored Israel” which is considered as a matter of debate.

Discussion

In the book “ Acts: written by Darrell, the author has discussed several parts of his work, Luke, the physician and unique single Gentile (non-Jewish) among the authors of the New Testament, tells how, through the ministries of Peter and Paul (especially), the Gentiles "Unclean" and marginalized (like him) were accepted as full members of the early churches. Contemporary studies indicate that in Acts there is less focus on the poor and on women in (Luke's Gospel). But the focus on marginalized is because Lucas and the Gentiles "unclean" were marginalized in the synagogues and in Traditional Judaism. In the author's second volume, Luke, Paul's companion, shows how people ...