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Alan Thompson reviews new commentary on Acts

Editor’s note: This review is from the recent issue of Credo Magazine: “Born Again: God’s Sovereign Grace in the Miracle of Regeneration.”

Craig S. Keener. Acts: An Exegetical Commentary: Introduction and 1:1–2:47. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012.

Review by Alan J. Thompson

One gains a new understanding of the word “comprehensive” in commentary writing when this work of Craig Keener’s on Acts is consulted.  With a total of 1,038 pages (the first 638 pages covering introductory matters followed by 400 pages for just Acts 1–2), surely reviewers will not complain that Keener’s work is too brief!  The other 26 chapters of Acts will be completed in three more volumes (each subsequent volume will presumably be about the same size as the first).  One slight inconvenience at this stage is that the indexes for all four volumes will be printed in the final volume so the publisher has supplied an accompanying CD which has 426 pages of indexes for volume one and the current working bibliography for the entire work.

Ironically, one of the first headings in the introduction is entitled, “Limitations of This Work.”  This section is particularly important, however, for understanding Keener’s focus and for guiding readers in what to expect from this commentary.  Keener alerts readers to a possible misconception that the word “exegetical” in the title might convey (a term which was not in his original title).  Specifically, “the focus of this commentary is not on lexical or syntactical details but on the larger level of broader cultural connections to the ideas or customs alluded to in the text” (7).  This focus on providing readers with lengthy discussions about the social-historical context on a multitude of topics pervades both the 638 pages of introduction as well as the commentary on Acts 1–2 (it should also be noted that most of the substantial interaction with secondary literature is with sources published before mid-2007).

The introduction covers the usual topics one would expect to find in any commentary: genre (ancient historiography, particularly in contrast to proposals that Acts is biography, or novel), date (between AD 70 and 90), authorship (Luke the physician and short-term companion of Paul), audience (a biblically literate Christian audience of mixed but predominantly Gentile congregations), purpose (an apologetic work which provides answers to Roman objections for his believing audience), and structure (a combination of summary statement markers [2:47; 9:31; 12:24] and geographical markers [20:1]).  The introduction also includes extensive discussions on topics specific to Acts: speeches in Acts, Acts and Paul, Israel’s story, Lukan theology, geography, and women and gender. In keeping with Keener’s focus and expertise, many of these topics are saturated with stimulating social-historical discussions, such as the character of ancient historiography (e.g., historians had an interest in genuine historical information as well as how they presented their information), an excursus on ancient physicians (as general background information for authorship), travel and urbanization (covering topics such as safety, hardship, and speed of travel, as well as ancient perspectives on urban and rural life).

Of course there will be elements of these wide ranging introductory discussions that will be less convincing to some.  For instance, I’m still not persuaded by (1) Keener’s arguments for dating Acts post AD 70 (Luke 21 does not require this and Acts 28:30 more strongly suggests an earlier date), (2) his hesitancy toward the idea that Luke may have seen himself as writing Scripture (more could be made of the arguments for Luke-Acts as “biblical history”), (3) his analysis of Luke’s perspective on women and gender (cf. especially where he stretches the implications of 2:17-18 beyond their intention), and (4) his focus on primarily Roman objections to Christianity as the background to Luke’s apologetic purposes (perhaps more could be made of the ways in which the fulfillment of God’s saving purposes in the reign of Christ provides “assurance” [Luke 1:4] to believers in the midst of persecution and suffering).  These are mainly quibbles, however, in light of the overwhelming strengths of this section, Keener’s extensive interaction with other views, detailed argumentation for the historical reliability of Acts, and comprehensive treatment of the social historical context for so many topics leaves me profoundly grateful for such a resource.  This is essentially an encyclopedia of information related to Acts and its first century world!

This encyclopedia-like treatment of topics does not end when one moves to the actual commentary on Acts 1–2.  For just the first two verses of Acts 1 we encounter the following headings over the course of 16 pages and 131 footnotes:

1. Introducing Introductions

2. Luke’s Recapitulation

3. Preface (1:1-2)

a. Prefaces

b. Luke’s Own Preface in Acts (1:1-2)

I. Relation to Volume 1 (1:1)

II. Dedications

III. Who is Theophilus?

c. Luke’s Preface to Volume One (Luke 1:1-4)

d. Jesus’ Orders until His Taking Up (Acts 1:2)

Many of these sections and sub-sections include extended discussions of ancient literature (e.g., in terms of the headings above, introductions, prefaces, and dedications in ancient literature), providing readers with much material that is not easily accessible elsewhere.  Likewise, the rest of the commentary section includes excurses with discussions of ancient literature on topics such as the Sabbath in early Judaism, astrology, wine and excessive drinking, and providence, fate, and predestination.

Methodologically, this kind of substantial interaction with ancient Greco-Roman and Jewish literature always runs the danger of what Samuel Sandmel called “parallelomania” (i.e., finding supposed “parallels” everywhere on the basis of apparently similar terms).  Keener is often careful, however, to weigh the relevance of such parallels.  For instance, at 2:4, Keener enters into an extended discussion of speaking in tongues.  This section includes headings such as “Proposed Jewish settings for tongues,” “Greek paganism,” “Tongues in early Christianity,” “Studies of modern Christian glossolalia,” “Other tongues as foreign languages,” and “Meaning and function of tongues in Acts.”  He argues that supposed parallels of unintelligible ecstatic speech in Greco-Roman religion do not explain the nature of “tongues” in Acts.  According to Keener, speaking in tongues in Acts 2, 10, and 19 is the miracle of speaking unlearned foreign languages as a symbol of empowerment for cross-cultural mission and therefore as one kind of prophetic speech.  Interestingly, against many, Keener observes the similarities and differences between Acts and 1 Corinthians 12–14 and argues that although Paul has different theological emphases, the phenomenon in Acts is the same as that in 1 Corinthians.  “[I]t is virtually inconceivable,” says Keener, “that the two writers would independently coin the same obscure phrase for two entirely different phenomena” (813).  It is not clear, however, how Keener’s discussion of modern Christian glossolalia and the modern missionary expansion of Pentecostalism relates to his conclusions concerning tongues in Acts as speaking unlearned foreign languages (821-23, cf. esp. 828-31).

This focus on conceptual parallels, however, brings with it some potential difficulties with this kind of commentary. As helpful as it is to have extensive interaction with ancient literature and extended excurses at various points throughout the commentary, it is easy to lose the flow of thought in the argument of the text in Acts being discussed.  For instance, at 2:44-45 Keener provides an extended discussion on sharing possessions in Hellenistic utopian ideals, Greek ideals of common property, friendship ideals, Qumran examples, Ancient Israelite models, Jesus’ own model, and then an excursus on possessions.  After working through this material, however, readers might lose the connections to Keener’s prior discussions of koinōnia and meals and the reference to unity in his subsequent discussion and therefore miss the overall emphasis in these verses on the unity of this new community as one people under one Lord.

This brings us back to Keener’s concern to explain the word “exegetical” in the title of the work so that the commentary is used in the way in which it was intended.  Other books might help pastors and Bible teachers with the overall biblical-theological framework of Acts, and other commentaries such as those by Bock (BECNT), Peterson (Pillar), or Schnabel (ZECNT) will help more with the flow of argument in individual passages with an eye to the theological claims and historical context of Acts.  This commentary is best treated as more of an encyclopedia of information about almost any topic that is raised in Acts and related to the ancient world than an exegetical commentary.  For scholars of Acts, Keener’s encyclopedia is indispensable!

Alan J. Thompson, Lecturer in New Testament, Sydney Missionary & Bible College

Read other book reviews in the recent issue of Credo Magazine:



To view the Magazine as a PDF {Click Here}

Born Again: God’s Sovereign Grace in the Miracle of Regeneration

While doctrines such as election, justification, and sanctification typically receive all of the attention in theological conversations, the doctrine of regeneration is often forgotten. Yet, it is this doctrine that undergirds the entire order of salvation. It is the initiatory change in regeneration that results in everything else, from faith and repentance to justification, sanctification, and perseverance. All of these other doctrines owe their existence to that first moment when God breaths new spiritual life into the sinner’s dead corpse.

Regeneration, or the new birth, was certainly important to Jesus. In John 3 Jesus tells Nicodemus that unless he is born again he cannot enter the kingdom of God! Jesus goes on to highlight the sovereignty of the Spirit in the new birth as well, comparing him to the wind which blows wherever it pleases. This reminds us that since Jesus’ interaction with Nicodemus there has been a long history of debate over exactly what it means to be “born again,” a debate that has preoccupied the best theological minds, including Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, the Synod of Dort, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, and many, many others. The key questions in this controversial matter are these: Does God work alone (monergism) to create new spiritual life in depraved sinners, or does God and man cooperate with one another (synergism), man having the final say in whether God’s grace will be accepted or rejected? Also, does regeneration precede and cause conversion (faith and repentance), or is the Spirit’s supernatural work in regeneration conditioned upon man’s will to believe? We believe Scripture overwhelmingly supports the former. Anything else would compromise the sovereignty of God and rob him of his glory in salvation.

Join us in this issue as we explore the doctrine of regeneration, a doctrine so important that Jesus himself felt it was the first thing he needed to address on that dark night when Nicodemus approached him with the most piercing of spiritual questions.

Contributors include Matthew Barrett, Thomas Nettles, Jonathan Leeman, Douglas Sweeney, Leonardo De Chirico, Andy Naselli, and Tom Ascol.

Matthew Barrett, Executive Editor

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