Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- 1 Reading Acts in the second century: reflections on method, history, and desire
- 2 Jerusalem destroyed: the setting of Acts
- 3 Acts and the apostles: issues of leadership in the second century
- 4 Spec(tac)ular sights: mirroring in/of Acts
- 5 Acts of ascension: history, exaltation, and ideological legitimation
- 6 Time and space travel in Luke-Acts
- 7 The complexity of pairing: reading Acts 16 with Plutarch's Parallel Lives
- 8 Constructing Paul as a Christian in the Acts of the Apostles
- 9 Bold speech, opposition, and philosophical imagery in Acts
- 10 Among the apologists? Reading Acts with Justin Martyr
- 11 The Second Sophistic and the cultural idealization of Paul in Acts
- 12 Reading Luke-Acts in second-century Alexandria: from Clement to the Shadow of Apollos
- Bibliography
- Index of primary sources
- Index of authors
- Subject index
10 - Among the apologists? Reading Acts with Justin Martyr
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- 1 Reading Acts in the second century: reflections on method, history, and desire
- 2 Jerusalem destroyed: the setting of Acts
- 3 Acts and the apostles: issues of leadership in the second century
- 4 Spec(tac)ular sights: mirroring in/of Acts
- 5 Acts of ascension: history, exaltation, and ideological legitimation
- 6 Time and space travel in Luke-Acts
- 7 The complexity of pairing: reading Acts 16 with Plutarch's Parallel Lives
- 8 Constructing Paul as a Christian in the Acts of the Apostles
- 9 Bold speech, opposition, and philosophical imagery in Acts
- 10 Among the apologists? Reading Acts with Justin Martyr
- 11 The Second Sophistic and the cultural idealization of Paul in Acts
- 12 Reading Luke-Acts in second-century Alexandria: from Clement to the Shadow of Apollos
- Bibliography
- Index of primary sources
- Index of authors
- Subject index
Summary
INTRODUCTION: EXTERNAL EVIDENCE FOR THE RECEPTION OF ACTS
The date of the earliest external evidence for the use of the Acts of the Apostles remains debated, but there is widespread agreement that it is to be found at some point in the second century. This need not mean that Acts was not read, let alone not written before the earliest date at which it is securely attested. It does mean, however (provided that there is no compelling internal evidence to date it to the first century) that a second-century date for its composition cannot be excluded and that any evidence for such a date should be considered with the utmost care (Gregory 2003: 353). In this essay, my focus is on reading Acts alongside the second-century writings of Justin Martyr. This does not require me to date Acts in either the first century (still the majority position) or in the second (a date now increasingly favored); it demands only that I read it in conjunction with the writings of Justin martyr, and note what differences or similarities may be found. Such results may then be used to raise the question of whether Acts might be thought to reflect a similar outlook to that of Justin and, if it does, whether such similarity might support a date in the second century rather than in the first.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Engaging Early Christian HistoryReading Acts in the Second Century, pp. 169 - 186Publisher: Acumen PublishingPrint publication year: 2013