Preaching Luke-Acts

This book is part of a relatively new Preaching... series put out by Chalice Press, which concentrates on books in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) tradition (the same tradition that is the primary denominational support of my seminary, Christian Theological Seminary, in Indianapolis). The author, Ronald J. Allen, is on the faculty here. I have had the privilege of knowing him both in and out of the classroom, and used this book as part of an independent study project I completed with him a few summers ago.`The gospel of Luke and the books of Acts tell the story of God's intention to restore the world community so that all relationships and situations embody the divine purpose of love and justice initially revealed in Genesis 1.' (p. ix) First, a basic primer. The gospel of Luke and the book of Acts form two parts of a work by the same author. It is most likely that the gospel of Luke was first separated from its companion volume of Acts in early collections of the gospels. Both address the same person, Theophilus, although it is unclear that this was an actual individual, and may be instead a general name given to any reader who would be (translating the name into English) a 'lover of God'. Many scholars now refer to the gospel and Acts as Luke-Acts to show their connection and common composition. `I focus on preaching themes in Luke and Acts. The designation 'theme' is not a technical category of biblical scholarship. I use theme to speak informally of ideas, images, associations, expressions, practices, or values that span Luke 1 through Acts 28, or significant parts thereof.' (p. 1) This is not a book that goes through Luke-Acts with a verse by verse exposition. Rather, it strives to show broad areas of concern and connection for the author of Luke-Acts, so that this knowledge will enhance the understanding of individual passages. Those engaged in preaching can also find aid and material here for developing a sermon or sermon-series on thematic bases. Allen uses literary criticism, rhetorical criticism, reader-response criticism, and historical criticism as tools. He also engages the hermeneutic of suspicion, that is, the assumption that writers will shape their texts in various ways to further the interests of their own community, social class, gender, race, etc. All these tools together provide a broad framework for interpretation and insight into the text of Luke-Acts. Allen has put together the text for the average preacher - it does assume intelligence on the part of the reader, but does not assume that the reader will be a high-level academic biblical scholar. Allen gives clear and concise background to the issues addressed in accessible and engaging prose. `Many Christian communities today do not know the content of the Bible or how to interpret it. The sermon that provides background material helps the congregation overcome these deficiencies.' (pp. 5-6) Parts of this background include the authorship of Luke-Acts, the narra