Power Revealed: The Message of Luke-Acts: Then and Now

Three conditions plague us individually and socially--the compulsion to be successful to be powerful and to be right. Jesus faced these demons in the wilderness and they tempt us as well. When used selfishly or for personal gain success power and ideology can weaken and corrupt. However when applied humbly and compassionately they can be useful even transformative. Central to the Christian Scriptures are the stories of Jesus and his disciples and no account is more inspiring than that told by an anonymous author we call Luke. His Gospel aptly described as the most beautiful book in the world and its sequel the book of Acts narrate the history of Jesus and early Christianity. These books known by scholars as Luke-Acts constitute over one quarter of the New Testament. Together they reveal what success power and truth look like spiritually from Gods perspective. Because Luke does not do theology in a vacuum that is for the sake of theology alone questions of Lukes purpose in composing his two-volume work impact Christianitys relationship to the secular world particularly issues of peace equality and social justice. In fact social and political categories may be as important for understanding Luke as traditional theological ones. While exploring fascinating perspectives on Luke as historian literary artist and theologian Power Revealed approaches Luke-Acts exegetically expositing the biblical text for practical pastoral and spiritual needs. Useful for individual or group study each chapter contains aids to learning including (a) chapter summaries or outlines (b) homework assignments and (c) learning objectives.