Acts of the Apostles (Wisdom)

Acts of the Apostles

Wisdom Commentaries

Linda M. Maloney and Ivoni Richter Reimer
Liturgical Press, 2022
ISBN 9780814681695

Hardcover, 472 pp.
6.4 X 9.3 X 1.5 inches | 1.9 pounds

2023 Catholic Media Association Third Place Award, Scripture - Academic Studies

The Acts of the Apostles, the earliest work of its kind to have survived from Christian antiquity, is not "history" in the modern sense, nor is it about what we call "the church." Written at least half a century after the time it describes, it is a portrait of the Movement of Jesus' followers as it developed between 30 and 70 CE. More important, it is a depiction of the Movement of what Jesus wanted: the inbreaking of the reign of God. In this commentary, Linda Maloney, Ivoni Richter Reimer, and a host of other contributing voices look at what the text does and does not say about the roles of the original members of the Movement in bringing it toward fruition, with a special focus on those marginalized by society, many of them women. The author of Acts wrote for followers of Jesus in the second century and beyond, contending against those who wanted to break from the community of Israel and offering hope against hope, like Israel's prophets before him.