William Willimon combines the latest findings in Lukan scholarship with the pastoral, educational, and theological concerns of the local church to provide a new interpretation of Acts. He bases his comment on the idea that the purpose of Acts was not to make Christianity acceptable to the Roman states but rather to preserve the integrity of the church against the onslaught of classical culture.
Taking his interpretive task seriously, Willimon applies exegetical insight to problems within contemporary society and the local church. He works from the assumption that Acts addresses the church in its struggles with its own message, internal coherence, integrity, and relationship to the surrounding social and political order.
Willimon's lively and direct style is evocative and suggestive to the contemporary preacher and interpreter of Acts. He divides the text into various thought segments, discussing each segment in short essay form. His method, design, outline, and presentation offer a most insightful interpretation of the book of Acts.
