Intrusive God, Disruptive Gospel: Encountering the Divine in the Book of Acts
Overview
This engaging book guides readers through one of the most colorful books of the Bible, illuminating passages from Acts that show the Christian gospel expressing itself through the lives, speech, struggles, and adventures of Jesus’ followers. Intrusive God, Disruptive Gospel emphasizes the disruptive character of the Christian gospel and shows how Acts repeatedly describes God as upsetting the status quo by changing people’s lives, society’s conventions, and our basic expectations of what’s possible. Suited for individual and group study, this book by Matthew Skinner asks serious questions and eschews pat answers, bringing Acts alive for contemporary reflection on the character of God, the challenges of faith, and the church.
Learn more about Acts with Acts: An Exegetical Commentary, Volume 4.
Key Features
- Illuminates the gospel in Acts
- Examines the character of God and challenges of faith
- Provides helpful study for individuals and groups
Top Highlights
“Have our imaginations and expectations about God become too confined? Too one-dimensional? Too cautious?’ Acts might prompt us to ask deeper questions about what is real, and about what God might make possible in our lives and our neighbors’ lives.” (Page xiv)
“waiting often proves wise when people try to make sense of where and how God is accompanying them” (Page 7)
“the city, the aristocratic, temple-based officials who troubled the believers in Acts 4–5.” (Page 89)
“Generosity and trust in the first exceed our wildest dreams for what seems possible” (Page 31)
“He changes from a man on a mission to one who must wait to learn what to do next” (Page 69)
Praise for the Print Edition
Matthew Skinner probes the book of Acts in an impressively effective way. He successfully negotiates the vexed issue of history and theology and offers a concise, accessible theological twist to every text he considers. His study shows the way in which the narrative text of Acts continues to be compelling for the church’s self-understanding and mission.
—Walter Brueggemann, William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus, Columbia Theological Seminary
The book of Acts tells an exciting story that warrants the sort of engagement it is afforded here. Skinner takes us beyond the pedantic concerns of academia to experience the power of the story itself, to participate in its transformations and discoveries. Anyone who is spiritual and/or religious will benefit from this disruptive encounter with ‘absurdly good news.’
—Mark Allan Powell, professor of New Testament, Trinity Lutheran Seminary
- Title: Intrusive God, Disruptive Gospel: Encountering the Divine in the Book of Acts
- Author: Matthew L. Skinner
- Publisher: Brazos
- Print Publication Date: 2015
- Logos Release Date: 2017
- Pages: 208
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Bible. N.T. Acts › Commentaries; Bible. N.T. Acts › Criticism, interpretation, etc
- ISBNs: 9781441248626, 9781587433757, 1441248625, 1587433753
- Resource ID: LLS:NTRSVGDDSRBKCTS
- Resource Type: Bible Commentary
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T01:58:58Z