The Challenge of Acts : Rediscovering What the Church Was and Is

A new and inviting introduction to the Acts of the Apostles from New Testament scholar and theologian N. T. Wright. Acts is a substantial book. It sits right in the middle of the New Testament, looking back to the four Gospels and ahead to the mission of the early church. It provides a framework for our understanding of the letters; but it does more than that. Acts offers a sophisticated and nuanced view of what it means to think of the gospel of Jesus, Israel's Messiah, going out into the world over which Israel's Messiah claims the status of Lord. This Christian movement and thinking, detailed in Acts, entailed confronting the wider culture of the Greek and Roman world, as well as the culture of the Jewish world, which provides us today with an important message as we ourselves face new questions about gospel and contemporary culture. From the renowned author of Into the Heart of Romans, N. T. Wright brings to the book of Acts his expert's eye on theological nuance and cultural context, distilling it down into an introductory commentary, perfect for anyone looking to take their own reading a little deeper and discover the profound (and often forgotten) potential of the church and the Way of Jesus Christ.