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L HOWARD MARSHALL and DAVID PETERSON (eds.), Witness to the Gospel.- The Theology of Acts (Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans, 1998). Pp. xvi + 610. Paper $45.
This companion volume to the series The Book of Acts in Its First Century [sic, no hyphen] Setting contains twenty-five essays by as many essayists, all of them revisions of papers given at a conference at Tyndale House, Cambridge, in 1995. 1. Howard Marshall opens the volume by addressing the question "How Does One Write on the Theology of Acts?" (pp. 1- 16). In particular, he summarizes the approaches taken in this volume, which are centered on the belief that "Acts is primarily about God's action in offering salvation through Jesus Christ to both Jews and Gentiles and thereby creating a new people" (p. 16).
In part 1, "The Salvation of God," the essayists consider the plan of God, its manifestation in Scripture, and the role of Jesus as savior. In the opening essay John T. Squires, "The Plan of God in the Acts of the Apostles" (pp. 19-39), shows how Luke's narration of events reveals that plan. Darrell Bock, "Scripture and the Realization of God's Promises" (pp. 41-62), shows how Luke uses the perspective of promise and fulfillment to support the new community's claim to the heritage of God. John Nolland, "Salvation-History and Eschatology" (pp. 63-81), argues that Luke does not have in mind systematic periods of salvation history but sees salvation unfolding in stages,...