We're back with Nehemiah this week, one of my favourite Bible characters. He's an early governor of post-exilic Jerusalem, but here we see him exercising his prophetic voice. After a few minutes in Hosea to look at the theme of reversal we dive into an extended NT segment in Acts, where the narrative is in transition to the final act of the book's story.

Don't forget, you can now register for the Living Faith Study Day 2019 on EventBrite! It's a gathering for those exploring their relationship to faith, the Bible, and community. There'll be four thought-provoking topics packaged in short talks, with ample time for questions and discussion. I'll be giving one of those talks, "Christian Ethics and Social Justice: The Gospel of the Human Jesus". It's going to be a great day for building faith, and for taking the Bible seriously - both in its ancient context, and in the present day.

Read transcript

The Acts segment is particularly fun this week, as we try to take the Luke-Acts saga seriously in its 1st century, Greco-Roman literary context. Acts especially is not always a straightforward read, even though so much of it is probably really familiar to us. When we really get stuck into the details, it can quickly start to look a whole lot stranger!

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References

Davies, Gordon F. (1999). Ezra and Nehemiah, Berit Olam: Studies in Hebrew Narrative & Poetry. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.
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Pervo, Richard I. (2009). Acts: A Commentary, Hermeneia - A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
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Squires, John T.(2003). Acts in Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
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Tags

Nehemiah 4, Jeremiah 1, Isaiah 1, Ezra 1, 2 Chronicles 1, Jeremiah 18, Jeremiah 29, Ezra 6, Hosea 14, Hosea 13, Hosea 1, Hosea 2, Hosea 9, Acts 20, Acts 21, Acts 22, Acts 23, Acts 24, Mark 12, Matthew 22, Luke 20, BOEZNEH, HRMNEIA65AC, EERDMANSCOMMBBL