Search results for ""author dennis r. macdonald""

Our culture is well-populated with superheroes: Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, and more. Superheroes are not a modern invention; in fact, they are prehistoric. The gods and goddesses of the Greeks, for example, walked on water, flew, visited the land of the dead, and lived forever. Ancient Christians told similar stories about Jesus, their primary superhero—he possessed incredible powers of healing, walked on water, rose from the dead, and more. Dennis R. MacDonald shows how the stories told in the Gospels parallel many in Greek and Roman epics with the aim of compelling their readers into life-changing decisions to follow Jesus. MacDonald doesn’t call into question the existence of Jesus but rather asks readers to examine the biblical stories about him through a new, mythological lens.

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The primary impetus of this collection of essays on canonical and non-canonical Acts is to honor the scholarly achievements of Richard I. Pervo. Pervo pioneered the view that canonical Acts is comparable to ancient fiction, insofar as the various episodes about Peter, Paul and the other apostles were composed to entertain, even as they inform. In the spirit of this work, contributors to this volume do not sit idly by. Prodding and provoking readers, these new and often exploratory essays travel at different speeds and with notable variation from center within the broad orbit of canonical Acts. The hope is that this volume will foster serious conversation of the things discussed, with no small measure of delight along the way.

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