World Upside Down
As part of a course that I am teaching on Acts at Emmanuel Bible College, I assigned World Upside Down: Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age by C. Kavin Rowe.
While understanding this aspect of context is very important for studying the New Testament, it is especially important for understanding Acts. Acts is steeped in both Hellenistic and Roman culture. Rowe places Acts in this context and offers fresh readings of Acts in its original cultural milieu. For those interested in this type of interpretation, this is a great resource.
However, this is not an introductory book. The course I am teaching is a second year Bible College course and it does not fit with the level of the students. The book comes across as a PhD dissertation and it uses complex statements when simpler phrases would do. Readers should have a good background in New Testament before tackling this book.
If you are an advanced student or researcher, this book will be helpful. If you are teaching an introduction to Acts, there may be better text books available. I know that I will use a different one next time.
