The Genre of Acts and Collected Biography

Uses genre theory to explore the composition and purpose of Acts, concluding that it is a work of collected biography.

Adams applies ancient and modern genre theory to provide an insightful reading of the composition and purpose of the Acts of the Apostles, and to propose that it is a work of collected biography, rather than history. This nuanced study will interest those studying the New Testament and ancient literature.It is widely accepted by New Testament scholars that the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles probably originated as two parts of one work by a single author. In spite of this, the books have been assigned to very different genres: Luke is traditionally viewed as a biography of Jesus, and Acts as a history of the early church. Comparing in detail the structure and content of Acts with the formal features of history, novel, epic and biography, Sean A. Adams challenges this division. Applying both ancient and modern genre theory, he argues that the best genre parallel for the Acts of the Apostles is in fact collected biography. Offering a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of genre theory, along with an insightful argument regarding the composition and purpose of Acts, this book will be of interest to those studying the New Testament, Acts, genre theory and ancient literature.