Dale Grote
Published: 2020-04
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The Acts of the Apostles is an unjustly under-read text of the New Testament. Its story is by now old news. From its humble beginnings as a sect within Judaism, Christianity survived its first uncertain decades and emerged as one the most important world religions. Yet bypassing Acts because we know the ending misses out on the unfolding drama of the time. The first apostles struggled against the Jewish authorities and even quarreled among themselves, often with an acrimony that modern Christians find unsettling. We should think of the earliest decades of Christianity as a white hot crucible of conflict rather than a flower quietly unfolding and blooming. Putting this text in the hands of intermediate Latin students allows them to build on their years of study of a difficult language with a reading that is not only well within their grasp but is also of enduring importance.