Negotiating a new world view in Acts 1.8? A note on the expression ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς
Loading...
Date
Authors
Smit, Peter-Ben A.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Abstract
This article argues that the expression ‘to the end of the earth’ in Acts 1.8, while not referring to one specific geographical location, as has often been argued in contemporary scholarship on Acts, is best understood as a way of (re)ordering the world geographically and, therefore, ideologically. Drawing on Greco-Roman geographical and literary conventions, the article suggests that the author of Acts invites the work's readers to look at the world in a new way, with Jerusalem and the gospel emanating from it as its centre – and the rest, including Rome, as its ideological (and therefore geographical) periphery. In this way, Acts proceeds to renegotiate the ‘world-view’ of its readers in an intercultural and subversive way.
Description
Keywords
Acts of the apostles, Roman empire, Geography, Mission, Intercultural theology, Post-colonialism
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Smit, P-B 2017, 'Negotiating a new world view in Acts 1.8? A note on the expression ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς', New Testament Studies, vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 1-22.