`A Postcolonial Reading of Acts of the Apostles' reads Acts as an early Christian story that accommodated and disrupted, almost simultaneously, both the Roman colonial and the native Jewish nationalistic discourses of power. It shows how the early Christians created a space for themselves in-between and beyond those two polar opposite spaces; and how they grew, expanded and eventually erased those spaces of power.

This reading of the Acts has a greater relevance for the present day ecclesia in the context of neocolonialism and religious fundamentalism. Thus, the implication part of the research tries to develop a postcolonial ecclesiology to address the issues that the schooling faces today. The research brings guidelines and practice for the third millennium marginalized ecclesia in India, to be studied through theological education.

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

Part 1
Delineating the Method

1. Mapping a Viable Postcolonial Theory in Reading the Acts of the Apostles

Part 2
The Discursive World of Acts

2. A Brief History of Roman Imperialism and Colonialism in the East

3. The Jewish World and Its Cultural Nationalism

Part 3
Reading of Acts from a Postcolonial Perspective

4. The Narrative that Centers on the Early Christian Witness in the Roman World in and Around Palestine (Acts 1-12)

5. The Narrative World that Centeres on the Early Christian Witness in the Greco-Roman World Outside Palestine (Acts 13-28)

6. A Postcolonial Reading of the Acts of the Apostles : Implication for Theological Education and Action in India

Conclusion

Appendices

Bibliography

Jose L., M.Th., D.Th. (New Testament), is Associate Professor of New Testament and Dean of Postgraduate Studies at New Theological College, Dehradun. He is also an ordained minister of Christian Evangelistic Assemblies, New Delhi.