Proclaiming The Kerygma In Athens

Monique Cuany seeks to answer two major questions which still divide and puzzle commentators with respect to the speech in Athens in Acts 17:16-34: What is the relationship between the speech's main part and its 'Christian conclusion'? And what is the relationship between the speech's message and Greek philosophy? Through an in-depth analysis of the religious and philosophical context alluded to in Acts 17 and a careful verse by verse examination of the speech, the author proposes a new answer to both of these questions. She suggests that the so-called Christian appendix, which has long seemed totally disconnected from the rest of the speech and lacking historical verisimilitude in light of the audience depicted by the narrative, is actually the climax of the argument of the speech and would have been more easily understood by a Greek audience than has been thought in the past.

This book was written with three purposes in mind. First is the ministry, that is, pastors and church leaders facing crises for the church in mission. This book will help them guide and mentor people through being missional in times of crisis. It will help pastors, leaders, and students in developing mission strategies for ministry in times of crisis. Second, this book was written to provide a better understanding of the early church as a model for overcoming crises. It matures the concept of the church and its mission in the present, contributing to new mission strategies for the contemporary church in mission, facing crises. The third purpose is personal. This book was written because of Augusto Rodríguez’s experience as a pastor during the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, something unlike anything he had faced in thirty years in the ministry. He also wrote this book to coach/mentor other pastors and leaders going through an experience like his and to present the insights learned from the study of the early church in Acts of the Apostles, examining the ways they overcame different crises that could apply to the contemporary church in mission.

Despite all scientific doubts regarding Acts, Luke’s writing was and still is an extremely important source for understanding the man who contributed the most (directly or indirectly) to the canon of the New Testament. Luke is the first (known to us) person who recognized the importance of Paul’s life and his mission activities, as well as Paul’s innovative interpretation of the whole Jewish tradition (that can be compared only with Copernicus’ statement) that resulted in a totally new concept of the relationship between mankind and God, where the center of the relationship is Jesus of Nazareth, the Resurrected Messiah for both Jews and Gentiles. Although Luke “did not save Paul for us” because Paul produced many writings on his own, he did however give us a very important look at Paul that balanced the rejection of Paul as the Jewish teacher with his indispensable contribution to transferring the Jewish concept of God into the Hellenistic religions’ systems. Without the Acts of the Apostles, we would have to create a picture of Paul based on his writings, which is quite a challenging task. If the letters of Paul gave us some accounts about Paul’s attitude and thoughts in particular situations, then Luke’s Acts supplies this particular perspective with a deeper evaluation of Paul by a second witness. Luke definitely wants to present to the reader(s) “his Paul”, who does not necessarily have to be unlike “the historical Paul”.

In Catholic Teaching on Homosexuality: New Paths to Understanding, Rev. Louis Cameli, nationally renowned pastoral leader and priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, presents the Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality with insight, new possibilities for spiritual care, and a vision for greater hospitality within the Church. Is the sexuality of homosexually inclined persons a blessing or a curse? Does it lead a person to God or away from God? Can a homosexual person be a good Catholic? With humility and pastoral sensitivity, Cameli offers hope to the many who feel alienated from the Church because of these questions. Taking his cue from Pope Benedict’s call to “express the teaching pastorally, theologically, and intellectually in the context of today’s studies of sexuality and anthropology,” he provides a deeper understanding of the Church’s theological language and stresses that while the Church is a teacher, it must also be a learner.

Winner of a first-place award for English translation editions from The Catholic Media Association. Teachings for an Unbelieving World is a newly discovered work written by St. John Paul II—then Archbishop Karol Wojtyła of Kraków—in the years just after Vatican II. He uses St. Paul’s sermon to the people of Athens in Acts 17 as a framework for articulating the faith in a culture of skepticism and unbelief. These thirteen brief reflections provide compelling teaching for Catholics in today’s post-Christian world and give fresh insight into JPII’s pontificate. This is the first English-language publication of this important work. St. John Paul II composed these thirteen reflections at a unique point of convergence in history—the closing of Vatican II in 1965 and the 1966 observance of one thousand years of Christianity in Poland. Teachings for an Unbelieving World is an extended meditation on Acts 17 where Paul speaks to the cultural elite of Athens after he observed an altar of an unknown god in the city. Quoting from both the Bible and the documents of Vatican II, John Paul II draws timely wisdom from the apostle’s mission to bring the truth of the Gospel to a worldly culture of sophistication and disbelief, one not unlike our own. The future pope reveals Paul’s memorable encounter as an enduring framework to boldly present the core truths of Catholic faith to those living under Poland’s communist regime. In so doing, JPII demonstrates how relevant Paul’s words are today and equips us to meet the challenges of proclaiming the faith in our times. Teachings for an Unbelieving World affirms the continuity of Catholic faith about: humanity’s place in God’s creation; our search for meaning, truth, and freedom; addressing a culture of unbelief; the gift of redemption in Jesus Christ; the grace of the Holy Spirit; the role of the Church in the world; the power of the Eucharist; the redemptive and self-giving nature of human love; and the importance of prayer.

The aim of this study is to show that the Evangelists, to an extent hitherto unrecognized, wrote narratives which set out to distinguish Jesus's time from their own. Such an effort, Professor Lemcio explains, went beyond their merely putting verbs in past tenses and dividing their accounts into pre- and post-resurrection periods. Rather, they took care that terminology appropriate to the Easter appearances did not appear beforehand, and that vocabulary used prior to Easter fell by the wayside afterwards. The author shows that words common to both eras bear a different nuance in each, and that the idiom used is seen to suit the time. These are not routine or incidental expressions, but reveal what Jesus the protaganist and the Evangelists as narrators believed about the Gospel, the Christ, the messianic task, and the nature of salvation. This much becomes apparent from a study of the internal evidence, and by next turning to data outside the Gospels, the author attempts to show how biographical and historical writings of the ancient world may prove useful in separate efforts to reconstruct the course of Jesus's life. Lemcio shows how expectations for idiomatic and linguistic verisimilitude in Graeco-Roman historical and biographical writing were met and often exceeded by the Evangelists. His study thus makes a valuable contribution towards our understanding of the literary art of the Gospel narratives, and highlights a literary sensitivity on their writers' part which has failed to receive the critical attention it deserves.

The New Testament Writings is a simple and direct introduction to the New Testament. Christians have a need and desire to comprehend the literature on which their faith is based. James Efird's book serves this need very well. He presents the New Testament clearly and concisely in nontechnical language. This is a valuable resource for education, growth, and faith.

In The Function of the Speeches in the Acts of the Apostles, interrelations of the speeches are analyzed in two major groups: the group of topic speeches, and the group of structural speeches.