This collection honors the scholarly achievements of Richard I. Pervo. At different speeds and with notable variation in their distance from the center, each essay travels in the orbit of canonical Acts. The hope is that the volume fosters conversation, with delight along the way.
The primary impetus of this collection of essays on canonical and non-canonical Acts is to honor the scholarly achievements of Richard I. Pervo. Pervo pioneered the view that canonical Acts is comparable to ancient fiction, insofar as the various episodes about Peter, Paul and the other apostles were composed to entertain, even as they inform. In the spirit of this work, contributors to this volume do not sit idly by. Prodding and provoking readers, these new and often exploratory essays travel at different speeds and with notable variation from center within the broad orbit of canonical Acts. The hope is that this volume will foster serious conversation of the things discussed, with no small measure of delight along
the way.
Table of contents:
Clare K. Rothschild: Introduction
I. Essays Harold W. Attridge: Paul and Pentheus: What's in a Possible Allusion -
Clayton N. Jefford: Rethinking the Relationship of Acts and the Didache -
Amy-Jill Levine: Tabitha/Dorcas, Spinning Off Cultural Criticism -
Dennis R. MacDonald: The Son of Man in Acts 7:56 and His Origin in the Lost Gospel -
Troy W. Martin: Peter and the Expansion of Early Christianity in the Letters of Acts 15:23-29 and First Peter -
Shelly Matthews: Fleshly Resurrection, Wifely Submission, and the Myth of the Primal Androgyne: The Link between Luke 24:39 and Ephesians 5:30 -
David Moessner: A Strange 'New Dish' Called Acts -
Mikeal C. Parsons: The Interrelationship of Friendship, Hospitality, and Philanthropy in Luke's Writings -
Mark Reasoner: The Open Stage of Luke and Acts -
Clare K. Rothschild: Perfect Martyr? Dangerous Material in the Stoning of Stephen -
Melissa Harl Sellew: James and the Rejection of Apostolic Authority in the
Gospel of Thomas -
Janet E. Spittler: Joking and Play in the Acts of John -
Angela Standhartinger: Better Ending: Paul at the Roman Colonia Philippi in Acts 16
II. Complete Bibliography: Richard I. Pervo 
