Genre of Acts

This whole post has beeen spurred by my use of the Literary Typing section in Logos Bible Software. It is so useful but poses so many questions. I am trying to understand the genre of Acts. Some say it is history, others say biography. Yet others say Acts is a theological treaty. I read parts of David Aune's The New Testament in Its Literary Environment as well as several commentaries (NIC, WBC, NAC and Story of God commentary). How can parts of Acts of the Apostles be a prayer when other parts can be a discourse? How can Luke be part one and Acts be part 2 of a whole combined story? Can someone point me towards a good treatment of this topic?

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MJ. Smith

Have you read a basic introduction to genre - one from the discourse/pragmatics linguistic perspective and one from the literary perspective? I would start there before trying to answer your question. Also, read the two manuals/glossaries Logos provides on the topic.

Christian Alexander

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1278977#Comment_1278977

Have you read a basic introduction to genre - one from the discourse/pragmatics linguistic perspective and one from the literary perspective?

No I have not. What sources would you suggest?

Also, read the two manuals/glossaries Logos provides on the topic.

I cannot find titles of these manuals. Do you have them handy?

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1278978#Comment_1278978

What sources would you suggest?

For linguistics, I recommend the Longacre book referenced in the documentation. For literature, it is outside my range of knowledge ... look in your local library, college library, or Amazon.

I cannot find titles of these manuals. Do you have them handy?

I've already posted them in one of the three threads you have asked for them on. But if you screen your library to show only types manual and glossary you should be able to find them yourself.

Christian Alexander

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1278983#Comment_1278983

I did not know you could "screen" your Logos library. I did some searching. That helps a lot. Thanks

David McClister

Gregory Sterling, Shaping the Past to Define the Present: Luke-Acts and Apologetic Historiography answers your question.

Christian Alexander

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1279419#Comment_1279419

Thanks David and MJ.

Rosie Perera

How can parts of Acts of the Apostles be a prayer when other parts can be a discourse?

Easy. There could be a prayer in the middle of a discourse. There are plenty of examples of mixtures of literary genre together in one biblical book. For example, Hezekiah's prayer in 2 Kings 19:15–19. The books of 1 & 2 Kings are predominantly history, but there is the report of Hezekiah having prayed a particularly important prayer right in the middle of that narrative.

How can Luke be part one and Acts be part 2 of a whole combined story?

Plenty of stories are continued over two (or more) volumes. Think of The Lord of the Rings, for example. The book of Luke tells the story from the time of Jesus' birth until his Ascension. The book of Acts continues the story from there and begins with the line "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven...." (In case it's not clear, Theophilus is the name of the person the author of Acts is writing this book for, not the name of the "former book".) It is widely assumed that Luke is the same author who wrote Acts and the book of Luke, and that the Book of Luke is this "former book" he mentions in Acts. So Acts is the 2nd volume of a continuous story. (Yes, in the arrangement of the New Testament, the Book of John is interposed between Luke and Acts, but that does not invalidate the fact that the story begun in Luke continues in Acts.) Does that help makes sense of how this can be? Do you still have questions?

I did not know you could "screen" your Logos library. I did some searching. That helps a lot. Thanks

It is not typically called "screening" your Library. The proper term is "filtering". You can read more about it here: https://wiki.logos.com/Library#Filtering_resources_in_your_Library