To the Ends of the Earth. The Book of Acts as Universal History in the context of Roman and Jewish Historiography during the Roman Imperial Era.

The topic of the research project is the conception of history outlined by Luke in The Acts of the Apostles. His conception is rooted on the one hand in the history of Israel, yet on the other hand it stands entirely within the context of Imperial era Hellenistic-Roman and Jewish historical writing.

Research

The project involves analyzing his geographic and ethnographic conception. By comparing it with contemporaneous historical schemas that made similar claims, the Book of Acts will be placed within its historical context and studied as the first work to exhibit a decidedly Christian view of history.

This Ph.D. thesis is being written within the program “Ancient Languages and Texts” (ALT) of the Berlin Graduate School of Ancient Studies (BerGSAS).