The Conclusion of Luke–Acts

"The ending of Acts has long perplexed students of the Lukan narrative. Why this abruptness? Why not a more satisfying sense of closure for Luke's literary project? In concert with recent studies that find in Acts a defense of Paul, Charles Puskas urges that, with Acts 28:16-31, Luke makes a strong literary-theological case supporting Paul as one who carries on the work of Jesus. What is more, in this well-documented study he presses for the importance of the witness of Acts for the life and mission of the church that continues beyond its pages."

-Joel B. Green, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Fuller Theological Seminary



"The ending of Acts has puzzled its readers at least since Chrysostom, who observed that the conclusion of Acts 'leaves the hearer thirsty'! (Hom. Act. 15). When Charles Puskas first tackled the issues surrounding Acts 28 in his 1980 dissertation, literary studies of the New Testament were in their infancy; since then a number of significant interpreters have tackled the problems posed by the final chapter of Acts. In this thoroughly revised and updated monograph, Puskas takes into account all those studies subsequent to his first work and renews his own exploration of the literary patterns and theological themes which culminate in the final chapter of Acts. The results are rewarding, and one would be hard pressed to find a surer guide to the exegetical maze that is Acts 28. Puskas' proposals regarding the literary structure and theological themes of Acts 28 are judicious and, on the whole, compelling and convincing. Puskas is to be thanked for once again engaging one of the most important chapters, not only in Luke and Acts, but in the whole of the New Testament, and Wipf and Stock is to be commended for making this slim, handsome volume available to a wider audience."

- Mikeal C. Parsons is Kidd L. and Buna Hitchcock Macon Chair in Religion, Baylor University