This thesis explores the emerging phenomenon of the charismatic apostolate (CA) within various Christian communities. It aims to make sense of contemporary CAs from a theological and historical perspective by incorporating historical investigation, theological analysis and biblical exegesis. The thesis describes the current situation with regard to CAs in the USA and UK; traces its history within the Church catholic and amongst the theological reflection of the Christian churches; identifies current trends and issues; offers detailed descriptions of CAs being propagated by influential teachers; explains the reasons for a widespread growth of CAs across a broad church spectrum; critically engages with the exegetical debates that still surround it; offers both a theological and ecclesiological critique of popular modern portrayals of CAs, and provides an analysis of potential future trajectories of the CA within the British churches. This thesis defends the position that forms of the CA are a legitimate theological development enjoying biblical support which should be welcomed by the Church catholic, and argues that the ongoing development of the CA needs to be ecumenically sensitive to alternative understandings of apostleship as well as historic orders to avoid having a negative impact on the flourishing of the universal church.

By examining the speeches of opponents, the work attempts to investigate what role they play in the unfolding narrative of Luke’s second volume.  In addition, the thesis attempts to probe Luke’s historiographic horizon by comparing his use of the speeches of opponents to that of other instances in biblical and Second Temple narrative literature. An introductory chapter proposes that the category of the “opponent” or “outsider” is a helpful grid through which to view the manner in which an author builds and strengthens the identity of a community in a historical document. Chapter two reviews research on the speeches of Acts from F. C. Baur to the present.  It is observed that the majority of studies on the speeches have concentrated on matters of historicity and theology. With the work of Martin Dibelius, it is argued that a fresh avenue of research on the speeches was opened, whereby a shift in scholarship slowly began to take place. Rather than focusing exclusively on the historicity of the discourses, scholars began to concentrate on the function of the speeches in Acts as a whole as well as on the historiographic orientation of Acts provided by the speeches. Chapters three to six are exegetical investigations of the speeches of opponents in Acts. Chapter seven examines the speeches of the opponents of Israel in selected Hebrew and Second Temple Jewish narrative literature. The dissertation draws the following conclusions: <i>Luke used the speeches of opponents as one of the channels through which to convey his own ideology</i>.  This literary technique was built upon a theological/historiographical foundation that adhered to the following logic: <i>if God’s control over the history of the Jesus movement was such that even the enemy – unwittingly – was helping in its propagation, then it truly must be a movement sanctioned by God.  </i> The speeches of non-Christians in Acts, therefore, are used as a <i>legitimating</i> factor for its readers.

The book of Acts is a missional text, containing many different missionary episodes and concepts. This work argues that Luke's primary purpose in writing Acts is to inspire and equip the church of his day for effective mission. It takes the form of a detailed linguistic and narrative analysis of key words, phrases, and missional passages in Acts. These are examined in the framework of four overlapping conceptual categories: missional stimuli, structures, strategies, and suffering. Acts' missional stimuli are the motivators and the power sources for mission. Acts' missional structures are the foundational physical and social building blocks for successful mission. Acts' missional strategies articulate how the worldwide mission of Jesus is to be carried out. Acts' missional suffering is practical instruction about how to respond to persecution and imprisonment when a missionary experiences it. Luke expresses all of these, with the goal of calling the church to missional action, that his readers might be Christ's witnesses, even to the ends of the earth.

This Edition and Study of the Acts of the Apostles was undertaken with a view to throwing some fresh light on the problems, linguistic and other, raised by the Anglo-Norman Bible. Although quite often mentioned in books dealing with mediaeval biblical translations, this version had not been studied closely in any completed work, and yet seemed to deserve attention. The existence in Paris of two manuscripts, B.N. fr. 1 and 9562, containing Acts in this, version, at once indicated this section for study, since it restricted the main task of research on the original manuscripts to a single place, while yet providing two manuscripts for comparison.

Le traité Péri Parrhêsias (PHerc. 1471) de Philodème de Gadara représente une source majeure pour la compréhension de la parrhêsia épicurienne. Malgré l’état fort dégradé du papyrus, cependant contrebalancé par les ébauches d’éditions transmises par Henry, l’éditeur actuel, et par les résultats de la recherche bibliologique effectuée par White, une interprétation thématique du manuel Péri Parrhêsias, Sur la franchise, a été rendue possible, de telle sorte qu’elle peut désormais servir de fondement pour examiner la place de la parrhêsia dans les Actes des apôtres. En comparant la manière dont Luc utilise la parrhêsia avec celle de Philodème, il apparaît que la première s’appuie sur la seconde, tous les thèmes philodémiens étant présents dans quasiment toutes les péricopes lucaniennes. Néanmoins, Luc adapte la parrhêsia à son propre projet narratif, tout en lui donnant un rôle stratégique pour décrire l’expansion de l’évangile jusqu’aux extrémités de la terre. / The Peri Parrhêsias treatise (PHerc. 1471) of Philodemus of Gadara represents a major source for the comprehension of Epicurean parrhêsia. In spite of the extremely deteriorated condition of the papyrus, nevertheless compensated by the draft editions transmitted by the current editor, Henry, and by the results of the bibliological research effectuated by White, a thematic interpretation of the manuel Peri Parrhêsias, On frankness, has been made possible, in such a way as to provide henceforth a basis to examine the role of parrhêsia in the Acts of the Apostles. When comparing the manner in which Luke employs parrhêsia with that of Philodemus, it is apparent that the first relies on the latter, all of the Philodemus themes being present in practically all of the Lucan pericopae. However, Luke adapts the parrhêsia to his own narrative project, all while giving it a strategic role in describing the expansion of the Gospel unto the end.