Empowered Believers [Hardcover]

This thesis by Gonzalo Haya-Prats, written in the Catholic interpretive tradition under the supervision of Johannine scholar Ignace de la Potterie at the Gregorian University in Rome, reflects a faith tradition that historically remained open to the miraculous and resisted regulations on activities of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts. Accordingly, Haya-Prats interprets the workings of the Spirit from a perspective of narrative sensitivity. He is deliberately diligent to exercise due care so as not to obscure narrative flow and connectivity, despite any ecclesial or interpretive precedents that might be of influence to the contrary. His exegetical method is to let the original meaning be discerned and discovered according to the author's intention as closely as possible. With this sound interpretive approach Haya-Prats achieves a remarkable degree of freshness and insightful vision that all readers of Luke-Acts will welcome. Students and scholars alike should find this timely and thoughtful thesis to be a valuable and long-lasting contribution to New Testament studies. This English edition is made more accessible by including translations of all contemporary foreign languages, and editor Paul Elbert offers occasional explanatory notes that engage current scholarship relevant to Haya-Prats's presentation. Haya-Prats's influential work bursts with thought-provoking insights for Lukan exegesis and theology, some now familiar and others unexpected, always with a sensitivity to the larger context of early Christianity. The cooperation of Catholic and Pentecostal scholarship in its current production offers a welcome model of ecumenicity. --Craig Keener, Palmer Theological Seminary I welcome with great joy the English translation of Haya-Prats's Empowered Believers, a thorough study of Luke's understanding of the Holy Spirit. The author mines Luke's rich vocabulary extracting deep meaning. He lets Luke speak for himself and refuses to force Luke-Acts into an artifl3$