Update: The first lecture has been rescheduled to Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. in 0016 Westbrook.

Carl Holladay, Charles Howard Candler Professor of New Testament at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, will speak on “Acts as Gospel: The Familiar and the Foreign” for the annual Kenneth W. Clark Lecture Series. The lectures will take place on Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. and on Feb. 18 at 12:20 p.m. in 0016 Westbrook at the Divinity School.

"Scholars have long debated whether Acts is best read as history, literature, or theology," says Holladay. "While each of these approaches recognizes distinctive dimensions of Acts, none of them fully captures its essentially kerygmatic quality. These lectures will explore Dibelius’s insight by examining how Acts functions as gospel. They will focus on Paul’s missionary preaching in Pisidian Antioch and Athens, and the ways in which his preaching as reported in Acts negotiates the hermeneutical distance between the familiar and the foreign."

Holladay's published works include four volumes of Fragments from Hellenistic Jewish Authors in the Society of Biblical Literature’s Texts and Translations series, a Commentary on First Corinthians, the commentary on Acts in Harper’s Bible Commentary, and numerous articles and reviews. He has also coauthored a widely used textbook titled Biblical Exegesis: A Beginner’s Handbook (3rd ed., 2007), and a multi-volume commentary for ministers titled Preaching Through the Christian Year. His most recent book is A Critical Introduction to the New Testament: Interpreting the Message and Meaning of Jesus Christ (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2005). He is working on A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament Library Series (Westminster/John Knox Press).

Established in 1984, the Kenneth Willis Clark Lectureship Fund honors the life and work of Reverend Professor Kenneth Willis Clark, a Divinity School faculty member for 36 years. Each year this fund enables the Divinity School to offer a distinguished program with special emphasis on New Testament studies and textual criticism.