MEDIA ADVISORY, Nov. 15 /
Christian Newswire/ -- Four and a half years in the making, the Gonzalo Haya-Prats Translation Project--"Empowered Believers: The Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts"--is now completed. The Foundation for Pentecostal Scholarship began the project in 2006 after contracting with Dr. Haya-Prats and the translator Dr. Scott A. Ellington. The book will debut this November at the 2010 conferences of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society for Biblical Studies in Atlanta.
In 1967, two scholars, unbeknownst to each other, were simultaneously working on opposing theses of Spirit-baptism, James Dunn in England, the other in Rome. Haya-Prats' "The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles," completed at Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana (Rome), presents the Catholic/Pentecostal thesis. Unfortunately, only Dunn's was written and published in English. Nevertheless, Haya-Prats' work, though being unavailable in English, became a classic in studies related to the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts and is widely referenced by New Testament scholars.
For Catholic and Pentecostal scholars, Haya-Prats' dissertation became a foundational work, whereas for Protestants, it became a substantial force to be reckoned with. Lukan scholar Robert Menzies interacted with Haya-Prats extensively in "Empowered for Witness," as did Dr. Max Turner, Dr. Matthias Wenk, and others, in their own dissertations and further works. The volume is updated by Lukan scholar Paul Elbert, who offers occasional notes which engage current scholarship relevant to Haya-Prats' presentation. This English version is made more accessible by including translations of all contemporary foreign languages.
"Empowered Believers," written in the Catholic interpretive tradition under the supervision of 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 diligent to exercise care to maintain narrative flow and connectivity, despite any ecclesial or interpretive precedents which might be of influence to the contrary. His exegetical method is to let the original meaning be discovered according to the author's intention as closely as possible. With this sound interpretive approach Haya-Prats achieves a remarkable degree of insightful vision that all readers of Luke-Acts will welcome.
A quality paperback, 316 pages, it retails for $35. Copies are available from The Foundation; 1030 Atherton Lane; Woodstock, GA 30189. See the
Foundation's Website for further details.
