Overview

This book analyzes Stephen's perfection, both in terms of rhetorical fittingness, and Christian tradition concerning the significance of his dying forgiveness prayer. It questions the event's historicity, underscores Acts' rhetorical violence, and reads Acts against narratives of the martyrdom of James as a means to a richer history of early Jewish-Christian relations.

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9780199924653

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<br> The big circle of her argument takes up the problems of normatively seeing ourselves as <br>innocent victims, of sanctifying violence, and, specifically, of narrating violent deeds of <br>others as justification for violence. Any who are not uncomfortable about one or more of <br>these issues are not listening. . . . Perfect Martyr is a scholarly book that also faces pressing contemporary issues. --Review of Biblical Literature (reviewed by Richard Pervo, author ACTS: A Commentary)<p><br> Seldom have I learned so much from a book and simultaneously dissented so much. The <br>book is a pearl of research, thoroughly and astutely annotated. Matthews makes the best <br>case I have read for a second-century anti-Marcionite setting for Acts. --Review of Biblical Literature (reviewed by Robert Brawley of McCormick Theological Seminary) <br><p><br> Theoretically sophisticated and historically grounded, Shelly Matthews' Perfect Martyr is the most compelling study ever produced of Stephen,

<br> The big circle of her argument takes up the problems of normatively seeing ourselves as <br>innocent victims, of sanctifying violence, and, specifically, of narrating violent deeds of <br>others as justification for violence. Any who are not uncomfortable about one or more of <br>these issues are not listening. . . . Perfect Martyr is a scholarly book that also faces pressing contemporary issues. --Review of Biblical Literature (reviewed by Richard Pervo, author ACTS: A Commentary)<p><br> Seldom have I learned so much from a book and simultaneously dissented so much. The <br>book is a pearl of research, thoroughly and astutely annotated. Matthews makes the best <br>case I have read for a second-century anti-Marcionite setting for Acts. --Review of Biblical Literature (reviewed by Robert Brawley of McCormick Theological Seminary) <br><p><br> Theoretically sophisticated and historically grounded, Shelly Matthews' Perfect Martyr is the most compelling study ever produced of Stephen, Christianity's first martyr. More than that, it exposes the ideological investments of the author Luke who establishes his Christian self-identity at the expense of the fictitious Other, the fabricated figure of the violent Jew. <br>--Bart D. Ehrman, James A. Gray Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill <br><p><br> Building upon her earlier ground-breaking study of women in the Lukan narrative, here Shelly Matthews pushes the envelope even further. Through a detailed study of the texts and traditions related to Stephen, she shows how early Christian self-definition is predicated on the disfiguration of the other. One will not think about early Christian constructions of and interactions with Judaism in the same way after encountering such thoughtful and engaging analysis. <br>--Todd Penner, author of In Praise of Christian Origins: Stephen and the Hellenists in Lukan Apologetic Historiography<br><p><br> Perfect Martyr is an innovative and utterly persua

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Associate Professor of Religion, Dorothy and B.H. Peace Chair in Religion, Furman University

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