A revised version of the author's doctoral dissertation, Prayer and Vindication in Luke-Acts presents a sustained examination of the theme of prayer throughout Luke's story of the life of Jesus and the birth of the church. As Holmås observes in his introductory chapter, the prominence of prayer in Luke and Acts has long been noted within Lukan scholarship. Yet prior treatments of this topic have struggled to uncover a clear and coherent conception of prayer within Lukan thought. Hence, the author seeks to move beyond this scholarly impasse by considering the theme of prayer in light of the overarching purposes of Luke's narrative work.

Holmås's analysis unfolds in three stages. First, part one of the book establishes a framework for the discussion by delineating the scope of the investigation and sketching the broad contours of Luke's historiographic agenda. Drawing upon the works of scholars such as Esler, Penner, Sterling, and Marguerat, Holmås finds two foundational concerns at work in Luke-Acts. On the one hand, as a historian, Luke offers his Christian readership an account of its origins, thereby legitimating the movement and renewing its awareness of its own identity. This legitimating project is accompanied by a second, pragmatic concern to educate the audience for faithful living in their present context. By depicting God at work in the lives of Jesus and the early leaders of the church, Luke provides examples to emulate and also demonstrates the faithfulness of God toward his people.

Having established a framework for his examination, Holmås then proceeds to consider the theme of prayer in Luke's Gospel. This second part of the book shows how the narrator's treatment of the theme of prayer is carefully crafted according to the temporal progression of Luke's Gospel. Thus, prayer features prominently in the infancy narrative, giving expression to Israel's hope for eschatological salvation. Once the public ministry of Jesus commences in Luke 3, the theme of prayer comes to center upon Jesus, as Jesus is the lone character in the body of Luke's Gospel that is actually depicted praying. Moreover, Jesus' instruction on prayer is recorded only in Luke's Gospel after his own habit of prayer has been firmly established before his disciples. In this way, Luke presents Jesus as the paradigmatic example of faithful prayer whose instruction on the matter is based upon his own pattern of prayer.

Part three extends the analysis by examining the theme of prayer in the book of Acts. Here the author underscores the devotion of the early Christian community to prayer, noting that the practice of prayer is closely connected to the growth and expansion of the community in Acts 1-12. This serves to confirm the divine favor that rests upon the movement. Likewise, in Acts 13-28, the theme of prayer helps to establish that the universalistic mission undertaken by Paul has been divinely sanctioned. Furthermore, the prayers of Paul in the latter half of Acts are depicted in such a way as to recall the pious Israelite expressions of faith at the beginning of Luke's Gospel, demonstrating the continuity between the burgeoning Christian movement and its Jewish ancestry. Finally, Holmås's work ends with a brief conclusion summarizing the author's central theses.

Among the many commendable features of this monograph, one must note Holmås's awareness of the narrative dynamics at work in Luke's presentation of the theme of prayer. By tracing instances of prayer throughout the plot of Luke and Acts, Holmås discovers a consistent pattern whereby the faithful prayers of God's people are met with a vindicating divine response. This pattern helps legitimate the Christian movement by showing its divine provenance, and the pattern also edifies Luke's audience with the assurance that their own perseverance in prayer will be vindicated by God. Hence, through his concern for the narrative development of Luke-Acts, Holmås has helpfully called attention to a feature of the theme of prayer that has previously been neglected within Lukan scholarship.

Occasionally, this true strength of Holmås's work also functions as one of its limitations. The sweeping scope of the analysis precludes a more sustained examination of individual passages. Each reference to prayer is treated in turn, and at times the reader is left with little sense of whether any particular passage is of special importance for the Lukan conception of prayer. For example, the same amount of space is devoted to Jesus's extensive instruction on prayer in Luke 18:1-8 (pp. 137-42) as the space devoted to the vague summary regarding the prayer habit of the early Jerusalem community in Acts 2:42 (pp. 174-79). Holmås wishes to avoid a reductionist approach that forces every prayer reference to conform to a single paradigm, but surely some passages are more central to the Lukan understanding of prayer than others. Some sense of proportion would lend coherence to Holmås's work by giving the reader a greater sense of what truly lies at the heart of Luke's perspective toward prayer.

Such criticisms aside, Prayer and Vindication in Luke-Acts might serve as a useful resource to those interested in the theme of prayer in Lukan thought. In particular, those preaching through Luke-Acts might treat this book as a reference work, consulting Holmås's commentary on specific passages and repackaging some of Holmås's narrative insights to tell the story of God's faithfulness in vindicating those first Christians who turned to him in prayer.

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