Some observations on Acts 10-12, stimulated by student papers on the subject. First, the narrative pattern in these chapters is intriguing. Chapter 10 and most of 11 are about Peter and Cornelius, but then Peter’s story is interrupted in 11:19 by the reference to the Christians who end up in . . . . Continue Reading »
In a superb Biblical Horizons lecture, Jeff Meyers pointed out that Jerusalem’s Jews become more intensely hostily to the gospel through the course of Acts. Priests and the council attack the apostles at the beginning, but let them go with a warning. Finally, they join to stone Stephen, and . . . . Continue Reading »
We miss some of the radical force of Peter’s declaration in Acts 10:28 if we don’t keep OT distinctions of holiness and purity in mind. They are not the same category. Holiness is the opposite of common, pure the opposite of impure or unclean. One can be pure without being holy; . . . . Continue Reading »
When Peter speaks to the men from Cornelius, he reminds them that for Jews it is unlawful to “join” or “come to” men from any other nation. Both verbs are significant. “Join” can have a political sense; to join a community is to become a polites , citizen, of . . . . Continue Reading »
Luke uses the terminology of “salvation” in a variety of ways, but Joel Green has argued that forgiveness, release, rescue, and healign are all directed toward the one end of creating “a christocentric community of God’s people.” The church is the end of God’s . . . . Continue Reading »
At His death, Jesus “delivers” or “hands over” ( paradidomi ) His Spirit (John 19:30). The Spirit that was with Jesus flows to others because of His death. The same thing happened to the Spirit-filled Stephen. No one can overcome the wisdom and Spirit with which he speaks . . . . Continue Reading »
When Paul’s nephew learns about the plot to kill Paul in Jerusalem, he goes to the chiliarch, who gathers 200 Roman soldiers, seventty horsemen and two hundred spearmen for a nighttime escape (Acts 23:12-23). This is one of several exodus events in the life of Paul, and an especially . . . . Continue Reading »
Luke is often opposed (as in Badiou) as a pro-Roman conservative over against the radical Paul. Rowe suggests an alternative, and far more convincing, reading of the politics of Acts: “On the one hand, Luke narrates the movement of the Christian mission into the gentile world as a collision . . . . Continue Reading »
“Be my witness” - so says Jesus to Paul. Witness of what? Paul never met Jesus in the flesh, didn’t see the crucifixion, didn’t go to the empty tomb. Jesus came to Him in a flash of light and a voice. Is that it? Kavin Rowe ( World Upside Down: Reading Acts in the . . . . Continue Reading »
Traveling by sea to Rome, Paul encounters a storm, plunges into the sea and then arrives at Malta. He is an unreluctant Jonah, cross the sea westward to call a Gentile empire to repentance. But why the unusually detailed travelogue in Acts 27? Sidon, Cyprus, Cilicia, Pamphylia, Myra in . . . . Continue Reading »
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