April 6 2008

Acts

Luke draws attention also to the way the Holy Spirit promoted the unity of the Body. Notice how often he mentions being "in one accord." More than once the Church were in danger of being split but the Spirit brought them together. The world tends to disrupt, divide, and build barriers. The Holy Spirit broke down barriers as the Church prayed together, worked together, evangelized together, suffered together. Nature tends to disperse, scatter, and break down. It takes a higher energy to unite, and more wisdom and power to build up, than to tear down. Consequently, an important theme of The Acts of the Risen Lord Through the Holy Spirit is church building; the acts of the Risen Lord are carried forward by the believers as "a community of charismatic prophets" and by "the ministry of six charismatic prophets . . . Stephen, Philip, Barnabas, Agabus, Peter and Paul."

Acts

As I. Howard Marshall points out, it seems best to view the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts as "two parts of the one unified work." He points out that the prologues of the two books uphold this. So does the material in the Gospel and its ending. He notes especially that the prophetic elements in the Gospel point forward to Acts. Therefore, "Acts should be read in the light of the Gospel." In Luke, "conceived, empowered, and guided by the Holy Spirit, Jesus both embodies the Way and makes provision for others to follow in it, thereby fulfilling the divine plan." In Acts, believers "empowered by the Holy Spirit . . . bear an unstoppable, universal witness to Jesus by word and deed, thereby fulfilling the divine plan." Thus, Luke and Acts have the same genre "because Luke's term

diegesin

/narrative (Luke 1:1) applies to his entire two-volume history." This is confirmed further by parallel structure, both Luke and Acts having similar thematic elements. Also, Luke shows careful design in Acts when he "reports each of Paul's three evangelistic tours according to the same structure: (1) introductory episode(s); (2) a major report about one city; and (3) a series of summary reports."

Luke draws attention also to the way the Holy Spirit promoted the unity of the Body. Notice how often he mentions being "in one accord." More than once the Church were in danger of being split but the Spirit brought them together. The world tends to disrupt, divide, and build barriers. The Holy Spirit broke down barriers as the Church prayed together, worked together, evangelized together, suffered together. Nature tends to disperse, scatter, and break down. It takes a higher energy to unite, and more wisdom and power to build up, than to tear down. Consequently, an important theme of The Acts of the Risen Lord Through the Holy Spirit is church building; the acts of the Risen Lord are carried forward by the believers as "a community of charismatic prophets" and by "the ministry of six charismatic prophets . . . Stephen, Philip, Barnabas, Agabus, Peter and Paul."

Acts

Luke draws attention also to the way the Holy Spirit promoted the unity of the Body. Notice how often he mentions being "in one accord." More than once the Church were in danger of being split but the Spirit brought them together. The world tends to disrupt, divide, and build barriers. The Holy Spirit broke down barriers as the Church prayed together, worked together, evangelized together, suffered together. Nature tends to disperse, scatter, and break down. It takes a higher energy to unite, and more wisdom and power to build up, than to tear down. Consequently, an important theme of The Acts of the Risen Lord Through the Holy Spirit is church building; the acts of the Risen Lord are carried forward by the believers as "a community of charismatic prophets" and by "the ministry of six charismatic prophets . . . Stephen, Philip, Barnabas, Agabus, Peter and Paul."

Acts

As I. Howard Marshall points out, it seems best to view the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts as "two parts of the one unified work." He points out that the prologues of the two books uphold this. So does the material in the Gospel and its ending. He notes especially that the prophetic elements in the Gospel point forward to Acts. Therefore, "Acts should be read in the light of the Gospel." In Luke, "conceived, empowered, and guided by the Holy Spirit, Jesus both embodies the Way and makes provision for others to follow in it, thereby fulfilling the divine plan." In Acts, believers "empowered by the Holy Spirit . . . bear an unstoppable, universal witness to Jesus by word and deed, thereby fulfilling the divine plan." Thus, Luke and Acts have the same genre "because Luke's term

diegesin

/narrative (Luke 1:1) applies to his entire two-volume history." This is confirmed further by parallel structure, both Luke and Acts having similar thematic elements. Also, Luke shows careful design in Acts when he "reports each of Paul's three evangelistic tours according to the same structure: (1) introductory episode(s); (2) a major report about one city; and (3) a series of summary reports."

Acts 1:1

Second, the work of Jesus did not end when He ascended. As has already been noted, the Book of Acts shows what Jesus continued "to do and to teach" by the Holy Spirit through the Church (cf. 2:47; 9:5,10,34; 11:7-9; 12:11; 14:3; 16:14; 18:9-10; 22:8-21; 23:11; 26:23). "Jesus is at the centre of the narrative. . . . The Christianity of Acts is characterized by mission . . . , by the effectiveness and expansion of the word. . . . Its direction and success is dependent on and enabled by the Holy Spirit."