Conversion PTI

The Apostolic Testimony: The Words of Life by Jim Orbe

Introduction to the Course

The Acts of the Apostles

The Acts of the Apostles is a continuation of the Gospel of Luke, as we can see from a comparison of the introduction of the two books, Luke 1:1-4 and Acts 1:1-2.

Acts shows how the apostles and the Church under their leadership continued the work of Christ.

There is a parallel pattern to both books.

Jesus begins his ministry with an anointing of the Holy Spirit in his baptism, Luke 3:21-22, Luke 4:1, Luke 4:14.

Jesus then goes out preaching (Luke 3:3; 4:44; 8:1; 9:6; 20:1) and doing works of power ( Luke 4:36; 5:17; 6:19; 8:46; 10:13; 19:37; 24:19).

Over time, he faces rising opposition, and undertakes a journey to Jerusalem where he is put to death.

Acts begins, proceeds, and concludes in the same way.

Pentecost: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit

Immediately following Peter’s preaching on Pentecost, Peter and John heal the man at the Beautiful Gate ( Acts 3:1-11 ). Acts frequently combines preaching and works of power in its narrative of the apostles’ work. ( Acts 2:43; 4:7, 33; 6:8; 14:3; 19:8, 11).

Opposition increases over time, from simple threats ( Acts 4:21) to imprisonment ( Acts 5:19), beatings ( Acts 5:40), and even martyrdom ( Acts 7:58 ff; 12:2).

It concludes with a journey to Rome, where Paul finally was put to death. Paul’s death is not narrated in Acts, though it is hinted at (Acts 20:25, 28; 21:10) in terms similar to those used of Jesus (Lk 18:32).

Relevance to the Topic of Conversion

Acts is an important text for the topic of conversion since it deals chiefly with evangelism and the growth of the Christian community. It offers a portrait of the life and message of the Church in its earliest days as a model of mission.

As we will see, to take the Book of Acts as a model, we have to read it carefully, and note how and where the situation in Acts is significantly different than our own.

To some degree, the experience of the founding generation of the Church is a unique one. So throughout the PTI, we will not only observe what goes on in Acts, but also ask how it can serve as a prototype for us and where it cannot.

A Topical Method

We will cover Acts topically. Rather than giving exhaustive treatment to a few passages, we will look at how Acts as a whole treats several topics.

We will take up in turn:

The apostles and their message

The apostles and the community they founded

The Holy Spirit and the apostolic community

The question of Jews, Gentiles, and salvation

This first talk: The message proclaimed by the apostles

The Apostolic Community: Brothers and Disciples of the Lord by Dave O’Connor

The Title of the Book (of the Acts of the Apostles) and the Centrality of the Apostles

Obviously the apostles are central to this book that is named after them.

Acts divides roughly into a first half (1-12) in which the main figure is Peter, and a second half (13-28) in which the main figure is Paul. This corresponds to the movement of the gospel from Jerusalem, to Judea, and to the ends of the earth (1:8).

Note that the very first “act of the apostles” is to fill up their number.

Acts 1:15-17, 23-26

The number of the apostles is clearly important. It’s not simply that their number was depleted and they needed more resource, or else why choose only one?

We find an explanation in what Luke records for us in his gospel (“volume 1,” so to speak).

Luke 22:29-30

The Twelve represent the people of Israel as the foundations stones of the people from every land and nation that the Lord is building. This aligns well with the fact that the gospel goes out from Jerusalem to the whole world, not just geographically, but according to the plan of God to prepare for the seed of Abraham by whom all the nations would bless themselves.

The apostles are witnesses to Jesus and his death & resurrection.

The Book of Acts is full of the language of witness and testimony. The apostles are witnesses to Christ’s life, work, words and especially his resurrection. This is why the one chosen to replace Judas had to be one who has “accompanied us … from the baptism of [Jesus by] John until the day when he was taken up from us.”

Acts 1:8

Acts 10:39-41

They witness that Jesus is the Christ and the Judge of all, bearing a unique and universal role ordained by God.

Acts 18:5

Acts 10:42

The apostles call upon and are attested and accompanied by other witnesses.

Acts 10:43

Acts 14:3

Acts 5:32

Acts 22:20

Why the emphasis on witness or testimony in this book?

1) The message entrusted to the apostles concerns an action of God in human history in which they personally participated, rather than a set of new religious insights arrived at through intuition, imagination, research or reasoning.

2) The main form in which this message is conveyed is the telling of a story that they personally experienced, rather than an abstract argument. The apostles are witnesses, not lawyers.

3) The apostle is a messenger pointing away from himself, to the One who sent him.

The Sermons of the Book of Acts

There are a number of speeches in the Book of Acts, given in various settings and to various categories of people.

It is worth noting the way that the message varies with the audience. In the next section we’ll look primarily at the way the message is formed for Gentiles and for Jews.

The Words of Life

The Message to the Gentiles (the preacher says much less because of the audience)

After Paul heals a cripple in Lystra, in the midst of a crowd of Gentiles, the crowds attempt to worship Paul and Barnabas, calling Barnabas “Zeus” and Paul “Hermes.”

Acts 14:14-17

Notice that they appeal to God as the one Creator, who in the past let the nations walk in their own ways, but, by implication, is now doing something different.

The witness called upon here is natural; it’s what they can see of God’s goodness in what he has provided in natural life.

Paul and Barnabas manage to stop the sacrifice, but later are undermined by Jews who oppose them.

We have a surprising long speech in Acts 17 in which Paul preaches in the historic Greek capital, Athens. This is probably highlighted as an example of Paul’s approach to cultured paganism. It takes place in the Agora, a place where educated men debated publicly.

Acts 17:16-17

Paul follows his normal strategy, which is to go first to the synagogue. But he also engages the pagans who happen to be around.

Note that Paul is outraged, or deeply distressed, or provoked. This speech, though it clearly speaks in terms that use points of contact with the culture, is not at all compromising.

There is no trace here of the idea that, after all, we all worship the same God in different forms.

Paul does not straightforwardly commend the Athenians for being religious – he acknowledges it, but he does not suggest that they’re on the right track by worshiping idols.

Acts 17:18

The Epicureans denied life in the soul after the death of the body, which was seen as grounds for release from fear of death. Since the gods do not intervene in human life, the goal of life is happiness, seen especially as physical comfort.

The Stoics saw a ruling reason in the universe and sought to live in harmony with it, while cultivating an indifference to material things.

(A historical side point: The accusation of preaching foreign divinities is the same that was made against Socrates.)

Acts 17:19-21

The Areopagus was originally where the ruling Council of the city met, and at this time was the place where, among other things, religious and educational matters were governed. Thus, this could either have been an “informal trial” or a gathering of the people who lived and worked in that area. Most likely it was a meeting of the court, but not an official trial. o Luke comments that the people were not really serious about the truth of the matters they discussed.