Acts Blog 1

The early church and many scholars today believe that Luke wrote Acts which is the sequel to the Gospel of Luke. In fact, it is very obvious that whoever wrote Luke also wrote Acts because the same themes (prayer and the Spirit) are found in both. Also, Theophilus is again addressed “In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.” (Acts 1:1-2 NRSV). The genre of Acts is a histography, like Luke is.
Acts is thought to have been written before 64AD because the narrative cuts off before Paul’s death. Scholars sometimes lean toward the date of Acts being after 70 AD because of Luke 21 where Jesus talks about the destruction of the Temple. Also, some people think that Acts ends before Paul’s death simply for literary reasons (Keener 321).
There are many purposes that are found in Acts. The first is pastoral guidance, “Luke presumably a Gentile Christian, helps his communities to know how to remain faithful to tradition while reinterpreting it for their new circumstances” (Reid 1953). There are scholars who think another purpose of Acts was that it was written to act as a “court brief on Paul’s behalf” (Keener 321). Yet another thought on the purpose of Acts is that Christians wanted to find coherence between Judaism and Christianity because Christianity was a “young religion.” Yet at the same time, Christianity still uses the Old Testament.
Act’s message is that “prayer, signs and wonders, the Spirit, and world evangelism” (Keener 321) are extremely important and should remain important to Christians. Barbara E. Reid, in her intro to Acts in the New Interpreter’s Study Bible, also adds “meals and inclusive table practices, concern for the poor and the use of riches, fulfillment of Scripture, and witnessing” (1954) to the list of messages. It could be easily said that all of this is what Acts’ message is.
One of the biggest things that popped out at me as I read through Acts this time goes along with class discussion on October 20, 2008 in my New Testament class. The question was “why is the God of the Old Testament seemingly so different from the God of the New Testament?” During the past few months I have restarted reading through the Bible from Genesis through. I was on several missions as I read. Two of them will be found in this blog.
The first was that I wanted to know if God wanted me to go to the University of Idaho or Colorado Christian University and I was taking a study that said that the answer would be found in Scripture and confirmed everywhere else. While I knew that Genesis 51:8 would not say “Theresa, go to [insert school God wants me to go to here], thus sayeth the LORD” (By the way, don’t look up Genesis 51, you will not find it), I knew that the text was living and God could still communicate “Colorado” or “out of your mind” through His Word. I felt that God wanted me to start in Genesis. Yes, at first I complained. Not because I did not want to read Genesis, but I had seen a pattern every time I had begun in Genesis when reading the Old Testament. I would read through those fifty chapters no problem and then go on to Exodus and have a lot of good times reading through chapter 21. Come chapter 22, I got tired of the lack of narration and would switch back to the New Testament where I could at least understand the laws. God seemed extremely determined with His answer of “Begin in Genesis” so I did. Maybe someday you will find out the rest of this story. It has nothing to do with Acts so I am going to move on.
The second reason was because I wanted to make sure that the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. Do you know what I have found? I have found a God who desires us so strongly that He is grieved when we turn away. I found a God who is full of compassion, constantly forgiving people. Yeah, there are wars and God does have wrath, but I also see the God who is jealous. This same God who today wants our hearts over heartless worship is the same God who wanted Israel’s heart and not heartless sacrifices.
One morning while reading Jeremiah, I got a little frustrated. God had told Jeremiah to do something strange. Because I cannot find the reference, I will not get too specific. Anyway, I was asking God why He asked people to do “odd” things like that. At the same time, I was preparing myself to take the midterm in my New Testament class. I reached for my favorite necklace and I felt like God was challenging my motives for wearing the necklace on that day. I pulled back quickly. “Lord, I will not wear it if You think I am not wearing it to remember You.” I sat looking at the necklace then asked, “What am I supposed to do? In tests, I fidget. You know that about me. I tend to reach for a necklace while I answer questions. It helps me think. What should I do?” I felt that God said that I could wear any other necklace. He suggested a different cross necklace that I had not worn in a few days. I picked that one up and put it on. Then God seemed to remind me of what I was reading in Jeremiah. I am sure that He asked me why I would listen to such an odd request. I laughed. I answered Him, “I did it because I love you.” Then I wondered if that was why people like Jeremiah listened to “odd” requests.
See, it is the same God!
I also thank God for my faith where it is today. I went through stages of doubt that the Bible contradicted. When James 1 says that God does not have a shifting shadow, I questioned that because God seems to constantly pour out wrath in the Old Testament.
Call me crazy, but Yahweh who told the Israelite in the desert how to live and gave the laws to Moses is the same Yahweh who stopped Paul from persecuting the Christians (who had not yet been called Christians). That is the same Yahweh who is full of love that He is love (1 John 4:8).
What does all of this have to do with Acts? Well, there was a dispute among the Jews about Gentiles needing to be circumcised. Peter said “‘And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” (Acts 11:15-17 NRSV). Peter says this after being questioned why he was with uncircumcised men and why he had eaten with them. God did not hold back the Holy Spirit to Cornelius even though he was not circumcised. Acts 10:44-45 says, “While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.” God had overlooked that Cornelius was a Gentile. Strange is it not? No, it is not. Look back at Matthew 1 and see that there are Gentiles in Jesus’ lineage. There is Rahab and Ruth. Those two women are in Old Testament stories where the same God reigns.

WORKES CITED
Keener, Craig S. “Acts,” Pages 320-406 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.

Reid, Barbara E.. “The Acts of the Apostles.” Pages 1953-1954 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.