The Book Of Acts Flashcards
(45 cards)
Speaking tongues
Glossolalia
What is Pentecostalism?
It is a religious movement that gave rise to a number of Protestant churches in the United States.
It emphases the gifts of the Holy Spirit, specifically speaking tongues, super natural healing and other manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
Pentecostal Christians consider the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. No use of tabaco, alcohol and drugs.
They believe we need to be saved by Jesus in order to go to heaven.
Faith is an experience, not just a way of living.
They love to dance.
Acts 2:33 Peter says something that illustrates the spirituality of Pentecostalism.
And the stories of the book of acts illustrate this statement.
Exalted to the right hand of God, Jesus has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
How should we use the book of Acts?
The Pentecostal movement is growing rapidly. This brings responsibilities. We can use the book of Acts as an example to live by.
If we do exactly what they apostles did, the Pentecostal movement is as pure and powerful? I doubt it.
There was a rapid spread of the gospel in the first century and also during the Pentecostal revival in the 20th century. The Spirit is still working,
The book of acts marks a new beginning. How?
- it starts with the resurrection of Jesus > nothing will ever be the same
- no idolatry anymore
- the outpouring of the holy spirit sets everything into action
What were the initial titles of the book of acts?
- None
- The Acts of the Apostles
> better to have called it The Acts of the Holy Spirit, it is mentioned 51 times
What story does the Book of Acts tell us?
- it just gives brief summaries, important historical events like the growth of the Roman of Egyptian church are not even mentioned.
Chap 1-7 initial growth of the church
Chap 8-12 breaking boundaries in Judea and Samaria
Chap 13-28 the gospel moves too the end of the earth.
Acts is following up the gospel of Luke.
It shows that the service of Jesus did not end with the crucifixion, he continues.
What do we know about Luke, the writer of Acts?
- first class historian and theologian.
- he is a doctor
- Luke wants to give a clear vision on how God the spread the Gospel, and how it is fulfilled.
Was Luke there when the events happened, or did he accumulate all the information later on?
He probably was a witness in at least a few occasions
- Theophillis mentioned in the book is also mentioned in the Gospel of Luke.
- Paul mentions: “our dear friend Luke the doctor”
- There are we passages
- Luke catched the atmosphere of the many different situations he described very well, like he was there.
There are also prophecy’s included in his writings, which is one of the reasons people sometimes think he was not a witness.
He was obviously not a witness of Jesus birth. In the gospel of Luke he writes from Maria,s perspective. While Matthias writes it from Joseph.
How is the book of Acts written?
- Luke used a few basic medical terms
- Luke deliberately placed his work in the context of Greek literature.
- the titles/ places/ dates etc that Luke mentioned are very accurate, He must have done a lot of research.
- he was selective in what he wrote down
- the book has an abrupt ending. By choice, or maybe Luke passed away? Luke closes his narrative with abruptness: a two-verse summary of Paul’s prison ministry in Rome.
Another explanation of the abrupt ending of Acts is that the Gospel needed to reach the end of the world, which obviously is not Rome. There for the taks was not finished, and an open ending suited.
Paul evangelical tours/ speeches are always structured in the same way:
1 introduction
2 mayor report about one city
3 series of events
When was the book of acts written?
Acts concludes with Paul’s imprisonment 60/62 AD, so it cannot have been written before
It is probably written before 64 AD, because that is when the Romans started to persecute the church. He would probably have mentioned that. But nothing is for sure.
How was community life in the time of the new church?
- the Holy Spirt broke down all barriers and United the new church
- the church revived around the living Christ > Jesus, so not just a messiah that died on the cross
Which four books are together the revelation of Christ?
- the Gospels
- Ephesians
- Acts
- Revelation
The new church was built through the charismatic community with the 6 charismatic prophets:
- Stephan
- Philip
- Paul
- Peter
- Barnabas
- Agabus
Is the book of Acts a historical book?
Many scholars agree that Luke as a historian provided mostly accurate accounts.
Even Christianity is considered as a historical religion. It is based of events that happened. Not a philosophy or idea.
What was the important messages Luke wanted to get accross?
As a Gentile Luke stresses the universal scope of Jesus’ ministry as Savior of all humankind, not just the Jews; he frequently points out the ethnic-national background of persons. He focuses on the church as both an institution and an organisation and its relation with the state.
The promise of Abraham was not only so he and the nation of Israel would be blessed, but so all people on earth will be blessed through Him.
Why is the Old Testament mentioned in the book of Acts?
By mentioning the Old Testament Luke wanted to show the new church was not a new sect, but a continuation of Judaism.
The five thousand manuscripts of the New Testament can be grouped into four basic families representing early Christian centers of worship. The four textual families as currently defined are:
- Alexandrian. This family developed around the Christian center of Alexandria in Egypt.
- Caesarean. This family originated in Egypt, but was taken to Caesarea, possibly by Origen, and from there to Jerusalem.
- Western. This group was very widespread in Italy, Gaul, and North Africa.
- Byzantine. This text probably originated in Antioch of Syria, and was then taken to Constantinople, from whence it was distributed widely throughout the Byzantine Empire.
The Alexandrian and the Western have the oldest representation among the manuscripts, though the Alexandrian is represented by a far greater portion of the oldest manuscripts than is the Western.
What is the difference?
The most apparent variance between the Alexandrian and Western texts occurs in the book of Acts, where the Western text is about 10 percent longer than the Alexandrian text. This extra length is not in the form of a piece that is added on, but occurs as additional words and information spread throughout the book. In addition to the extra length, there are other differences which affect the character of the text.
Who was Theophylis?
He was the first recipient of the book of Acts, as wel as the Gospel of Luke.
Theophylis is a common name and its meaning is friend of God.
Maybe Luke was his slave, as many medics were?
It is more likely that he was a Roman official of high rank, that could read the book and spread copies.
Luke 24:49
What instruction gave Jesus to His apostles before he resurrected?
And behold, I am sending the power of my Father upon you, but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with the power of the Holy Spirit.
> Christs death and the shedding of His blood put the new covenant into effect.
> Jesus told the apostels to stay in Jerusalem. He was still helping people with their disbelief. Like Peter and Thomas.
After that they were restored with one mind united together.
We read that the apostels obeyed.
What are apostels?
Send ones.
The Bible describes apostles as those who spread the word of the gospel as messengers of God, which includes Jesus Christ Himself. In contemporary interpretations, however, the definition of apostle applies more broadly as ‘someone who is sent on a mission. ‘
The 12 apostels were choses as primary witnesses. A special restricted group.
They were given the authority to drive out evil spirits and heal and had the promise of Jesus to sit on thrones and rule the twelve tribes of Israel.
The candidate was required to be someone who followed Jesus during his entire earthly ministry, beginning from Jesus’ baptism by John to Jesus’ ascension into heaven (1:21–22a). The candidate was required to have seen Jesus after His resurrection (1:22b).
At least, this criteria was used for chosing the 12 apostel.
“Jesus did not ascend until after he gave instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostels he chose.”
For how long?
For 40 days Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God, it’s resurrection, and about he presence in the world from now on.
I don’t understand this statement. It makes more sense to me that Jesus already ascended and came back. Even till this day.
