51 Acts

Ij

II

I

'

II

I

INTRODUCTION

TO

THE

ACTS

OF

THE

APOST

LES

Actsand

the

thirdgospel

must

originallyhave

been

two

parts

of

a

book

th

at

todayweshouldcall

'a

historyoftherise

of

Christian

ity'.About150A

.D

.,whenChristianswanted

the

fourgospels

bound

in

one

codex

,thesetwo

parts

wereseparated.Thetitle

'Acts

of

the

Apostles

',

or

'Acts

of

Apostles',which

may

havebeengiventothesecond

part

at

thistime,follows

normal

contem-

por

ar

yhellenisticusageasin,e.g.,the

'Acts'

of

Hann

ibal

and

the

'Acts'

of

A

lexand

er,etc.Thatthesetwobooks

of

the

New

Testa

mentwere

once

closelyassociatedissuggested1.by

the

irPrologues:

both

areaddressed(cf.Lk1:1-4) to

some

onecalledTheophilus

and

Ac1:I,

having

referredtothegospelas

an

'earlierwork',goesonbyway

of

intro

duc

tiontosaywhy

thegosp

elwaswrittenandtosumm

ar

iseitsclosingincidents(appea

ran

ces

of

the

risenChrist,ascen

sion);

2.by

their

literarya

ffi

nity:vocabulary,gram

marand

style

arenot

only

consistentallthroughActsshowingt

hat

itisaliteraryunity,

but

theyarealsoch

ara

cteristic

of

the

third

gospel,whichmakesital

mostcertain

thatbo

th

books

arebythe

same

author.

The

onlyidentificationofthe

author

eversuggestedbychurchwritersis St

Luke

,andnocriticsanci

ent

orm

odern

haveeverseriouslysuggested

anyone

else.Thisidentifica

tion

wasalreadyknowntothe

churches

aboutthe

year

175

A.

D.as

shown

bytheRomancanonk

nown

as

the

Muratori

an

Fragment

,bytheAnti-

Ma

rcionitePrologue,byStIrenaeus,Cl

ement

an

d

Origen

in

Alexandria

and

byTertullian,anditissupportedbyinternalevidence:

the

author

musthavebeenaChristianoftheapostolicage,eithera

thoro

ughlyhellenisedJewor,

more

probably,awelleducated

Greek

withsomeknowledge

of

medicineandextremelywell

acqua

intedwiththe

LXX

andJewishthings ingeneral.Lastly,

andmore

significantly,hehad

accompaniedPaul

on

his

journeys

ju

dging

from

hisuse

of

thefirst

per

son

pluralin

Part

2

of

Acts

,

and

of

all

Paul's

comp

anionsnoneismores

tro

nglyindicatedt

han

Luke.

Acco

rdingto

an

ancient

tradit

ionLukewasaSyrianfromAntioch,a

doctor

an

dof

pagan

origin,Col4:10-14;Pauldescribeshimasaclosefriend

who

stay

edbyhim

dur

inghistwope

riods

of

captivityin

Rome,

Col4:14;

Phm

24;2Tm4:11.

Luke

prob

ably

accompa

niedPaulonthesecond(Ac16:10f)

and

third(Ac20:6f;

cf

.

perhaps

2Co8:18)missionary

journ

eys,

and

the

only

reason

hedoes

not

figureinlistsliketh

at

of

Ac20:4is

beca

usehe

proba

bly

compi

led

the

listshimself.

There

isnocl

ear

early

tradition

abouteit

her

date

or

place

of

writing(Greece, afterPaul'sdeat

h?

Rom

e,beforetheend

of

Paul's

trial?),

and

wehavetorelyonin

ternal

evidence.Acts

ends

withPaul's

Roman

capti

vityin61-63,withreferencetowhichitmentionsaperiod

of

two

years,

28:30+

,andthis

happens

o

0:

()

u

~

treatsitguaranteethe

historicalworth

ofActs.

It

wasnoteasytoputallthese sourcestogether,andobviouslyacertainamountofanticipation,repetition andfusionwasunavoidable;thustheeventsofch.12shouldcomebeforethe visitofBarnabas

and

SaultoJerusalemmentionedin11:30;12:25,unlessthis visitistobeidentifiedwitht

hat

ofch.15;thoughtheaccountofthe'council

of

Jerusalem'(ch.IS)mayitselfbeaconflationoftwoquitedistinctdebates (cf.notes).Slightadjustmentslikethisdonotaffectthebasicreliabilityofthe work,asmaybeseenforexamplebycheckinghowcloselyLuke'saccount ofPaul'smissionaryactivitiesagreeswithPaul'sepistles,whichwerequite certainlynotamongthesourcesLukeusedforActs.Thisiseventrueof GalatiansifwemakeallowancesfortheconflationsinActs.Theearlierevents, ofcourse,cannotbecheckedinthisway,butmayseemreasonableenough inthemselves,

and

Lukeseemstohavetreatedthesourcesforhisaccount withconsiderablerespect,ifwemayjudgebyalltherealisticandlifelikedetails hehasleftin.Considerablesuspicion,however,isarousedbythespeechesin Actssinceitism

ainta

inedthatLukehas

done

whatallclassicalhistoriansdid and

put

hisownfreecompositionsintothemouth

of

hischaracters.Onthe otherhanditishardtobelieve

that

anyone,howevergifted,

but

least

of

allapersonofGreekculturelikeLuke,couldreproducesoconvincingly,after fortyyears,thearchaismsandsemitismsof,forexample,thespeechesbyPeter andStephen.Lukemusthavehadaccesstorecordsinthesensethattheearliest preachingmadeuseofonlyaveryfewmainthemesandsupportedthesewith stereotypedargumentssetoutinstandardwaysandle

arnt

byheart.

Chr

istianJewshadanthologiesofscripturaltexts;non-JewishChristianshadcollections oftagsfromtheacceptedphilosophers,whilebothhadtheessentialkerygma (proclamation)oftheMessiahwhowaskilledandroseagain,togetherwith hisinvi

tat

iontoconversionandbaptism.Lukemustfirsthavecomeacross these

out

linesofChristianpreachingassermonsandfromhisownresearches havebeenablelateron,throughhisacutesenseofpsychology,tofillthemout authenticallywiththemostimportantChristianteaching. WhetherActsisobjectiveisthefirstquestionthatmustbefacedwhen discussingthe

boo

k's

purpose.

F

.e.

Baur

and

hisfollowersthoughtActswas a2ndcentury

attempt

tosmoothoverthe

quarre

lbetweenPetrineandPauline factions.SucharadicalattackontheobjectivityofActswouldnotbe

put

forwardbyanyexegetetoday,notonlybecausethedateitsuggestsisfartoo late,butbecauseitsf

ormula

tionissoobviouslyinfluencedbyHegel's philosophyofhis

tor

y.Towhatextent,however,isActsapiece

of

specialpleading?Towhatext

ent

doesittwistthefactsthatitrecords?WasLuke's purposeinwritingActstopresentaportrait

of

Paul

that

wouldconvincethe RomanauthoritiesthatPaulwasnotapoliticalcriminal?Thisiscertainly oneaspectofActs

but

nottheonlyone,andinanycasesuchaportraitof Paulneednotnecessarilybetendentious-Lukemayhavebeenconvincedit wasatrue

por

trait.andLukemayhavebeenright.Thetwothingshestresses arctheexclusivelyreligiousn

atur

eofPaul'sbattlewiththeJews,andPaul's loyaltytotheR

oman

authority.ThesewereplainfactsandLukehadevery righttobasehis

por

traitonthem.However,ashasbeensaid,Lukewas

not

merelyinterestedingivingaportraitofPaultoserveasevidenceforthe Romancourts:whatheaimedatwastowritethehistory

of

thebeginnings

of

('hristianity,

I

NTRO

D

UCTION

TO

AC

TS

/96

tobethelegalintervalafterwhichacasewasdismissedifnoevidencehad arrivedtosupportthecharge.

It

ispossible,

therefor

e,thattheselineswere writtenafterPaul'srelease.Thistiesinwiththedate

of

64A.D.suggestedfor Mark,sinceActsmustbelaterthanMark.Adateaslateas80-100whichhas beensuggestedbysomecriticsispossible,but(asinLuke)thereareno positiveindicationsinActs

of

a

dat

elaterthan70

A.D.

Theprecisedate,however,becomesase

conda

ryconsiderationoncethe

book

canestablishitsprimaryimportanceeitherasanauthor'seyewitness

account

fortheeventsthatfillamajorsectionorasbasedonadequatesourcesatthe au

thor

'sdisposal.AnalysisofActsconfirmsLkI:I-4(meantasprologue tothecompletework)bysuggestingthatLukemusthavecollectedagreat deal

of

detailedevidencefromavariety

of

sources,becauseinspiteofthe wayLukehassuperimposedhisownpersonalityinreworkingthismaterial hehasnotsucceededindisguisingthevarioussourceshehasused.Notonly doestheflavour

of

thedoctrinalcont

ent

changeaccordingtothecontextso

that

inappropriatesectionsitseemsconvincinglyprimitive,butaswellasthat thereisconsiderablevariationintheli

tera

rystyle.InpassageswhereLuke can

cont

rolthestyle,when,forexample,heiswritinguphisowntravelnotes, theGreekisexcellent;

but

inhisdescriptionoftheearlyhistoryofthe Palestiniancommunitywefind

that

thelanguagebecomesfullofsemitisms, clumsyandeveninaccurate.Insomeplacesthisisonlybecauseheistryingto copyOldTestamentLXX

Gr

eek,butmostlyitisbecauseheisrep

rodu

cinghisvariousAramaicsourcesascloselyaspossible.InLukethiscanbechecked bycomparingitwithtwo

of

itssources(i.e.Mark

and

thedocumentcommon toMatthewandLuke),

but

unfortunatelytherearenotextswithwhichto co

mpar

eActs;itispossible,however,totrytodeterminewhatkinds

of

sourceswereused.Onesuggestionwas

that

thewholeof1-15:35isbased onasingle

Arama

icdocument,

but

thisisfar

too

sweepingasitdoesnot accountforalltheeditingthatLukehasunmistakablydoneinthesech

apter

s.Lukehasobviouslyusednotonelongsourcebutseveralshortones,manyof whichmaynotevenhavebeenwrittendocuments,thoughsomeprobably were.Withoutbeingdogmatic

abo

utdetails,itispossibletoclassifythemain kindsoftraditionscollectedbyLuke.I.Thosethatrelatetothe

primitiveJerusalemcommunity,

ch.1-5.2.Biogr

aph

icalnotesabout

individuals:

e.g.Peter,9:32-11:18;ch.12,orPhilip,8:4-40;thesedetailscouldhavebeen suppliedatfirsthandbypeoplelikePhilip,thedeaconLukemetatCaesarea, 21:8.3.Detailsab

out

theearlydaysofthe

communityinAntioch

and

itsfoundationbyhellenisticJews:thesewereobviouslyprovidedbythat community,6:1-8:3;11:19-30;13:1-3.4.

Paul'sconversionandmissionary Journeys:

thesewerethingsPaulhimselfcouldhavetoldLuke,9:1-30;13:4-

1 4 : 2~

;

15:36f.5.For

Paul'slaterjourneys

Lukewouldprobablyhavehadhisown notesandtheseheseemstouseinthe'we'passageswhicharepreciselythe sectionswherethepeculiaritiesofLuke'sownstylearcmostconcentrated, 11:28;16:10-17;20:5-21:18;27:1-28:16.Lukemanagedtoorganiseallthis materialintoasinglebookbysortingitoutchronologicallyasbesthecould andlinkingtheepisodestogetherwithfrequenteditorialformulae,e.g.6:7; 9:3I;12:24;etc. Theunsophisticatednature

of

thismaterialandtherespectwithwhichLuke

/97

INTRODUCTION

TOACTS

~

o

a:

o

II

INTR

ODUCTIO

NTO

A

CTS

198199

I

NTRODUCTIO

NTO

A

CT

S

:E

o

a:

II

il

II

I

Thisassertionisbasedonthe

structure

ofthebookthatis

summ

arisedinthewords

of

Christwithwhichitbegins:'Youwillbemywitnessesnotonly inJerusalembutthroughoutJud

aeaand

Sama

ria,

and

indeedtotheends

of

the

earth'

,Ac1:8.ActsbeginswithJerusalemwherethefaithtakesfirm

rootand

thefirstcommunity

grow

singraceand

numbers

,ch.1-5.

Thiscom-munity

beginstoexpand,underthestimulus

of

theworld-wide

outlook

of

convertsfromhellenistic

Jud

aismespecially

after

the

mar

tyrdom

of

Stephenwhen

theseconvertswereexpelled,6:1-8:3.

The

faith

spreads

north

of

Jerusalemto

Samaria,

8:4-25,south-westtothe

coastand

north

aga

intoCaesarea,8:26-40;9:32-11:18.

The

inser

tion

here

of

Paul's

conversionshows

that

thefaithhad

already

reached

Damascus

andindicates

that

itwassoonto.reachCilicia,9:1-30.Refrainsliketheone

that

closesthissection(9:31, which

adds

Ga

lileetothelist)

drawattention

repeatedlytothe

spread

of

thefaith.Acts

turns

nexttothereception

of

the

Good

NewsinAntioch,11:19-26,

and

showshowAntiochbecameamissionaryheadquarters,whilekeepingin

tou

chwithJerusalem,

and

howJerusalem

and

Antiochreachedanagreedsolutiontothemain

problems

connectedwiththemissions,

11

:27-30;15:1-35. Thisleadsontothespread

of

thefaithtothepagans.Afterhis

imprisonmen

tfollowingtheconversion

of

Cornelius,Petergoesofftoaplace

that

is

not

named,ch.12,andfromthatpointPaultakes

over

theleading

part

in

Luke

'sstory.Hisfirstjourney(beforethecouncil

of

Jerusalem)takesthefaithto Cyprus

and

AsiaMinor,ch.13-14;hisnexttwojourneystakeitasfaras Macedoniaand

Gr

eece,15:36-18:22;18:23-21:17.Aftereachonehe

returns

toJerusalemwhereeventuallyheisarrestedandlateri

mpr

isonedat

Caesarea

,21:18-26:32.ThisleadshimtoRome,where,stillamissionaryinspite

of

beingaprisonerinchains,Paulpreachesthe

Go

odNews,ch.27-28,

and

sinceRomecouldbetakenas

'the

endsoftheearth'by

any

onewho

tho

ught

of

Jerusalemasthecentre,Lukehasreacheda

point

wherehecans

top

.

It

isapitythatLukedoesnotwrite

abo

utwhattheother

apost

lesdid,or describehowtheChurchwasfounded,forexample,inRomewhereithad beenestablishedbeforePaul'sarrival(cf.Romans,written

during

Paul'sthird

journe

y)orinAlexandria.Lukedoesnotevensuggest

that

Peterhadan apostolateoutsidePalestine:

ther

eisneverany

doub

tastowhothefocusof

attention

isall

throug

hActs,

thou

ghonlythesecondhalfisdevotedto

Paul

exclusively.Thesortofthings,however,thatLukedoesnotmention

and

thekindofgapsheleavesarev

aluab

leguarantees

of

thethingshedoessay,since helimitshimselftofacts

tha

thehasacquiredeitheratfirsthandorfrom sourceshehaschecked.Lukeisnotinterestedingiving

all

thedetails

abo

utthespreadof

Chr

istianity.

What

heisinterestedinis:I.thespiritualenergy insideChristianityt

hat

motivatesitsexpansion,

and

2.thespiritual

doct

rinehecandeducefromthefactsathisdisposal.Thisiswhattheb

ook

isabout,

and

whatmakesituniversalandirreplaceable. Hereitisonlypossibletolistthemainpoints

of

thiselab

orate

theology

of

Acts.I.Thekerygma(proclamation)oftheapostlesiscentredonfaithin Christ,

and

inActsthisispresentedwithmanyslightvariationsthat

make

itpossibleforustore

cover

thehistory

of

howthisteachinggrew

more

andmoreprecise;e.g,theearliestChristiansare

shown

asfeelingnoneedtogo beyondthestage

of

contemplatingthetriumph

of

thehumanJesuswhohas be

come

the

Kyrios

byhisresurrection,2:22-36;butlaterPaulismadetogive himthetitle'Sonof

Go

d',9:20.2.

Fro

mthespeechesweknowthemain sc

riptur

altextsthat(undertheSpirit'sguidance)formedthebasisbothfora systematicChristology

and

forargumentswiththeJews:e.g.thethemesofthe Servant,3:13,26;4:27,30;8:32-33,andthesecondMoses,3:22f;7:20f;the p

roof

oftheresurrectionfromPs16:8-11(Ac2:24-32;13:34-37);andtheuse

of

theirownhistoryto

warn

Jewsagainstresistinggrace,7:2-53;13:16-41. Pagans,

of

course,neededamoregeneralised

theo

logicalargument,14:15-17;17:22-31,

andthoug

htheapostlesareprimarily'witnesses',1:8+(assuch

Luke

sumsuptheirkerygma2:22+,

and

recordstheirmiraculous'signs') themosturgentproblemfacingthenewChurchwastheadmissionofpagans, andActsprovidesimportantdetailsa

bout

this.TheJerusalembrotherhood ledbyJamesremainsfaithfultotheJewishLaw,15:I,5;2\:20f;butthe Hellenists,forwhomStephenactsas

spokesman

,wanttobreakawayfrom Templeworship.Peter,butevenmoresoPaul,gettheprincipleofsalvation throughfaithinChristrecognisedatthecouncil

of

Jerusalem.Thisdispenses the

paga

nsfromtheneedtobecircumcised

and

fromobeyingtheLawof Moses.Asitisstilltrue,however,thatthissalvationcomesfromIsrael,Luke recordshowPaulalwayspreachedtotheJewsfirst,andonlyturnedtothe pagansafterhisfellowJewshadrejectedhim,13:

5+

3.Actsalsoprovides imp

ortan

tdetailsab

out

lifeintheearliestChristiancommunities:e.g.theway

of

prayer

and

com

mun

ity

of

goodsknowntothechurchinJerusalem;the

adm

inistrationofbaptisminwaterand

bap

tisminSpirit,1:5

+;

celebration

of

the

Eucharist,2

:42+

;early

att

emptsatorganis

ation

ine.g.

'proph

ets'

and

'teachers',13:I+,andthe'elders'whopresideintheJerusalemchurch,II:3

0+

,

and

whoarealsoappointedbyPaulinthe

chu

rcheshefounds,14:23.4.All thesedevelopmentsincommunitylifeare

attri

butedtotheirresistibleguidance oftheSpirit.AsLk4:I+insistsontheimportanceoftheHolySpiritsoActs (I:8+)attributesthespreadofthedevelopingChurchtothecontinuous activity

of

theHolySpirit-thisiswhythe

book

hasbeencalled'thegospel oftheSpirit',

and

whyitseemssofullofspiritualjoy

and

of

wonderatGo

d's

works,afact

that

canhardlysurprisethosewhounderstand

wha

tthecoming of

Chr

istianityme

ant

toa

world

tha

thadneverseen

anyt

hinglikeit.5.Tothis wealth

of

theologywemustaddthedetailedfactual

inf

ormationwhichwe shouldotherwiselack,thepsychologicaltactwithwhichLuketypicallypresents hischaracters,theshrewdnessandthecraftsmanshipofpassageslikethespeech inthepresenceofAgrippa,ch.26,andthepathos

of

sceneslikethefarewell totheEphesianelders,20:17-38.Thisbook,theonlyoneofitskindinthe NewTestament,isfulloftreasures.Withoutit,therewouldbegreatgapsin whatweknowab

out

thebeginningsof

Chr

istianity.ThetextsoftheNewTestamenthavecomedowntouswithagreatnumber ofminorvariants,

and

forActsthoseintheso-called'Western'Text(Codex Bezae,theoldLatin

and

oldSyriacversions,

and

earlyecclesiasticalwriters) arethemostinteresting.BecausethisWesternTexthasnotbeencritically editedliketheAlexandrianrecension,itc

ont

ainsmanycorruptreadings,but manyofitsconcrete

and

vivid

deta

ils,

absent

fromtheothertexts,couldbe authentic.The

most

important

of

thesereadingshavebeeneither

ment

ionedinthefootnotesor

incorporated

inthetext.

"

R

~

-..J

Category:	Books - Fiction
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