Book Of Acts Essay

Paul preaches sermon of remembrance that ends in Jesus at King in the line of David

Paul more than anyone was responsible for the spread of the Jesus movement into the Gentile world. By the end of the first century Christianity had become an important religious force. Paul while respectful of its Jewish origins moved the Christian faith into a position where it was no longer bound by Jewish law and was able to embrace people of any cultural background. After his own conversion, Paul passionately espoused his message from the Palestinian world through Asia Minor and southern Europe to Rome, the heart of the empire. Some of his letters by Paul to fledgling churches throughout the Roman Empire are contained in the New Testament and outline Paul 's theology. He insisted that Gentiles had as much access to the faith as Jews and that freedom from the Law set everyone free. It was this teaching which was essential for the development and success of the early church which would otherwise have remained another Jewish sect.

The ministry of Jesus brought about a new religion: Christianity. Jesus’ teachings were apocalyptic in that he preached the nearness of the Kingdom of God. He also taught, “To love your neighbor as yourself” Mark 12:31[NIV]. “Since Jesus was a Jew and preached to Jews, Christianity was closely linked to Judaism.” “Early Christian missionaries, being Jews, interacted at first with the Jewish communities in the empire’s cities.” “This was only natural and gave them common ground with other groups in the provinces in which Jews were a minority.” “Among the Jews, however, resistance to Jesus being the Messiah was often encountered, and early on, the Christians or the church gained converts from non-Jews.” “Christianity in its early stages used the Jewish synagogues, allowing it access

It was very likely that Paul wrote his letter to the Romans around 55-56 C.E. while he was on his third missionary journey. It is also believed that he was in the city of Corinth when he wrote it. Paul was writing to the church in Rome, which at the time the members were predominately Jewish. At the time there were approximately 50,000 Jews living in Rome. They either worked as slaves or had once worked as slaves, but gained their freedom. During this time, the Jews were given special protection from the Roman government, because they did not have to partake in pagan religious festivals or worship the Roman emperors. Unfortunately, in the late 40’s the emperor, Claudius, expelled a large number of the Jewish people because of a disturbance over a man named “Chrestus.” Therefore, the church in Rome likely became highly Gentile (Winn). In the event of these actions by the emperor the leadership of the Roman church became mostly Gentile.

Therefore, Paul, employing the Lords wisdom, ensured the church to be viable and Godly in a city mentioned of similar importance as Rome, Corinth, Antioch, and Alexandria. In his ministry, Paul makes multiple journeys to Ephesus to ensure that the Word was growing in such a keystone city to much of eastern Asia. On his first missionary journey, he diverted to Macedonia at the Lord’s prompting, prohibiting him from travelling to the region. However, Paul leaves behind Aquilla and Pricilla (Acts 18:18-21), on his second journey, as more of an advance party to begin establishing the church. This was a necessary move, as a full effort by Paul to minister in Ephesus would have not gone successfully. The Ephesian economy aligned itself with pagan religion, as well as Judaism, and relied heavily upon trades, such as idol making, which related to the worship of pagan gods. For example, the temple of Artemis sustained an industry of silversmiths and idol makers. During Paul’s second third journey, due to his effective ministry in Ephesus, caused such a disruption in pagan commerce, merchants incited a mob to eliminate him from the city. The church remained despite his hasty departure. Paul centered his basis of ministry in this keystone city during his third missionary journey. As a result, this allowed him to

This was due to the fact that he called himself, “The Son of God”. Just before Jesus was condemned to death, he commanded his to disciples to continue spreading his teachings. At first they only preached in Jewish communities throughout the Roman world, but Paul played the most influential role in spreading Christianity throughout the world. He set out on missionaries on the road to spread Christianity worldwide. He traveled through the Mediterranean and set up churches in Asia Minor and Greece. He proclaimed that those who believed that Jesus was the son of God and followed his teaching would obtain eternal

The book of Acts is known as 'the birth of the church'. Acts recounts the story of

The earliest recorded text teaching Christianity has its roots buried deep within Judaism. The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as the Messiah, created a new ideology of worship. The Messiah is the savior for all people and of all sins. Paul carried the message of the Messiah to the Gentiles. His missionary journeys and establishment of churches enabled the spreading of the message throughout the Roman Empire. Christianity grew in acceptance; those that believed in the Messiah separated and began to worship on their own. This marked the beginning of the split of Judaism and Christianity.

Saint Paul, originally named Saul, was a crucial part in the development of Christianity. Paul, who was born in Tarsus, Cilicia, grew up Jewish and was trained as a rabbi (Adcock). Paul eventually converted to Christianity, but before he did, the future of the religion was looking very slim. Rome had made it illegal to practice Christianity. Paul was a pious Jew, so his conversion to Christianity surprised many of his followers. They viewed him with much suspicion and treated him with hostility. Paul was dedicated to his new life and made it his mission to spread Christianity throughout the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and eventually to Rome itself. Paul made two separate journeys throughout the Mediterranean. He preached about the message of Jesus to many and sent his letters to the people he had not visited. Paul saw that his new faith had a message for everything and everyone. By converting to Christianity, St. Paul has saved Christianity from extinction, has written crucial letters about his faith, has preached to hundreds of people, has spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, has caused

Paul became an advocate for the inclusion of the Gentiles among the ‘true’ followers of Christianity. Until this moment in history, Jewish Christians believed that non-Jews had to convert to Judaism and follow the law like them, which included many dietary restrictions and circumcision. Gentiles who worship in the synagogue but did not convert were only

He goes to Judea and Learns with Raban Gamleael; he becomes involved in persecuting Christians. Eventually, according to a legend Saul is blinded by a vision. He goes on the road and Jesus comes to him and asks him why he is persecuting the Christians, Jesus blinds him. Jesus toells Saul to go to a certain Christian to get healed. Saul did that and then he changes his name to Paul, because Paul means healed. Paul has a great influence on spreading Christianity to non-Jews, and forming it as a separate religion. Between 45 and 65 CE, he journeyed throughout the eastern Mediterranean region, spreading the teaching of Jesus and founding Christian communities. Paul visited Rome, where, according to tradition he was put to death. Paul’s Epistles to Christian congregations form an important part of the New Testament. The New Testament was a combination of four gospels written by Paul and a book of Revolution; this is in relation to the Old Testament, which was the Torah. Paul insisted that Jesus was not just the Jewish Messiah but a savior for all human races. By following the teachings of Jesus, all people could be saved from the consequences of their sins. They could avoid damnation and instead enjoy the bliss of salvation in paradise after death.

Paul writes in Acts 22:6 that he experienced a vision, ‘I fell to the ground and heard a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me... I am Jesus of Nazareth.”’ Paul was blinded but continued on to Damascus where he became certain that his vision of Jesus symbolised his calling to spread the Gospel. When he arrived his sight was restored by a disciple named Ananias and Paul was baptised as he became a Christian, a follower of Jesus. This conversion to Christianity enabled Paul to believe that he had been given a mission to go preach the word of God. Paul embarked on journeys to towns where he would seek employment and gradually get to know people. Paul wanted to influence these people by speaking of his experiences he had with God and what they had taught him about Christianity and the teachings of Jesus. In these towns, Paul also established local churches and invited elders to run them whilst he was out of town spreading the word of God, ‘Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust’ (Acts 14:23).

Paul’s plan for evangelism led him to what was considered the “civilized world” of the Roman Empire, leaving to others the centers of Judaism – Palestine, Alexandria, and Babylon. Paul’s movement westward was from Antioch to Cilicia, Galatia and Pamphylia, Asia Minor, Macedonia and Greece, Italy, and Spain. Paul’s strategic plan was to stretch churches and the gospel from Antioch throughout the entire region. Paul’s strategy was to take his teachings to the metropolis areas instead of the smaller cities and towns. His thought was that his influence in these large areas would bring others that could carry on his teachings into these regions. As past history shows, Paul’s timeframe for teaching is limited due to being driven out of the cities by force before his work was completed. There were 2 cities where he was able to spend considerable time, Corinth and Ephesus. These cities were of utmost importance to him and were

God gave Paul a mission to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. They traveled from city to city spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, the message was not always being received. It is really no confirmed certainty on why John Mark eventually left Paul and Barnabas to return to Jerusalem. The Jews went on record as being in opposition to the Gospel, but Paul kept preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. Paul saw that the Gentiles were very receptive to the Gospel.

Judaism, which is made up of a few separate groups, was very common at the originating of Christianity. The common ground (shared beliefs) for these sects was the belief in One God and that this One God had made a covenant with the people of Israel. The foundation of this covenant was called “The Torah.” The Pharisees and Sadducees were the two main groups the Bible focuses on around the time of Jesus, along with the Zealots, the Hellenists, the Lawyers, and the Essenes, who we only read about in sources outside of the New Testament.