Book Of Acts: Thematic Analysis

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

The Drama of Scripture frames the biblical narrative as a work of drama, with six acts. These acts are Creation, Fall, Israel, Jesus, Church, and New Creation (Drama pp. 23-24, 2014). The first three acts come from the Old Testament, and the final three come from the New Testament. In many ways, I feel that this Six Act Drama plays itself out in my life as well. As a Catholic man of faith, this makes a great deal of sense to me. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, hence CCC, states that, “God is the author of Sacred Scripture. ‘The divinely revealed realities, which are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scripture, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit’” (CCC 105, 2000). Additionally, it states “The inspired books teach the truth…” (CCC 107, 2000). These two quotes point to the primacy of Scripture in how I find my life playing itself out. Since Scripture is how God narrates His will, and since we are made in the image and likeness of God, it follows that patterns present in Scripture would manifest themselves in my life. Each act of the drama represents a phase of my life which has either happened, is currently happening, or one for which I still await.

Acts of the Apostles chronicles the rapid advancement of the Gospel by way of the gift of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles: The Charismatic Community in Mission” takes into account the narratives succeeding Pentecost including Spirit Baptisms from Samaria to Ephesus (Acts

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

Their understanding of the Old Testament prophets, up until now, was that God’s promise of good fortune through the Messiah were connected to the Jews b. They believed that Gentiles had to become proselytes, be circumcised, and adopt the Jewish religion before they could receive the blessings of the Messiah c. This made sense to the Jews because the prophets had said the Gentiles would come to the Jews to learn about their God and the law would go forth from Jerusalem d. And Jesus did tell the woman at the well that, “salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22) e. This situation did not convince Peter that these Gentiles were saved apart from being baptized (Acts 10:47-48) f. Instead, this event caused Peter to argue that these Gentiles should be allowed to be baptized into Christ without being circumcised g. It convinced them that these Gentiles could be saved apart from being circumcised, apart from becoming proselytes, and apart from observing the law of Moses h. The Jews who were with Peter agreed, and Peter commanded Cornelius and those Gentiles with him to be baptized (Acts 10:48) i. It had been about 10 years since the Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost and this was the first recorded case of an apostle preaching the gospel to an uncircumcised

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

When considering the strengths and weaknesses of the book, the strengths dramatically outweigh the shortcomings. Allen succeeded in showing the reader that there is no excuse to discount the ministry of Paul as irrelevant in today’s missionary setting. He powerfully implemented scripture throughout the book with precision. Every verse, story, and biblical example of Paul’s practices and teachings that Allen used were necessary and served to back up his claims with ultimate truth. Also, the open addressing of his opponent’s arguments served to strengthen Allen’s thesis in a way that a simple stating of facts would be incapable of

The gift of Tongues has been becoming more and more popular over the past 10 years. Christians appear to have differing views on the matter. Some think it is a sign of the HOLY SPIRIT, other think it is a manifestation of demonic forces. There are Bible verses to

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The concept of analytics-based decision marking takes into consideration industry knowledge and business analytics which includes four acts (Bartlett, 2013). The four acts help prepare analytics to support an anticipated decision and illustrate a process for analytics-based decision making. As a result, the role of statistical thinking, the interaction, and relationship between industry knowledge and analytics, as well as where things can go wrong in a real business problem can be revealed (Bartlett, 2013). In addition, moving from one act to another seamlessly, jumping back from and forth from one act to another or simply following some other route is easy to do in a real business problem. This annotated bibliography will examine articles that contain resources that support the concepts contained in the four acts.

To understand the meaning of Galatians 5: 16-18 we must understand the purpose of the letter. Galatians is an occasional letter (Duvall, Hayes 2008, 100) meant to address a congregation who is faced with the dilemma of Judaizers. The Judaizers were teaching that in order for a Gentile to be truly saved he must convert to Judaism; he must be circumcised. They preached salvation by works of the flesh, putting the Gentiles under the law (5: 9-15). But the flesh; circumcision or no circumcision, following the Judaic laws or not following the Judaic laws, makes no difference in salvation. Righteousness is found through faith and shown in love (5:6). Insistence that Gentiles convert to Judaism “distorts salvation by grace alone” and causes dissension in the body of Christ (Wilson 2013, Gal. 5:15). Paul argues that Christians should rely on the Holy Spirit for the power to overcome the flesh and walk in love and faith (5:16– 18). There is clearly a distinction between the fruit of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit (5:19-26). Paul

Our source of knowledge of the apostolic work of Paul comes first from the Book of Acts. The epistles written by Paul serve to further our knowledge of his mission. These letters were written to churches that he had founded or churches that were known to him. Luke’s account of Paul introduces us to the basic facts about this important biblical figure. A more complete understanding of Paul’s journeys can be gleaned from his letters. These epistles were written almost at the time they occurred and they comprise some of the earliest works contained in the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, is a central figure within both Christian tradition and New Testament thought and writing. With such a crucial place, it is vital that we come to understand more of his life and thinking, as well as the world in which he and, more specifically, his theology were shaped. With this in mind, this essay will seek to explore Paul’s conversion and call experience as understood from Acts, and his personal references to it, drawing from them the ways in which this time was significant for Paul’s theological thinking, as expressed in his letters and work. To achieve this we will begin by addressing the call and/or conversion debate, arguing that the term ‘conversion and call’ best encapsulates

The book of James has created disputations amongst its readers for years. Like almost all of the New Testament writings, contemporary readers have questions about it origin, composition, and content. Also like most New Testament writings, there are multiple hypotheses that have been presented to answer each of these enquiries. For example, many scholars have suggested that it is the least Christian amongst all of the New Testament writings due to the fact that it only references the name of Jesus twice. This a particular point that I feel needs to be addressed when trying to understand James, and it is a point I will answer further while also trying to present information regarding other possible questions an individual may have while reading

A similar conflict between the Gentiles and Jews took place during the early establishment of the Church. The Jews demanded that the Gentiles adhere to their laws as established by Moses, wherein they were forbidden from eating certain foods and required that all males be circumcised. McRay states, “During that time some men came from Jerusalem and tried to lay upon the Gentiles an even more stringent requirement than the earlier Jerusalem emissaries had done. It was no longer simply a matter of requiring the Gentiles to observe Jewish food laws in order to maintain fellowship with Jewish Christians. They were now demanding that Gentiles males be circumcised in order to be saved” (McRay, 2003, p. 127). Similar to today, these disagreements are presented to the Church Leadership conflict for resolution. In advising the leadership council of Saint Elizabeth Catholic church on how to resolve and maintain the fellowship between these believers, I will use Romans 14 as the fundamental basis for handling conflict resolutions.