Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Making sense of the Book of Acts - introduction

"I doubt whether the peculiar importance of this Book of the Acts of the Apostles has ever been exhibited or felt as fully as it might have been...A careful consideration leads us to think of the Acts of the Apostles as the key-stone of the arch of the New Testament..." (Howson)

"Our present generation of Bible students would do well to heed these words [of Howson above] and engage in a serious and prayerful re-study of the Book of Acts, for a correct interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles is essential to a clear understanding of God's eternal purpose and of His message and program for the present dispensation, and it is certainly a pre-requisite to an appreciation of the exalted truths of the Pauline epistles." (Stam)

"Nearly all writers on Acts have assumed, without the slightest foundation, that it is the record of the birth and growth of the Church...that in Acts we find the doctrine and practice of the Church in its earliest and purest form; that it is a spiritual story book containing inspiring examples of what we might do if we but possessed the faith of the first century believers...Nevertheless, in the light of the written Word of God this view of Acts is erroneous — not merely in certain details, but fundamentally and essentially so — and accounts largely for the confusion that has gripped the Church in our day." (Stam)

"In a word, if 'To the Jew first' is characteristic of the Acts of the Apostles as a whole, 'To the Jew only' is plainly stamped upon every part of these early chapters, described by theologians as the 'Hebraic section' of the book. The fact is clear as light. And if any are prepared to account for it by Jewish prejudice and ignorance, they may at once throw down this volume, for it is here assumed that the apostles of the Lord, speaking and acting in the memorable days of Pentecostal power, were Divinely guided in their work and testimony." (Anderson)

"Perhaps the best way to see at a glance the value and significance of this book of the New Testament, would be to image the New Testament without the Acts of the Apostles. What a gulf would then be opened between the Gospels and the Epistles!...What discrepancies, what oppositions would be found between the earlier books and the later!" (Howson)

"Suppose again the Epistles were there, but the Acts of the Apostles left out, how startling would appear the heading 'To the Romans,' which would confront us on turning from the study of the Evangelists! How could we account for the transition involved? How could we explain the great thesis of the Epistles, that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile ...? The earlier Scriptures will be searched in vain for teaching such as this. Not the Old Testament merely but even the Gospels themselves are seemingly separated from the Epistles by a gulf. To bridge over the that gulf is the Divine purpose for which the Acts of the Apostles has been given to the Church. The earlier portion of the book is the completion of and sequel to the Gospels; its concluding narrative is introductory to the great revelation of Christianity." (Anderson)

See also: http://tis-justme.blogspot.com/2011/01/acts-rough-overview.html

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