The acts of the apostles, fifth book of the new testament, a valuable history of the early christian church. There are lots of bible commentaries on the acts of the apostles, but bookcaps offers one of the first electronic bible commentaries for the modern reader. This is the commentary for the acts of the apostles for the serious bible student and teacher. Carefully transcribed and edited, these texts give us a new appreciation for lightfoots contributions to. Another christian fraud there exists no more compelling document supporting the validity of the christian religion than the book of acts. White is the american religious author of this book series, and the act of the apostles just happens to be one of the books in the series. Book of acts in the setting of hellenistic history. For a book which is as pivotal as acts to our practice of nt christianity, it is deplorable that. Acts agrippa antioch apostelgeschichte apostles aram aurov autov baptism barnabas caesarea christ christian church corinth disciples docs e. This book follows the biblical history of john the apostle. Here are some of the major issues involving acts of the apostles. Luke wrote the acts of the apostles as the second of a two part work. Everyone was filled with the holy spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the spirit enabled them. Though called the acts of the apostles, the book focuses primarily on only two apostlespeter and paulwho in christian art are usually portrayed holding what items.
Top 5 commentaries on the book of acts ligonier ministries. Date the book ends with paul in prison in rome for the first time. One of the earliest manuscripts, the codex sinaiticus, gives as the title the simple word acts, with no mention of the apostles. Written in a readable style, with more detailed interaction with scholarly discussion found in the various excursuses, this commentary draws on the best new insights from a number of disciplines. Written in the late 19th century, commentary on the acts of the apostles is a versebyverse look at acts, which mcgarvey believed many theologians had misunderstood before. The acts of the apostles often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth book of the new testament. Acts is the only nt narrative to describe early church history ad 3062. The acts of the apostles alexander, joseph addison, commentary on the acts of the apostles. Longenecker, william larkin, john polhill, and david williams. Acts of the apostlescommentaries, commentaries new. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Emeritus professor in the university of manchester the study of the acts of the apostles shows no signs of slackening. How to believe acts takes up the story of christianitys most famous convert and his dramatic adoption of the christian cause.
Acts describes how the jesus movement transitioned from a jewish sect to a distinct world religion inclusive of gentiles. A history of the acts of the apostles the book was almost certainly written by the same author as the gospel now known as lukes gospel. Acts is the second book in the history that luke wrote. But it is more likely that theophilus was a real person. Clearly, the author ofthe book of luke is also the one who penned the book of acts. Study the bible online using commentary on acts and more. While there are many various criticisms concerning both the gospels and the pauline epistles, there seems to be little if any argument as to the authenticity and dating of the fifth book in the new testament commonly referred to as acts of the apostles. London eijiev ejii eotiv ephesian ephesus eyeveto f. Perhaps luke was using it to mean any christian reader. The acts of the apostles, the second volume of lukes twovolume work. In the last segment of our presentation on the book of acts, we left off our discussion with peters quote from joel chapter 2, and how we believe that james and paul saw that prophecy of pentecost in relation to the history of the ekklesia of god. Bruce gentile gentile mission gospel greek hellenistic hemer herod holy spirit implied inscription israel jerusalem jesus jewish jews jieqi. The text is an easy read and it is very enlightening about a book of the bible that is rarely examined in adult life. Like ben witheringtons previous commentary conflict and community in corinth, this commentary breaks fresh ground in providing a detailed social and rhetorical analysis of the book of acts.
Kent hughes, ajith fernando, gordon keddie, richard n. Acts of the apostles encyclopedia of the bible bible gateway. This impressive commentary on the acts of the apostles exemplifies professor witheringtons usual close and cautious reading of the biblical text with careful research in and response to relevant secondary literature. Zondervan publishing house, 1956 barnes, albert, notes on the new testament explanatory and practical. His subsequent history is not recorded, which would indicate the book was written before that history was known. The conflict of the ages book series features a series of books uncovering the conflicts between god and satan. The reason why judas iscariots name is not listed in acts 1. Acts of the apostles introduction new testament matthew. Acts of the apostles encyclopedia of the bible bible. The acts of the apostles ben witherington, ben witherington. This title may be a bit misleading, because 11 apostles are barely mentioned, while the book concentrates almost exclusively on the early work of peter chapters 112 and the short but influential ministry of paul chapters 28.
Of the 27 books that make up what we know as the new testament, the one called the acts of the apostles is unique in the information it contains. The first volume, the gospel of luke, shows as luke says, all that jesus began to do and teach. Acts of the apostles quizzes online, trivia, questions. Lightfoots commentary on the acts of the apostles is a landmark event of great significance to both church and academy. A list of sermons in the book of acts leadership resources. Commentary on the book of acts of the apostles by matthew henry. Recently discovered in the durham cathedral library, j. It describes the coming of the holy spirit at pentecost in acts 2, the spread of the gospel outside of jerusalem in acts 8 and to the gentiles in acts 10, how the church made decisions in regards to doctrine acts 15, and more. Even though i spent 8 years in catholic elementary school, 4 years at a catholic high school, and 4 years at a catholic college i never really learned the things that this book says about the acts of the apostles. In acts, jesus promise that the disciples will be baptized with the holy spirit cf.
Barclay wrote both his gospel and acts for the princip. The same theophilus is addressed, and in the first chapter the story is resumed just at the point where the gospel left off, save that a few extra details are given of the lords words after his resurrection, and the account of his ascension is repeated in a somewhat different setting. Commentary on the book of acts of the apostles by matthew. A newly discovered commentary is an exciting window into the mind of one of the most brilliant biblical commentators of the past centuries.
The text is an easy read and it is very enlightening about. Baker book house, 1978 barnhouse, donald grey, acts. Whats the history of the acts of the apostles book. Carefully transcribed and edited, these texts give us a new appreciation for lightfoots contributions to biblical scholarship. The traditional title of acts is the acts of the apostles.
The design of luke, in writing acts, was to supply, by select and suitable instances, an. As mentioned in the origin of the bible, the book of acts is actually a letter written to theophilus by luke, the doctor who accompanied paul on his latter missionary journeys and used his medical training to carefully record what paul and the other apostles said and did as inspired by god. Acts of the apostles, the second part of the work that begins with the gospel according to luke, is the story of the early church after jesuss. Importance of the book this book alone carries the whole load of inspired history. Read acts commentary using commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible. Witherington does an excellent job in his 100page introduction in establishing the historicity of the book and comparing luke to other greek historians such as polybius in their desire to report facts accurately. Commenting on commentaries on acts gerald cowen criswell college, dallas, tx 75246 in preparation for a thorough study of the book of acts, it is worth while to take stock of the resources available. He cites an encyclopedia entry which he believes best represents the book. The acts of the apostles chapter 1 the ascension of christ. The book of acts gives a unique glimpse into the life and practice of the early church. Book of acts chapter 2, part 2 christogenea internet radio 051020. There are a number of other helpful commentaries on the book of acts, including those by david peterson, james montgomery boice, dennis johnson, j. University of durham in england, currently professor of new testament interpretation, asbury theological seminary, notes in his research that ancient historical writing in lukes age was influenced by.
The first section traverses the emergence of the global gospel and the reception of the gentile christians into an emancipated church. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. Commentary on the book of acts bible study lessons. This document has been generated from xsl extensible stylesheet language source with renderx xep formatter, version 3.
Acts of the apostles, the book of acts commentary, bible study. The acts of the apostles commentaries on the books of. Acts of the apostles catholic commentary on sacred scripture. Matthew henry 18 october 1662 22 june 1714 was an english commentator on the bible, who published his works in 1706, sixvolume exposition of the old and new testaments 17081710 or complete commentary, provides an exhaustive verse by verse study of the bible, covering the whole of the old testament, and the gospels and acts in the new testament. This is an excellent commentary on the acts of the apostles, aptly subtitled a sociorhetorical commentary. By its opening words the acts of the apostles is linked in the clearest way with the gospel of luke. Because they were, like all the other new testament gospels, written anonymously, the secondcentury church fa. Praxeis apostolon was first used by irenaeus in the late second century. Terms in this set 12 though called the acts of the apostles, the book focuses primarily on only two apostlespeter and paulwho in christian art are usually portrayed holding what items. Notice that his name is not listed with the other apostles in acts 1. Acts free bible commentary on the book of acts in easy.
Acts of the apostles catholic commentary on sacred. In fact, there is an acts 1 and an acts 2, divided at 15. Verse 1 luke referred to his gospel here as my first book. Acts free bible commentary on the book of acts in easy english. As the fifth book of the new testament and a sequel to the gospel of luke or the second volume of what is often called lukeacts, the acts of the apostles continues the story begun by luke. Actus apostolorum, often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth book of the new testament. Properly, the book is the acts of peter and of paul, and the two themes divide the book with some precision. This bulletin has in recent years carried a lecture on thepaulinism of. However, after mentioning the eleven in chapter 1, and a brief mention of james the brother of john, plus some mention of james, the brother of jesus, the apostles luke focuses on are peter and paul. It is not a record of all of the acts of all of the apostles, but of just some of the acts of some of the apostles. The rest of the apostles drop out of sight and are only mentioned in a corporate way. Preaching through acts of the apostles rightly called by many the most important book in the bible, the acts of the apostles will make enjoyable and profitable read ing for you this month.
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