The importance of the book of acts liberty university. So far, just having finished acts 15, i am amazed that after peter and john were taken and beaten by the high priest and sadducees but were. The book of acts emphasizes the importance of obedience to gods word and the transformation that occurs as. Luke records many examples of conversion in the book of acts e. Could you compare and contrast peters ministry and pauls. Thus, he has the spiritual insight to recognize where and how god is working. It is the book of acts that certifies peter as a man who is qualified to speak on the subject of suffering for the name of jesus. The last time we left peter was in the gospel of luke. The acts of philip the acts of philip is an extensive collection of loosely connected episodes1.
It appears that john was a disciple of john the baptist until he was called to follow jesus at the outset of the lords ministry. Peter the apostle incidents important in interpretations of peter. The book of acts, also called acts of the apostles, does not specifically identify its author. The book reflects the heretical views of early christian docetists, who. The sadducees werent happy with peter and john because they were preaching the gospel and so they arrested them and put them in.
The traditional title for the book of acts is the acts of the apostles because of its focus on the ministries of peter and paul and the development of the early church. Any quest for the historical peter faces serious challenges. Luke had written to him before and had told him about the things that jesus did and taught. The book of the acts of the apostles typically shortened to simply acts was almost certainly written by luke or at least whoever recorded the book of luke. Barnabas, simeon called niger, lucius the cyrenian, manaen a close friend of herod the. Acts 3 while the people were in awe over the lame mans healing, peter took that chance to direct the peoples attention to god. Publication date 1909 publisher chicago, open court pub.
The traditional name for this book is acts of the apostles, but a more. Next week we will take a look at the gospel accounts of mark and john as we did the book of matthew. This description likely pointed to john for three reasons. Then, peter s plight of spreading the good news is found in the book of acts, and he wrote two letters to new christians which were adopted into the bible. This title accurately reflects the contents of the book, which is a series of vignettes chronicling the lives of key apostles especially peter and paul in the decades. The book of acts is a key part of gods plan to reach the whole world. John the apostle was one of the twelve apostles of jesus according to the new testament.
Peter is preaching to a jewish audience on the day of pentecost. We read of the evangelistic methods and message of the early apostles and preachers 3. Peter wagner, phd, holds graduate degrees in theology, missiology, and religion from fuller theological seminary, princeton theological seminary, and the university of southern california. Book of acts overview insight for living ministries. From this point on in the book of acts, peters presence declines, and paul. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in jesus the resurrection of. Numerous stories about john and other apostles began circulating in the second century ce. How many of peters addresses are recorded in the book of acts. People from many nations were beside themselves with wonder at hearing gods amazing acts in their own languages. Peter and andrew were followers of john the baptist and had their first contact with jesus through john john 1.
One of the earliest of the apocryphal acts of the apostles, the acts of peter reports a miracle contest between simon magus and the apostle peter in rome. Peter is to paul in acts what john the baptist is to jesus in the gospels. Photius, the 9thcentury patriarch of constantinople, identified the author of the acts of john as leucius charinus, otherwise unknown. Reading the book of acts, we are enlightened and encouraged by the many miracles that were being performed during this time by the disciples peter, john. The tradition from the earliest days of the church has been that luke, a companion of the apostle paul, wrote the books of luke and acts colossians 4. Peters activities are described at some length, and john and philip are mentioned, but more than half of the book is about paul and his connection with the christian movement. Peter and the 11s audience were supposed to go through the sevenyear tribulation, daniels 70 th week, punishment for their nations sins acts 2. The first half of the book of acts acts 112, dealing with the beginnings of the church in and around jerusalem, focuses roughly on the leadership of peter and john, while the second half acts 28, dealing with the expansion of the church into nonjewish areas of the roman empire, focuses on the activities of barnabas and paul. When the holy spirit overpowered the upper room with the sound like a roaring windstorm, history changed forever. It could also have been titled the acts of jesus christ, because it describes what jesus continued to do and teach through the church after he was taken up to heaven acts. His point is that the book of acts has little to say about peter after chapter 12 and that there is very little if any historically reliable data which allows us to know much at all about peter. Actus apostolorum, often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth book of the new testament. The letters or epistles after acts tells us of the supreme care and guidance that god has for his people then, now, and in the future.
They were probably about the same age the idea that peter was some years older than john rests mainly on the pictures which artists have drawn from their imagination, and has no evidence in scripture, and had been friends from. The apocryphal acts of paul, peter, john, andrew and. Acts 4 niv bible the priests and the captain of the. The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the sadducees came up to peter and john while they were speaking to the people. The location is the temple, with a jewish audience. Peter, john, james, andrew, philip, thomas, bartholomew, matthew, james, simon, judas what were to be qualifications of the one who would replace judas. Beyond peter and his epistles, the situation is even more dramatic with paul and his writings.
John wrote five books of the new testament, of which three are general epistles. This title accurately reflects the contents of the book, which is a series of vignettes chronicling the lives of key apostles especially peter and paul in. Earlier references are mostly doubtful, but the acts of. John is also associated with the pseudepigraphal apocryphal text of the acts of john, which is traditionally viewed as. The majority of the text has survived only in the latin translation of the vercelli manuscript, under the title actus petri cum simone. Pauls writings, written before the synoptic gospels, refer to another peter, james, and john, in which the latter two are not the zebedee sons but james the just, jesuss brother, and john the presbyter, the former temple priest, at galatians 2.
Many of these reveal strong docetistic tendencies in the john tradition, and at least one episode is really quite amusing see section 60. For assurance of our own salvation, we can compare our own conversion experience with those in acts. Book of john overview insight for living ministries. Fullsize peter and john perform some miracles image.
The acts of peter is one of the earliest of the apocryphal acts of the apostles. Lying at the gate of the temple when peter and john had come for the. Peter, in verse 8, who speaks for both and preaches boldly of christ and the name of jesus. Thanks to acts, peters exhortations carry much more weight than if acts had not been written. James dunn titled his chapter on peter in his book on the apostolic period the voiceless peter beginning at jerusalem, chapter, 35. When jesus called peter to follow him, peter was still working as a fisherman mark 1. The book has been called the acts of the apostles, really a misnomer because acts has very little to say concerning most of the original twelve apostles. John are arrested and called before the sanhedrin, it is st. An insight analysis into the book of acts project topics. It is mainly notable for a description of a miracle contest between saint peter and simon magus, and as the first record of the tradition that st. Studies in the book of acts grace communion seminary.
President lee continues, giving us insight into peters imitation of christ, will you see. Acts 1, new international version niv the bible app. The union of the two brings the narratives of the gospels into an interesting connection with the acts. The earliest direct evidence is the statement of eusebius hist. Healing, wholeness, and repentance in acts 3 religious studies.
The acts of john describes several journeys of john, tales filled with dramatic and miraculous events, anecdotes and wellframed apostolic speeches. T he book of acts in the bible, written around 6263 a. If peters confession demonstrates his faith and insight, his denial that he. These stories trace to a variety of different authors and contexts, and were revised and retold in many different forms and languages over the centuries. While there are some areas of great detail of the acts of the apostles, many times you must use cross references to the gospels of matthew, mark, luke and john as well as some other epistles in the new testament to get the full picture of what was.
However, it is possible to identify four cycles within the material. The book of acts is the account of the working of a sovereign god through his spirit, by means of men, and in spite of them, to accomplish that of which men would never have conceived and in ways. This film depicts the birth of the early church through the eyes of luke, the author of the gospel of luke. The apocryphal acts of paul, peter, john, andrew and thomas by pick, bernhard, 18421917.
Bradd words in boldboldbold and underlined are the answers to the blanks on the acts study guides acts 1 the book of acts was written by luke to a man named theophilus. Peter who is in charge of the church in collecting funds for world evangelism and pronounces gods judgment on ananias and sapphira. Peter and john have just healed a man lame from birth, who is now leaping. The title of the book of acts comes from the greek word praxis, a word often used in early christian literature to describe the great deeds of the apostles or other significant believers. It is significant that, as the author of both the gospel of luke and the acts of the. His point is that the book of acts has little to say about peter after chapter 12 and there is no historically reliable data which allows us to know much at all about peters ministry. In what ways can we apply this to those we come in contact with. The same jesus who came to john with the words of hope and encouragement in the midst of his hardsh. In my first letter i told you about jesus life and teachings and how he returned to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions from the holy spirit.
Reading the book of acts, we are enlightened and encouraged by the many miracles that were being performed during this time by the disciples peter, john, and paul. Acts of john, an apocryphal noncanonical and unauthentic christian writing, composed about ad 180, purporting to be an account of the travels and miracles of st. In john the title was granted at what may have been the first meeting between jesus and. As you read the book of acts, you discover that the holy spirit is still interested in.
The paulfriendly acts of the apostles also refers in. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. A part of the text is extant in two versions, a shorter and a longer one. Book of mark overview insight for living ministries. The book of acts emphasizes the importance of obedience to gods word and the transformation that occurs as a result of knowing christ. Peter and john spoke the word of god boldly acts 4. One piece of evidence that supports this is that, in luke 1. And christ ties it all together, as does the book of acts. He served as a field missionary in bolivia for 16 years and he taught on the faculty of the school of intercultural studies at fuller seminary for 30 years. The writer of paul obviously knew the canonical acts very well and obviously took great liberties with them.