How+to+Interpret+Acts

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= = =How to Interpret Acts=

Many divisions among denominations and individual Christians have arisen because of an improper interpretation of the book of Acts. Are the events contained in Acts normative for the church? Should local churches form their ministries to that of the early church? How can one discern the parts of the book that are models for the church? These questions ought to be answered so that we can interpret Acts…correctly. The nature of Acts differs from that of epistles or other genres because its main focus is events and theology; as a result, students of New Testament ought to interpret Acts in a different light than other New Testament books.

=Narratives and Correct Hermeneutics=

Luke, the writer of Acts was writing the second volume[|[1]] of a historical work to Theophilus. One can also think of Acts as a narrative in a broader sense. A narrative, as defined by the Oxford American College Dictionary is “a spoken or written account of connected events; a story”.[|[2]] This unique narrative is seeking to answer specific questions. Unlike epistles and sometimes poetry, the church is never directly addressed in narratives. The epistles serve to answer the questions which the book of Acts causes the reader to think. Paul, Peter, James, John, the anonymous author of Hebrews, and Jude give specific instruction concerning the Christian life and church conduct in the epistles. The book of Acts serves as a go-between to connect the epistles and history, including theological history, together. Thus the reader quickly learns the difference in what sort of book he is reading as he examines Acts. Moreover, Acts can be called a historical work, which is uniform and simple.[|[3]] The narrative does not flow around doctrinal discussion, but around events, even though truths of God are certainly contained within the narrative.[|[4]] One can see an example from Acts 1:21-22 when Peter said: “It is therefore necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—beginning with the baptism of John, until the day He was taken up from us—one of these should become a witness with us of His resurrection.” Then in Acts 1:26: “And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” The apostolic age has ended (Ephesians 2:20). Churches today do not have apostles. Therefore, the reader of the New Testament nowhere sees instruction in the epistles for picking new apostles. Ultimately events like this lead to the burning question: Is Acts normative for the modern church?

The student of the Bible needs to avoid two fallacies. The first danger is reading Acts then directly applying the entirety of the text to personal life and to the church while not taking the historical context into consideration. Or, second, out of fear of misinterpreting, he could read the book as he would a history text book and not find and apply the theological truths found in God’s inspired Word. The key is found in asking the right questions to a narrative. According to Carter, Duvall, and Hayes, two main questions need to be asked from narratives: What do the small stories in the book tell the reader about the point the author is trying to communicate? Also: How do these small stories flow into narrative as a whole?[|[5]] There is a danger in reading a narrative and applying it directly because one must look at how that story illustrates the main point of the text. Moreover, the reader ought to zoom their lens way out and see how the stories function in redemptive history.[|[6]] This approach will leave the reader with a greater understanding of who God is, which should lead the reader to worship Him more. Therefore correct interpretation will not result in dull Scripture reading, but will enhance accuracy and increase worship as the knowledge of who God is and what He has done is discovered.

Another way to look at Acts is descriptive. This is the type of text in the Bible that shows or //describes// how an event takes place. An example outside of Acts of a descriptive text is at the end of Judges when the tribe of Benjamin needs wives because of the effects of a civil war. They decided to get wives from a feast: “And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, ‘Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, and watch; and behold if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.’” (Judges 21:20-21). Descriptive texts stand in contrast to prescriptive texts. Prescriptive texts directly tell a reader what to do. An example of prescriptive text is found in I Corinthians 7:9: “But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn.” Both passages are talking about marriage, but it would be foolish to think that the best way of spousal acquisition is found from Judges 21 because it is merely a descriptive text. In the same way, most of Acts is descriptive and the theology Christians believe come mostly from letters dealing specifically with theological issues.

The reader can go about studying Acts or other narratives by asking questions to the text. In a more specific sense than the previous paragraph, the reader can learn how to read Acts or other narratives by using these helpful principles drawn from //Grasping God’s Word//, by Duvall and Hays. First, the reader should ask what Luke intended to show the audience as he wrote Acts. Second the reader should examine both the good and bad examples seen in the characters so that readers can understand how the story is working and so that they can seek to be like the characters that emulate godliness, and put off bad characteristics which some characters demonstrate.[|[7]] Next, the passage should be read with the narrative as a whole in mind. Fourth, clarification can come from other passages in Acts. Finally, repeated patterns and themes should be noted.[|[8]] Applying principles like these will help the reader accurately interpret and apply Acts.

Luke was faithful to write the document to show how God began His work in the church. The unique timing of the birth of the church called for unique strategy. God chose to do certain things during the time of Acts that He has not sanctioned for today. By way of analogy, a football coach will use different players and different tactics when his team is on fourth down with 20 yards to go than he would when it is second down with 5 yards to go. The point is that God was working in a different way during the time of Acts than He works in the church today. One of the reasons that the reader needs to be careful in not making Acts normative for the church is because of the unique time that Acts was written. Men were selected for the special purpose of continuing the work of Christ and writing down direct revelation from God (II Peter 1:21, 3:2). According to Ephesians 2:20, the time for apostles is over because the church rests on the “foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner //stone//”. Saucy helps make sense of this: “The foundation is the apostles and prophets, both of whom are seen as chief gifts to the //first-century church//, (Eph 4:11). The position is due to the fact that they were recipients of foundational revelation of God. The New Testament prophets were instrumental in God’s immediate instruction to the primitive churches before the canonical revelation was complete” (emphasis mine).[|[9]] Acts was a special time in God’s redemptive history.

=Authorial Intent and Theology=

Luke’s intent in writing both Luke and Acts was to write an account of consecutive order to Theophilus. The desired result was for Theolphilus to “know the exact truth about” what he had been taught (Luke 1:3-4). These verses put a lot of stress on the historical side of Luke’s writing. We can imply that Acts has the same purpose as Luke because the first verse in Acts shows a continuity with Luke: “the first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day he was taken up, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.” (Acts 1:1-2). The reader expects to see Luke say something about this second account, but he doesn’t. He immediately begins to speak of Jesus and the resurrection. Thus a logical and careful reading of the first two verses in Acts shows that it is a continuation of what Luke wrote before. Therefore, Acts is also aimed at being a consecutive account that would help Theophilus to know the truth. Bock said it this way: “The overlapping address shows that Luke composed Acts as a single storyline extending from his Gospel. Everything about this introduction to Acts confirms this linkage.”[|[10]] If indeed Bock is correct, then we can assume that Luke wrote both the Gospel and Acts with the same purpose: to consecutively explain what happened concerning the work of Christ.

However, despite the historical nature of the composition, theology is not absent in Luke because theology and the history of the church are inextricably linked. Theology in Acts is presented in light of the plot and the setting, but it wasn’t Luke’s main goal.[|[11]] Luke uses the narrative account so that Theophilus could see how Christ’s work continued after His resurrection and ascension.

Moreover, the reader needs to ask about who the implied reader is so that one can better understand both Luke’s purpose in writing to him and what would be understood by the original reader.[|[12]] Not much is known about Theophilus. Most suspect he was Roman and some sort of stately position because Luke addressed him as “most excellent” (Luke 1:3) the same title Paul ascribed to Felix and Festus, the Roman procurators.[|[13]] His name means “‘loved of God’”.[|[14]] While introducing the gospel of Luke, Hendrikson said this: “One thing seems certain: Theophilus, assailed from every direction by stories, rumors, and counter-rumors regarding Jesus…needs a fully reliable and systematically organized report with respect to the events centering in Jesus.”[|[15]] The same applies for Acts because of its continuity with Luke. The text in the Bible does not clearly say if Theophilus was believer or not, but some think he was.[|[16]] It seems that the Lord intentionally did not give readers a wealth of knowledge about Theophilus, but He gave enough to help readers understand what sort of questions Theophilus was asking. However this one fact must always be kept in mind: Acts of the apostles is not about Paul, Luke, or Theophilus, but it’s about Jesus and His continuing work in the church.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">[|[17]]

Just as the Martin Luther King’s, “I have a Dream” speech cannot be properly understood without an understanding of the historical civil rights movement, neither can an epistle be fully understood without an understanding of the epistle’s history of the characters and events. Acts’ main purpose is a historical narrative to allow the reader make connections about events and epistles. As noted above, the first chapter in Acts is clear; Luke is writing a second part of an account to Theophilus. The reader can make a connection that Luke’s purpose in both Luke and Acts is a historical document, not systematic theology.<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">[|[18]] Other epistles (such as Romans and I Corinthians) show systematic theology. At the same time, the theology in Acts is not flawed because, “the main doctrinal themes presented in apostolic preaching” are preserved.<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">[|[19]] However, the reader would be foolish to assume that all of the theology taught by the apostles is found in the speeches of Acts.<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">[|[20]] Take for example Acts 3 when Peter addresses the people at Solomon’s portico. The text says in he began to preach in the “ninth hour” (3:1), or 3 P.M. They didn’t stop until hours later (4:3). The entire speech was summed up in a mere 15 verses in chapter 3.<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">[|[21]] The point is that the sermon went on a much longer, and probably had much more theological detail. Thus the reader sees that Luke’s purpose was not to bring the //fullness// of Christian theology to his readers, but what he did bring was accurate. However that story and sermon does answer who has the authority: the Jews or the followers of the Way? This narrative was a partial answer to the larger question that Acts seeks to answer: How did God build the church?

So what should the reader ask when reading Acts? Application from Acts does not come on a one to one basis, but is found by carefully tracing the meaning back to the main point of the book: how God builds the church. In the same way, we are to discover how Luke uses a story to connect with the big picture, including references outside the book. One should ask if Luke is alluding to other texts in the Bible or even other stories outside of the Bible (such as Homer’s Odyssey). Sometimes Luke may intentionally hide information that forces his readers to consider what some answers could be, such as: What should we do about that? How do we do that? Asking questions about the characters is also important. Are their traits desirable for the reader? Is he similar to him? He this man a foil to that man? Who is the protagonist? The reader needs to ask questions as he puts himself in the story.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">[|[22]] These questions need to lead to this ultimate question: What is Luke communicating to the audience about God and His work with the church?

=Conclusion=

In conclusion, the reader has learned that Acts is indeed an accurate book containing a history of the early church written so that Theophilus might understand what happened concerning the work of Christ after His resurrection. However, it is not a systematic theology, nor is seeking to answer questions how the church is to conduct itself because epistles are a designed for that. Instead this narrative deserves different treatment in light of its purpose which is to show how God began His groundbreaking and history changing institution, the church.

Bibliography:

Bock, Darrell L. //Acts//. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic, 2007. Carter, Terry. //Preaching God’s word : a hands-on approach to preparing, developing, and delivering the sermon//. Grand Rapids Mich.: Zondervan, 2005. Duvall, J. //Grasping God’s word : a hands-on approach to reading, interpreting, and applying the Bible//. Grand Rapids Mich.: Zondervan, 2001. Green, Joel. //Hearing the New Testament : strategies for interpretation//. Grand Rapids Mich. ;Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. ;;Paternoster Press, 1995. Guthrie, Donald. //New Testament Introduction//. 4th ed. Downers Grove, Ill: Inter-Varsity Press, 1990. Haenchen, Ernst. //The Acts of the Apostles a Commentary//. Oxford: Blackwell, 1971. Hendriksen, William. //Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke//. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978. Kistemaker, Simon. //Exposition of the Acts of the Apostles//. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Book House, 1990. MacArthur, John. //Preaching : how to preach biblically//. Nashville Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Inc., 1992. MacArthur, John, and John MacArthur. //Acts 1-12//. Chicago: Moody Press, 1994. Osborne, Grant R. //The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation//. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1991. Oxford University Press. //The Oxford American college dictionary.// New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2002. Saucy, Robert. //The church in God’s program,//. Chicago: Moody Press, 1972. //The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia//. Fully rev. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans, 1979.

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[1]] Joel Green, //Hearing the New Testament : strategies for interpretation// (Grand Rapids Mich.  ;Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. ;;Paternoster Press, 1995), 250. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[2]] Oxford University Press., //The Oxford American college dictionary.// (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2002), 900. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[3]] Ernst Haenchen, //The Acts of the Apostles a Commentary// (Oxford: Blackwell, 1971), 99. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[4]] John MacArthur and John MacArthur, //Acts 1-12// (Chicago: Moody Press, 1994), 2. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[5]] Terry Carter, //Preaching God’s word : a hands-on approach to preparing, developing, and delivering the sermon// (Grand Rapids Mich.: Zondervan, 2005), 189. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[6]] John MacArthur, //Preaching : how to preach biblically// (Nashville Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Inc., 1992), 229. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[7]] Green, //Hearing the New Testament//, 253. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[8]] J Duvall, //Grasping God’s word : a hands-on approach to reading, interpreting, and applying the Bible// (Grand Rapids Mich.: Zondervan, 2001), 279-280. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[9]] Robert Saucy, //The church in God’s program,// (Chicago: Moody Press, 1972), 34. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[10]] Darrell L Bock, //Acts// (Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic, 2007), 52. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[11]] Grant R Osborne, //The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation// (Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1991), 159. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[12]] Green, //Hearing the New Testament//, 241. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[13]] //The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia//, Fully rev. (Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans, 1979), 831. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[14]] Ibid. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[15]] William Hendriksen, //Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke// (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978), 15. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[16]] Simon Kistemaker, //Exposition of the Acts of the Apostles// (Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Book House, 1990), 47. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[17]] Bock, //Acts//, 52-53. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[18]] MacArthur and MacArthur, //Acts 1-12//, 5. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[19]] Donald Guthrie, //New Testament Introduction//, 4th ed. (Downers Grove, Ill: Inter-Varsity Press, 1990), 354. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[20]] Ibid., 353. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[21]] Duvall, //Grasping God’s word//, 268. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|[22]] Green, //Hearing the New Testament//, 248-253.

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