Acts and Christian History & Hermeneutics of Acts

■ Acts and Christian History

- Should the Acts narrative be the "normative model" for the church of all times?

-- The problem of biblical precedent

- How does authorial intent work in this story (history or narrative) of the primitive church?

-- Did Luke set out to teach a "normative model" of the church or just tell the story of what happened?

- Luke is both a historian and a theologian

 

 

■ Hermeneutics of Acts

- What happened= what must happen?

-- Only if it can be demonstrated on exegetical grounds that the author intended the narrative to be normative

-- If what is illustrated in the narrative is explicitly taught elsewhere I nScripture as normative

-- Must be integral to author's larger intended teaching in the narrative

- Doctrinal Statements from Scripture

-- Chian Theology - what we believe

-- Christian ethics - how we ought to live in relation to God and tothers

-- Christian experience or practice - what we do as spiritual people

 

 

■ Fee's Principles

- It is probably never valid to use an analogy based on biblical precedent as giving biblical authority for present-day actions.

 

- Although it may not have been the author's primary purpose, biblical narratives do have illustrative and (sometimes) "pattern" value

 

- In matters of Christian experience, and even more so of Christian practice, biblical precedents may sometimes be regarded as repeatable patterns - even if they are not understood to be normative

 

 

 

■ Example from Acts 19

1 And it happened that while(A) Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed(B) through the inland[a] country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them,(C) "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No,(D) we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." 3 And he said,(E) "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into(F) John’s baptism." 4 And Paul said,(G) "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people(H) to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." 5 On hearing this,(I) they were baptized in[b] the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And(J) when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and(K) they began speaking in tongues and(L) prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

 

Baptism of the John - repentance

Baptism of the Lord J. X.

Baptism of the H.S.

 

need...

repentance, confession, power of HS