Key Theological Themes of the Passages - Assignment Example

The Breath of God (Acts 2 12) The Jews and all the holy men from all the races in the world residing beneath the heaven were staying in Jerusalem. Once the people were informed of the news about the presence of these holy men in Jerusalem, they gathered together and they set out to the Holy Land. The people who witnessed the preaching activities of the blessed people were amazed because they heard them speaking in their own native language. The people knew that the Jews and the holy men were Galileans but then they were overwhelmed when they heard these Galileans speaking in the language they were born into. Languages from Pathia, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phyrgia , Pamphylia and Libya were spoken by the holy messengers to propagate the words of God. Hence, this mysterious occurrence created anxiety to the minds of the people who witnessed the divine teachings conducted through confounded languages whereas others became extremely doubtful and were merely satisfied in relegating the incident to something of a mockery (Barclay 1976, p. 20). Some of the noteworthy verses from Acts 2 will be analyzed in accordance to the commentaries available and to the own understanding of the writer. Acts 2: 1 “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.” The day of the Pentecost or the Day of the Feast of Harvest is a very significant event in Jerusalem because this is the occasion wherein many will pour into the Temple and will hear the words of God that will encourage them to abandon their current faith and replace it with a new one; one that will adhere to the commands and the passion of the Lord (Marshall 1992). However, Luke left some mystery to the passage by not specifying the “one place” wherein thousands of people will gather together to be converted. Yet, it is not hard to determine the “one place” Luke is talking about because it is quite given by the event of the Pentecost. It could be in the portico of the Temple because this is the place where people routinely meet for prayer. The silence of Luke regarding this matter could have been due to his apprehension not to divert the attention of the people from reality; the deeper reason for Luke’s silence unquestionably holds an important credence (Harrington 1992). On the other hand, “they” could indicate a variety of people. Some believe that “they” were the Apostles because of the “the eleven Apostles” in Chapter 1: 26. Nevertheless, in the proceeding chapters and verses of the book, Luke strongly emphasized the “disciples” who are composed of men, brothers and sisters in which the term “they” emerged. So, it is probable that the “they” in the passage are the “disciples” (Alexander and Court 1998). Acts 2: 2 “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.” While the people were praying, a powerful sound from heaven, a great wind plugged the entire space of the dwelling where they were sitting. Initially, the sound was assumed to be a noise and not a wind yet it is the wind that created the noise; so, the people experienced both the wind and the noise. However, the most important thing about the majestic incidence is that the people who were praying all experienced the wind; all knew that the wind was present (Johnson 1992). In the New Testament, it is once established that the wind means “breath” thus identical with “life”. In the Old Testament, particularly in Genesis 2.7, the breath of life given by God to His creations is symbolically pictured in Samuel, Psalms and Ezekiel as a very powerful wind generated by God. Acts 2: 3 “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” The fire in the passage is, like the wind, a symbol of God. Perhaps, the fire as a fiery element of divine creation, stood as a representation of God’s presence as a founder of alliances between people, as a Good Samaritan that wholly accepts people who are not following the path of their destiny, as a guardian of His people and as a commander of the Holy canons. However, the fire that Jerusalem witnessed this time was an illustration of God’s desire to deliver His people from wickedness and of His plan to provide a new set of rules for the people to obey sternly. Even though the fire is all-consuming and entirely embracing the people on the Temple, the fire still signified individual and personal faith (Barclay 1976). Acts 2: 4 “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” It was a tradition in the early church to speak with tongues and this routine did not die away with time. In this ritual, someone under the influence of elation will utter numerous unintelligible sounds in a non-existent language. This particular sacrament is believed to be directly inspired by the Supreme Being and the ability to partake in the ceremony is much valued. Paul fiercely condemned this practice of preaching the message of God because according to him messages especially those that came from God should be relayed to the people through a medium that would be understandable to all. Moreover, Paul alleged that if a stranger happened to stumble upon in their congregation, he/she will probably realize that he/she entered parishioners of insane men. Hence, men speaking in tongues will likely be considered men who are drunk by people who are not familiar with the rite (Marguerat et al. 2002). Acts 2: 5-6 “Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.” The Jews live in Jerusalem and they are pious people. Nevertheless, there are other people from all parts of the world that would long to visit the feast because they are also devout individuals. Thus, the feast was not exclusive for the pure-blooded Jews but also for people living in “nations under heaven”. So, while the people where gathered, a sound was suddenly heard by the devout and they went to the place where the sound came from. The exact location of the source of the sound is still under debate. However, when the people reached the place, they were amazingly moved by the sight of the disciples, whom they recognize as Galileans, speaking in various different languages, including their own (Barclay 1976). Nevertheless, to speak in a plethora of languages was unnecessary during this incident since the congregation was comprised of Jews and Proselytes; the latter as Gentiles who had acknowledged the Jewish faith and lifestyle. The characteristic of the crowd required only two languages at most. Jews, largely, are Aramaic speakers and although some of them were participants of the Dispersion from a far-off land, they would still speak the language that almost every individual in the world spoke at that time, which is Greek (ibid). The Conversion of Lydia (Acts 16: 11-18) Paul’s mission in Philippi was extraordinary because he was able to win the hearts of an astounding cross-section of the population for the name of Christ. The converted Lydia belonged to the highest stratum of the social scale and also a purple merchant. The purple dye comes from a rare shell-fish and in order to extract the priceless dye, one must collect droplets of it which entails a lot of hard work; thus, the very expensive price of the purple dye. However, the point is, even though that Lydia possessed all the conveniences and luxuries of life, she was still convinced to convert her heart and mind to Christ (Reimer 1995). Acts 16: 11-13 “So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.” Neapolis, which is now Kavalla, was the harbor of Philippi. Philippi had a long and flourishing history. Before, it had been known as the Crenides which means “the springs”. However, Alexander the Great’s father Philip of Macedon, had used the Philippi as a fortification against its rival empire, the Thracians. Hence, Philip changing Crenides to Philippi as a tribute to his own self. There was a time when Philippi became a center of legendary gold mines but then worn out by the time of Paul’s visit (Barclay 1976). Philippi was an outpost of the Roman Empire and one of its strategic centers. Since Rome had a full control over Philippi, they established little organizations of army veterans who had successfully completed their military service. These army veterans were not excluded from the Roman code of laws which include the wearing of the Roman dress, speaking of the Roman language at all times and exercise the Roman moral codes any where they go. Accordingly, Rome was extremely proud of having Philippi as its colony (ibid). Conversely, unlike the great magnitude of the military in Philippi, there were no synagogues constructed in the place. Yet, the absence of a place of worship did not hinder the demonstration of faith by the Jews; they created their own sanctuaries, which were mostly located by the riverside. When the Sabbath day arrived, Paul and his colleagues took a trip to the pious’ havens and converse with the women whom they stumbled upon along their way (ibid). Acts 16: 14- 15 “One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15And after she was baptized and her household as well, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.” A business woman named Lydia was one of the women who heard the messages of Paul. Lydia was not unfamiliar with the words of God because she was already a worshipper of God even before Paul and his colleagues visited Philippi. Luke even noticed the awareness of Lydia of her own faith; Luke was quite happy by the fact that the wealthy woman began listening to them. Because God had opened her heart a long time ago, she displayed excessive enthusiasm in listening to Paul’s elaborations (Reimer 1995). Even though Lydia had all the material riches in life, she still remained humble in the face of the Lord. She welcomed the missionaries to her large house and she proposed to be baptized inside her abode along with the people in the household such as her children, relatives, workers and slaves. Paul explained to Lydia the importance of remaining hospitable and put emphasis on the assumption that Christians are ever-welcoming people of the Lord (ibid). Acts 16: 16-18 “As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, "These men are servant] of the Most High God, who proclaim to you) the way of salvation." And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour. Unlike Lydia, the slave girl came from the bottommost part of the social scale. She was called by the people of Philippi as Pytho because of her gift to envision the future and guide the people on their way to their fates. The slave- girl was actually mad but she was revered because many believed in the ancient period that mad people were used by the Gods as a channel of their messages to the mortals. However, her ability to show madness was maybe enhanced by her condition with the corrupt men who took advantage of her hardships to obtain their own gains. Nevertheless, Paul was successful in curing the slave-girl of madness. The fraudulent men who kept the slave-girl for their own interests were not happy of Paul’s incursion; instead they were furious that the source of their income disappeared due to the successful restoration of the slave-girl’s well-being (ibid). The Defense of Experience (Acts 22: 1- 11) Paul defended himself in front of the multitudes that persecuted him through arguing for himself by the use of his personal experiences. It is Paul’s strong belief that personal experiences are the most powerful arguments on earth. However, the content of Paul’s defense was essentially inconsistent because of the two things that were emphasized in the arguments that he aired out (Jervell 1996). Acts 22: 3 “I am verily a man [which am] a Jew, born in Tarsus, [a city] in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, [and] taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.” This passage indicates that Paul’s identity is similar to the people to whom he was addressing to. He was fundamentally a Jew and he never forgot this identity of his. Moreover, he was an individual from Tarsus and Tarsus was not known as a cruel city. It was famous for its ports in the Mediterranean which can be found at the opening of the River Cydnus and for its place as a station of the cross-section between Asia Minor and the distant Euphrates. Furthermore, Tarsus was the haven of the greatest universities known to the ancient civilizations. In addition to Paul’s identity, he declared that he was a rabbi and that he was extensively trained at the mercy of Gamaliel who had been the remarkable icon of the Law and who had passed away only five years before. Moreover, Paul admitted that his mentor Gamaliel had been an oppressor which was strongly influenced by the latter’s passion towards the ancestral ways of life. Summing up these proclamations uttered by Paul, it can be said that he was completely at one with the crowd he was speaking (ibid). Acts 22: 8-10 “I replied, Who are you, sir? And he said to me, I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting. My companions saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me. I asked, What shall I do, sir? The Lord answered me, Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything appointed for you to do. This passage delineates the great disparity between Paul and the audience. The elementary difference was that Paul was able to perceive Christ as the savior of men and God as the lover of all men whereas the crowd who persecuted him merely recognized God’s love as exclusive to the Jews. They were egoistic in their belief because they wanted to confine the preaching and messages of God to themselves. Those who will attempt to spread the word of God will be considered a heretic and a blasphemer. Furthermore, another grand difference between Paul and the people was that the former had the advantage over the latter because he had already the opportunity to meet Christ personally or face-to-face (Barclay 1976). The contradiction in Paul’s arguments was basically manifested in his efforts to proclaim his identity to the crowd that persecuted him. Initially, he was identifying himself as one of the individual to whom he spoke whereas in the subsequent contentions, he purposefully abandoned his first premise of himself and separate his identity from the audience with whom he was speaking. Paul’s predominant stance towards the presentation of personal experiences as arguments was truly Christian. He just maintained from his arguments that he was disconnected from his earthly existence to accomplish the special task that God gave him. Works Cited Alexander, L. and Court, J. 1998, The Acts of the Apostles Taylor and Francis, London. Barclay, W. (1976). The Acts of the Apostles, Westminster John Knox, Louisville, KY. Harrington, D.J. 1992, The Acts of the Apostles, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota. Jervell, J. 1996, The Theology of the Acts of the Apostles, CUP , Cambridge Johnson, L.T. 1992, The Acts of the Apostles, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota. Marguerat, D. et al. 2002, The First Christian Historian: Writing the “Acts of the Apostles”, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England. Marshall, I.H. 1992, The Acts of the Apostles, Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield. Reimer, I.R. 1995, Women in the Acts of the Apostles, Fortress, Minneapolis. . Read More