AUTHENTIC WITNESS
Part I, chapters 1-12; Part II, chapters 13-28
Since our emphasis will be the Missionary Enterprise, the following is a brief outline of Acts from a missionary/evangelism perspective. (Refer to the outline in the Biblical Doctrine of Missions in the booklet, Challenge!! Response!!)
1. God’s Missionary Plan4. A Missionary Designate
2. The Missionary’s Adversary5. A Missionary Campaign
3. A Missionary Center6. A Missionary Problem
Chapters 1-7—Witnesses in Jerusalem
1. First PreparationsWitnesses Prepared
2. First IngatheringWitnesses Anointed
3. First MiracleWitnesses Accredited
4. First ConflictWitnesses Imprisoned
5. First StripesWitnesses Beaten
6. First DeaconsWitnesses Multiplied
7. First MartyrWitnesses Persecuted
Chapters 8-12—Witnesses in All Judea and Samaria
8. A New AdvanceSamaria
9. A New ApostlePaul
10. A New DepartureCornelius
11. A New CenterAntioch
12. A New StruggleHerod
Chapters 13-28—Witnesses unto the Uttermost Part of the Earth
(Paul’s First Missionary Journey (SE Asia Minor)
13. A Missionary Call
14. A Missionary Circuit
15. A Missionary Conference
(Paul’s Second Missionary Journey (Eastern Europe)
16. Three Typical Converts
17. Three Typical Cities
18. Three Typical Experiences
(Paul’s Third Missionary Journey (Roman Asia)
19. A MissionaryCenter
20. A Missionary Charge
21. A Missionary Crisis
(Paul’s Fourth Missionary Journey (Caesarea to Rome)
22. Witnessing to the People26. Witnessing on before Kings
23. Witnessing before the Council27. Witnessing on Board the Ship
24. Witnessing before the Governors28. Witnessing in A City
25. Witnessing before the Governors
The Birth of the Church (1.1 – 5.42)
1. Introduction
2. The Day of Pentecost
3. A Miracle and its consequences
4. All things in common
5. The Apostles before the Sanhedrin again
Persecution Leads to Expansion (6.1 – 9.31)
1. Stephen
2. Phillip
3. Conversion of Saul of Tarsus
Acts of Peter: The Gentiles Brought in(9.32 – 12.24)
1. Barnabas and Saul
2. Cyprus
3. Pisidian Antioch
4. Iconium, Lystra, Derbe
5. The Council at Jerusalem
6. The Letter received in Antioch and the AnatolianChurches
Triumph and Tragedy (13.1 – 16.5)
1. Growth and Mission of Barnabas and Saul
2. Jews and Gentiles Approached
Evangelization on the Shores of the Aegean Sea (16.6 – 19.20)
1. Philippi
2. Thessalonica to Athens
3. Corinth
4. Ephesus
Paul Plans to Visit Rome via Jerusalem and Achieves His Aim in an Unexpected Way (19.21 – 29.31)
1. He leaves Ephesus for Macedonia and Greece
2. The Journey to Jerusalem
3. Paul at Jerusalem
4. Paul at Caesarea: He appears before Felix and Festus
5. Paul and Agrippa
6. The Voyage and Shipwreck of Paul
7. In Malta
8. Rome
Special Attention will be given to the following dominate theological issues in Acts:
1. The Speeches in Acts (a) Content (b) Audience (c) Results. These speeches make up almost 1/5 of the total text of Acts.
2. The Old Testament in Acts, chapters 1 – 15.
3. Pentecost and the contemporary resurgence of Glossolalia.
4. Apologetics and Evangelism, Acts 17
5. The nature of the Church and its ministry in Acts
6. Acts and the contemporary missionary enterprise (the world population was 5 ¼ billion – to be 10 to 11 billion in the 21st century)
7. The place of the Holy Spirit in the expansion of the Church
8. The theme of the unhindered Gospel in Acts (Acts 28.31 ends with the adverb akolutos
9. Contemporary discussion on baptism and the teaching of Acts.
10. Archaeology and the Book of Acts.
11. Recent scholarship on Acts
12. Acts and the Pauline Epistles
13. Acts and Petrine Epistles
14. The Theology of Acts
15. Luke as Historian in recent research
16. Contemporary preaching from Acts
17. Roman Law in Acts
18. The nautical terms in Acts 27
19. Medical terms in Acts
20. The concept of the Church in Acts
21. The Covenant concept and Acts
22. The Gospel and Culture
23. Christ, Culture, Conversion, Commission and Communication
Bibliography
Barrett, C.K., Luke, the Historian in Recent Studies
Dibelius, M., Studies in the Acts of the Apostles, 1956
Gartner, Bertil, The Areopagus Speech and Natural Revelation (Uppsala, 1955)
Lake and Ropes, et al, The Beginning of Christianity, 5 vols. Baker reprint
Trocme, Etienne, Le “Liyre des Actes” el l histoire (Paris: Presses University de France, 1957) A masterful survey of study on Acts since the 1800s; indispensable.
Other Literature
M. Black, An Aramaic Approach to the Gospels and Acts (Oxford, 1946)
H.J. Cadbury, Style and Literary Method of Luke (Cambridge, MA, 1920)
______, The Making of Luke-Acts (New York, 1947)
G.H. Dalman, Die Worte Jesu (Leipzig, 1930) E.T. The Words of Jesus (Edinburgh)
______Jesus-Jeschua (Leipzig and London, 1920 and 1929)
G.A. Daissmann, Bibelstudien (Bible Studies) Marburg, 1895, 97 and Edinburgh, 1909)
______. Licht vom Osten (Light from the Ancient East) Tubingen, 1923, London, 1927)
W.D. Davies, Paul and Rabbinic Judaism (London, 1948)
M. Dibelius, Paulus aus dem Areopag (Heidelberg, 1939)
A. Harnack, Chronologie der altchristlichen Litteratur (Leipzig, 1897)
______, Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums (Leipzig, 1923) (Mission and Expansion of Christianity (London, 1908)
______, Die Apostelge schichte (The Acts of the Apostles) Leipzig, 1908, London, 1909)
______, Lukas der Arzt (Luke the Physician) (Leipzig, 1906, London, 1907)
______, The Constitution and Law of the Church in the First Two Centuries (London, 1910)
W.K. Hobart, The Medical Language of St. Luke (Dublin, 1882)
R. Liechtenhan, Die urchristliche Mission (Zurich, 1946)
J.G. Machen, The Origin of Paul’s Religion (New York, 1929)
A.T. Robertson, Luke the Historian in the Light of Research (Edinburgh, 1920)
H. St. J. Thackeray, The Relation of St. Paul to Contemporary Jewish Thought (London, 1900)
______, Josephus, the Man and the Historian (New York, 1929)
A. Wikenhauser, Die Apostelgeschichte und ihr Geschichtswert (Munster, 4th edition)
James D. Strauss
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