Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Abbreviations
- Preface
- 1 Jesus and the Gentiles
- 2 The Gentiles in Luke's Gospel
- 3 Lukan eschatology
- 4 The early chapters of Acts
- 5 Stephen and the Hellenists
- 6 Paul's conversion
- 7 Cornelius and the Apostolic Council
- 8 Paul's speech on the Areopagus
- 9 Jewish and Gentile missions
- 10 Summary and conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index of passages
- Index of authors
- Index of subjects
4 - The early chapters of Acts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 March 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Abbreviations
- Preface
- 1 Jesus and the Gentiles
- 2 The Gentiles in Luke's Gospel
- 3 Lukan eschatology
- 4 The early chapters of Acts
- 5 Stephen and the Hellenists
- 6 Paul's conversion
- 7 Cornelius and the Apostolic Council
- 8 Paul's speech on the Areopagus
- 9 Jewish and Gentile missions
- 10 Summary and conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index of passages
- Index of authors
- Index of subjects
Summary
Our aim in this chapter is to discuss four separate sections of Acts 1–2: Acts 1: 6–8; Acts 1: 9–11; Acts 1: 15f; Acts 2: 1f. Some of these have either a direct or an indirect bearing on the Gentile mission and the reason for our discussion of them is obvious. The story of Matthias5 election is relevant because it gives us an insight into the problems of the title ‘Apostle’, which for Luke is closely connected with the Gentile mission. The Ascension is important for Luke's eschatology in Acts and as a background to Jesus' command for the universal mission. Moreover, all of these topics are very important for giving us a clue to the beliefs and practices of the earliest Christians, which may in turn shed light on their attitudes towards the Gentile mission.
THE COMMISSION (ACTS 1: 6–8)
As the following study will show, these three verses bristle with problems. As usual in Luke–Acts, the problems are easier to state than to answer, but we shall attempt to do both.
ν. 6
We must first ask who is included in οἱ συνελθόντες. Haenchen thinks the reference is intentially inexact, since 1:21 implies that at least two more than the Eleven were present.
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- Information
- The Gentiles and the Gentile Mission in Luke-Acts , pp. 88 - 128Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1973