The Early Chapters

The book of Acts has always been a favourite to read. It gives a detailed picture of the origin of the early church, the spread of the gospel into the world which in turn was the beginning of the Christian faith. The authorship of the book of Acts has always been debated and tested, but it is generally agreed that the author of Acts is the same person who wrote the third gospel. It is commonly known that Acts is a sequel to the third gospel, referred to as the ‘first book’. The author is…

Introduction - Human Will While reading Wilken, I was most touched by the chapter pertaining to human will. I found myself crying while reflecting about what the author stated in reference to Mary. “It is often said that the divine plan of salvation depended on Mary’s free assent to the word of the angel. The work of salvation is a work of God, but it could not be carried out without the cooperation of human beings.”(Loc 1447). I have never thought about it this way. How much do we hinder…

prove your point. Rea concludes chapter 1 with this statement, "Our awareness of the emergence of tradition in the past reminds us to be careful in our decisions for current faith and practice, for what we do today could become tomorrow 's tradition s (p. 34)." I believe Rea is correct. The church needs to exam what they claim is tradition so that we are sure that what we do has been passed on from the fore fathers and the Apostles.…

and Antipas and Luke will slowly convert Antipas into a Christian. Antipas being a smart man and is also a curios one who would want to grow on his knowledge about Christ. At the time that Antipas and Luke are writing each other is the time of the early church when Christian faced much persecution. As Antipas grew closer to Luke he learned more about Jesus Christ and the gospel. He also slowing became more e humble and filled himself with humility (157). In this story Antipas is the only dynamic…

narrative Luke commenced. In other words, the gospel of Acts is the next story of which the book of Luke and the early church after Jesus’s martyrdom left off. As one reads the book of Acts, one can determine the dynamic era in Christian history among the fundamental beliefs of the earliest Christians and the phase where Christian thinking and beliefs were constructing. Existing chapters of Acts emphasizes Jerusalem’s community of believers and finally, the exertion of the Holy Spirit in the…

The Gospel of Matthew contains a number of verses that provide a conflicting yet intriguing insight to the status of women and the interactions that Jesus had with them. A consequence of these differing views is the uncertainty readers may have over the role of women and their influence in the rise of Christianity. Professor Rodney Stark’s essay on the role of women promotes the notion that women were major stakeholders in Christianity and acted as a catalyst to the religion’s rapid growth.…

unknown concerns one of Jesus closest disciple, the Apostle Peter. Biblical scholars have no problem embracing Peter’s crucifixion; at the same time, basically keep quiet regarding the reason he dies in the first place that involves celibacy (next chapter). In addition, the Apostle Paul, and a woman called Thecla, traveled in the region preaching a strict code of celibacy. (Several centuries later, a Church Father, Terlvilian, dismissed Thecla as a myth…

Perpetua is a Christian martyr from the days of early christianity, when it was still illegal to be a Christian. She writes about her experiences, about being arrested and having visions about heaven, as well as what her time in prison was like, because it was more similar to house arrest. When her story ends, it tells about her getting trampled by a female cow in the arena, and when she doesn’t die from that, where she guides the hand of the soldier who executes her. Throughout all of her…

Being immersed in a Christian environment for the last couple of years at Bryan College it has been difficult to see a different perspective on living a life for Christ that does not demonize socialism and endorse capitalism, until reading Christianity and the Social Crisis. Walter Rauschenbusch, the author, paints a picture of what it is to be politically liberal, yet religiously conservative on a scale that he calls the church to action by utilizing the influence it now has over the common…

This source is Acts of the Apostles (21:31- 28:31), from the New Testament. It is a religious work that is a written account of what occurred in the decades after the emergence of Jesus as a player in history. It appears to be a work produced around the late first century, (Richard Pervo, 14) in the years after jesus’s death. The source discusses events that occurred to Paul after Jesus had died. It seems to be written by Luke (Richard Pervo, 13-14), this source is a compilation of Paul’s…