Acts (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible)
Jaroslav Pelikan
Language: English
Pages: 320
ISBN: 1587433540
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
An internationally renowned historian of Christian doctrine offers a theological reading of Acts.
fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage" (Heb. 2: 14-15). In the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, his conflict with the powers of sin, death, and the devil (-713:8-11), as seen already in the temptation at the inauguration of his ministry (Luke 4:1-13) and in his authority over the demons, reaches its climax when "God raised him up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it" (2:24). In the twentieth century, the Masai Creed picks up this
with "devout God-fearer" (EUOE~TJ~ Kat the book of Acts 9-which is the primary concentration of the present commentary. Commentary has been, moreover, the primary means of theological reflection in both the Jewish and the Christian tradition. Far more than the philosophical speculation (~17: 18) or even the doctrinal controversy and polemics (~15:2) that have together tended to dominate modern textbooks and courses in historical theology, the question and the counterquestion formulated in the book of Acts-"Do you understand what you is to defend God's activity in the world,"9 this interpretation of history apdy summarized the central theme of that "apology." To be able to speak about the historical actions of God in a way that did not compromise the doctrine of divine transcendence (717:23), Greek church fathers such as Saint Athanasius developed the distinction between "theology' and "economy;" the former being seen as the doctrine of the divine essence (ouoLa) as Trinity and the latter as the understanding of the monotheism of his Jewish upbringing (719:28). Christian Theology in Encounter with Greeo-Roman Philosophy 1i"~1I Some also of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers met him. In the Exposition of the Chapters of the Acts of the Apostles attributed to Pamphilus, the theme of Acts 17 chapter is given as: "Of the inscription on the altar at Athens, and of the philosophic preaching and piety of Paul";4 and Cassiodorus describes the message as "celestial philosophy."5 The most profound point both of