Allen - Acts of the apostles

The Book of Acts nears its climax with a sea voyage. I began writing this commentary on the open deck of a ship on my first voyage at sea, and through the feel of the ship, I felt a certain resonance with Paul and with the larger story of Acts. The main theme of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts is the coming of the Realm of Godthe confidence that God is seeking to restore the present old and broken world so that all things will fully manifest Gods purposes for all to live in love, peace, justice, and abundance. From Lukes point of view, this restoration is already underway in nascent form through the ministry of Jesus, though Luke believed it would come fully only with Jesuss return.

Beginning to write at sea affected my work. It called attention to differences between the world of Acts and the world of today. The ships on which Paul rode would have fit in the control room of my vessel. Yet we visited ports in which people struggle for survival, evidence the need for the manifestation of the Realm of God is as urgent today as then.

This commentary seeks to spark conversations with Acts that respect the otherness of the textthe differences in its world from the world of todaywhile exploring points at which this conversation continues to offer hope. At times, Acts points a way forward for todays community. At other timeswhen elements of a passage in Acts are theologically or ethically problematicthe conversation sets in motion theological reflection that can help us chart a course towards a world more like the Realm.

As a heterosexual male of European origin in the upper middle class, I enjoy the best the old age offers, often at the expense of women and people of other racial and ethnic communities. Yet, I hope this book can be a companion to preaching that sails on a journey of transformation toward a world ever more in the model of the Realm of God.

After a brief Introduction, this commentary moves passage by passage through Acts. Each discussion contains three elements. First, it interprets the passage in light of its historical, literary, and theological function in Acts. Second, because I see the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts as a giant chiasmus, I mention how the chiastic passage in the Gospel illumines our understanding of the passage in Acts. This chiastic structure is explained in Appendix 1. Third, each discussion offers suggestions for sermons. Since most of my exegetical observations are found in the standard commentaries, I cite other scholars only at points at which a distinct viewpoint has a direct effect on this work.

I pause now over the titles Old Testament and New Testament. The names Old and New are theologically problematic: old can suggest outdated, in need of replacement, whereas new can refer to new and improved. These designations contribute to anti-Judaism, anti-Semitism, and supersessionism (the notion that Judaism is no longer valid and that Christianity has superseded or replaced Judaism). Preachers today increasingly use alternate terms such as Hebrew Bible or First and Second Testaments. These ways of speaking are not quite satisfactory because First and Second can imply first place and second place, and Hebrew Bible is not strictly accurate since parts of the Hebrew Bible are in Aramaic. In this commentary, I lean toward Torah, Prophets, and Writings for the first thirty-nine books and Gospels and Letters for the second twenty-seven books. This designation has the advantage of implying that the one Bible is composed of these different but theologically parallel parts.