Method for Missional Significance in Acts

A theology of mission combines the findings of literary shape and missional significance with the integration of other theological topics in Acts. As an original suggestion, I propose the outcome is that Acts focuses on an invitation to be a mission instrument for the kingdom of God. This study develops the proposal with key mission aspects of “who” (mission instrument), “to whom” (mission target), “what” (mission message), “how” (mission source and means), and “result” (success, suffering, and expansion for the kingdom of God).556

(1) The mission instrument proposal connects with the story character component. There is a mission succession of Israel’s largely unfulfilled mission

554 _{Georg. F. Vicedom, The Mission of God: An Introduction to a Theology of Mission, trans.}

Gilbert A. Thiele and Dennis Hilgendorf (St Louis: Concordia, 1965); H. H. Rosin, Missio Dei (Leiden: Interuniversity Institute for Missiological and Ecumenical Research, 1972); Bosch, Witness to the World, 239–249; Bosch, Transforming Mission, 389–93; Thomas E. Phillips, “The Mission of the Church in Acts: Inclusive or Exclusive?”, in Acts with Diverse Frames of Reference, ed. Thomas E. Phillips (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2009), 118–129, citing 127; Lalsangkima Pachuau, “Missio Dei”, in Dictionary of Mission Theology: Evangelical Foundations, ed. John Corrie (Nottingham: Inter-Varsity Press, 2007), 232–234;Wright, Mission of God, 61–64, 70–188; John G. Flett, The Witness of God: The Trinity, missio Dei, Karl Barth, and the Nature of Christian Community (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010); Steve Walton, “The Acts of the Apostles as the Mission of God”, The 2012 Redcliffe College Bible and Mission Lecture (delivered 15 May 2012), 1–16, esp. 1–6.

555 _{Other equivalent terms include missiological (though often used of a practical theology}

that investigates the church’s mission and esp. missionary activity), theology of mission, or mission theology (although these terms also link theology with mission practice). Cf. Wright, Mission of God, 24–25. Charles van Engen, Mission on the Way: Issues in Mission Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996), 17–31. Greg McKinzie, “Currents in Missional Hermeneutics”, Missio Dei: A Journal of Missional Theology and Praxis 5 (2014): 19–48.

556 _{Engen, Mission 29, has a grid which includes mission context, agents, motives, means,}

methods, goals, results, centripetal/centrifugal activities, utopia/future hope, presence, proclamation, persuasion, incorporation, structures, partnerships, power, prayer, praise.

vocation amongst the nations,557 _{through Jesus,}558 _{especially in Luke’s Gospel,}559 _the

twelve apostles (1:8), Peter, Stephen, Philip, and Saul/Paul’s Gentile mission. Paul’s conversion-commission (9:1–19)560 _{includes a prophetic call}561 _{to be God’s mission}

instrument (from σκεῦος in 9:15)562 _{as a representative of Israel in the fulfilment of}

its destined Gentile mission.563 _{The restoration of Israel, as a remnant, includes an}

involvement in mission as the servants of God.564 _{Scholars suggest that in the first}

half of Acts the church discovers its identity565 _{and in the second half engages in its}

mission to the world.566 _{However, this study offers a more nuanced position of a}

557 _{For scholarly debate see Harold H. Rowley, Israel’s Mission to the World (London: SCM,}

1939); Johannes Blauw, The Missionary Nature of the Church: A Survey of the Biblical Theology of Mission (New York, McGraw-Hill, 1962), 15–54, including the Pentateuch, Jonah’s example, Isaiah’s servant of the Lord, and the Messiah of the prophets. Cf. Legrand, Unity, 15–27; N. T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, vol. 1 of Christian Origins and the Question of God (London: SPCK, 1992), 381–83; Ferris L McDaniel, “Mission in the Old Testament”, in Larkin and Williams, Mission, 11–20; Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Mission in the Old Testament: Israel as a Light to the Nations (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2000); Charles H. H. Scobie, The Ways of Our God: An Approach to Our God (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 509–40; James Chukwuna Okoye, Israel and the Nations: A Mission Theology of the Old Testament (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2006); Wright, Mission of God, 28; Goheen, Light to the Nations, 23–74.

558 _{Acts 1:1; 21–22; 2:22; 10:36–39. Senior and Stuhlmueller, Mission, 141–160; Legrand,}

Unity, 39–67; John D. Harvey, “Mission in Jesus’ Teaching”, in Larkin and Williams, 30–49; Alan Le Grys, Preaching to the Nations: The Origins of Mission in the Early Church (London: SPCK, 1998), 37–68; Kӧstenberger and O’Brien, Salvation, 25–54; Wright, Mission of God, 505–14; Goheen, Light to the Nations, 75–119.

559 _{Wilson, Gentiles, 29–58; Senior and Stuhlmueller, Mission, 255–69; Dollar, Biblical-}

Missiological, 35–82; William J. Larkin, Jr., “Mission in Luke”, in Larkin and Williams, Mission, 152–69; Kӧstenberger and O’Brien, Salvation, 111–27.

560 _{Cf. Acts 22:6–16; 26:12–23.} 561 _{Holladay, Acts, 203.}

562 _{The idea of a mission instrument is taken from Macnamara, Chosen Instrument, 102–103,}

who notes that the principal use of σκεῦος in LXX is as an implement or tool. See LXX for: (1) armour or weapons (e.g. Gen 27:3; 1 Kgdms (Sam) 8:12; 17:54; 2 Kgdms (Sam) 1:27; Ps 7:14; Eccl 9:18) and esp. armour-bearer (e.g. Judg 9:45; 18:11, 16; 1 Kgdms (Sam) 14:1f; 16:21; 31:4); (2) tabernacle and temple vessels (e.g. Exod 25:3; Num 4:15; 3 Kgdms (1 Kgs) 7:34); (3) farm and construction tools (e.g. 2 Kgdms (1 Sam) 24:22; 3 Kgdms (1 Kgs) 7:34; (4) jar (4 Kgdms (2 Kgs) 4:3f; (4) harp (Ps 90:22); (5) treasures (e.g. Gen 24:53; Hos 13:15; Nah 2:10). See LSJ, σκεῦος, 1607, as a vessel or implement of any kind; T. Muraoka, A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint: Chiefly of the Pentateuch and the Twelve Prophets (Leuven: Peeters, 2002), 512–13, σκεῦος, for implements or tools in various settings of cultic, home, hunting, war, sailing; BDAG, σκεῦος, 927–28, §1, material object used in occupation; §2, a container, vessel or jar; and §3, of a human being exercising a function. Cf. Johannes Aagaard, “Trends in Missiological Thinking During the Sixties”, IRM 62 (1973): 8–25, citing 13; Bosch, Transforming Mission, 390. Haenchen, Acts, 325; Barrett, Acts, 1:455–56; Skinner, “Acts”, 363.

563 _{Clark, Parallel Lives, 19. Cf. Wilson, Gentiles, 161–68, esp. 167–68.}

564 _{This study explores the four servant terms used within Acts in connection to mission: (1)}

παῖς (3:13, 26; 4:25, 27, 30); (2) δοῦλος (2:18; 4:29; 16:17, cf. δοῦλέω, 20:19); (3) διακονία (12:25; 20:24; 21:19); and (4) ὑπηρέτης (26:16).

565 _{The term “church” is used throughout this study of the community variously described as:}

(1) brothers; (2) disciples; (3) the believers; (4) ὲκκλησία; (5) the Way; and (6) the holy ones. Cf. Steve Walton, “Calling the Church Names: Learning About Christian Identity from Acts”, PRSt 41.3 (2014): 223–241.

566 _{Beardslee, Literary Criticism, 50; Robert W. Wall, “Israel and the Gentile Mission in Acts}

and Paul: A Canonical Approach”, in Marshall and Peterson, Witness, 437–57, suggests that Acts 1– 14 is a commentary on Joel 3:1–5a [LXX 2:28–32] and Acts 15–28 a commentary on Amos 9:11–12.

contemporaneous invitation to be a mission instrument (addressed to Jews or God- fearers) and examples of Gentile mission. The term, “instrument”, involves a tension567 _{between a missio Dei and a human agent,}568 _{intermediary,}569 _{or partner.}570

Acts also requires an exploration of the extent to which individuals,571 _{as “a}

paradeigma for imitation”,572 _{or the church,}573 _{function as a mission instrument.}

Relevant missional terms for the instrument are μάρτυς (witness) (thirty-eight times),574 _{ἀπόστολος (apostle) (thirty-one times),}575 _{and Χριστιανός (Christian)}

(twice).576 _{Prayer also has a missional role of intercession and expressing}

dependence on God. Acts’ story suggests that the nation, the church, and individuals all struggle to fulfil the mission calling.577 _{This explains why the relationship}

between the church and mission is unclear in Acts. An invitation to be a mission instrument does not guarantee those invited will necessarily become involved or if they do that they will succeed. Mission develops almost in spite of the church,578 _yet

is closely connected to it.579 _{There is also the question whether Paul’s practice}

supports the idea of what is now called “parachurch mission”.580

567 _{Bosch, Witness to the World, 77–81. Cf. I. Howard Marshall, “Luke’s Portrait of the}

Pauline Mission”, in The Gospel to the Nations: Perspectives on Paul’s Mission, ed. Peter Bolt and Mark Thompson (Leicester: Apollos, 2000), 99–113, citing 101–102.

568 _{Larkin, “Mission in Acts”, 177–78.} 569 _{Skinner, “Acts”, 359.}

570 _{Goheen, “David Bosch’s Missional Reading”, 231. Walton, “Mission of God”, 6.}

571 _{Peter G. Bolt, “Mission and Witness”, in Marshall and Peterson, Witness, 191–214; I.}

Howard Marshall, “Who Were the Evangelists?”, in The Mission of the Early Church to Jews and Gentiles, ed. Jostein Ǻdna and Hans Kvalbein, WUNT 127 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000), 251–63, citing 256–58.

572 _{Mallen, Transformation, 189.}

573 _{Mallen, Transformation, 191–193; Christoph W. Stenschke, “Mission in the Book of}

Acts: Mission of the Church”, Scriptura 103 (2010): 66–78.

574 _{The total includes μάρτυς (thirteen times), μαρτυρία (once), μαρτύρον (twice), and related}

verbs μαρτυρέω (eleven times), μαρτύρομαι (twice), διαμαρτύρομαι (nine times). Cf. Allison A. Trites, The New Testament Concept of Witness, SNTSMS 31 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977), 128–153, links witness to the apostles. For μαρτυρέω see later in this chapter under mission means, p.124, n.613–15.

575 _{The term is used in Acts predominantly of the Twelve and twice of Barnabas and Saul}

(14:4, 14).

576 _{As an original suggestion, I propose to explore how this term (11:26; 26:28) suggests a}

mission instrument.

577 _{Walton, “Acts”, 77–78, argues that believers can be a barrier, or at least resistant, to the}

new moves God is making (e.g. Acts 11:2; 15:1, 5); Walton, “Mission of God”, 20, the church is “slow to catch on and finds itself dragged along – even kicking and screaming sometimes – on God’s coat-tails”; Le Grys, Preaching to the Nations, 76–79, concludes that Gentile mission was very controversial in Acts.

578 _{Gaventa, “Witnesses”, 416.}

579 _{Stenschke, “Mission”; Scheepers, “Acts and Mission”, 95–98.}

580 _{Scheepers, “Acts and Mission”, 96–98; Arthur F. Glasser, et al., eds., Announcing the}

(2) The mission target is traditionally understood as a cross-cultural progression,581 _{or better an expansion,}582 _{towards a universal scope}583 _through

Jews,584 _{Samaritans, Gentile God-fearers,}585 _{and pagan Gentiles.}586 _{Whilst, as Philip}

Towner points out, this development is apparent,587 _{the continuing focus on Jews is}

the subject of extensive debate.588 _{Recent scholarship no longer explains the “turning}

passages” to Gentiles (13:46; 18:6; 28:28) as a rejection of Jews.589 _{Rather it}

suggests the acceptance of Gentiles along with Jews,590 _{or two parallel missions.}591

As an original interpretation, I propose that the “turning to Gentiles” is the remnant (in Paul and Barnabas) acting as a mission example to correct the mission failure of Israel. The Gentile mission target is set alongside an invitation for God’s people, as Israel and/or the church, to be a mission instrument. The question is whether the mission is located inside or outside a church’s structures592

581 _{Daniel Hays, From Every People and Nation NSBT 14 (Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity}

Press, 2003), 157–80. Scheepers, “Acts and Mission”, 94–95.

582 _{Bauer and Traina, Inductive, 104–105, suggest that Acts is an example of biographical}

generalisation in which the narrative progresses from a person or subgroup to a larger group of which the originally described person or subgroup is a part. They show that Acts moves from Jews, to a combination of Jews, Samaritans and God-fearers, to Jews, God-fearers and Gentiles.

583 _{Larkin, “Mission in Acts”, 182–84.}

584 _{David L. Allen, “Acts Studies in the 1990’s: Unity and Diversity”, CTR 5 (1990): 3–13,}

citing 11. Cf. Tyson, Jewish People.

585 _{Jacob Jervell, “The Church of Jews and God-Fearers”, in Tyson, Jewish People, 11–20,}

believes Christian mission in Acts is directed only at God-fearers and Jews.

586 _{E.g. Wilson, Gentiles; Jacques Dupont, The Salvation of Gentiles: Studies in the Acts of}

the Apostles, trans. John R. Keating (New York: Paulist, 1979), 11–34; David S. Dockery, “Acts 6– 12: The Christian Mission Beyond Jerusalem”, RevExp 87.3 (1990), 423–438; Scott McKnight, A Light Among the Gentiles (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991); Christoph W. Stenschke, Luke’s Portrait of Gentiles Prior to Their Coming to Faith, WUNT 2.108 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1999); Naymond H. Keathley, The Church’s Mission to Gentiles: Acts of the Apostles, Epistles of Paul (Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys, 1999).

587 _{E.g. Philip H. Towner, “Mission Practice and Theology Under Construction (Acts 18–}

20)”, in Marshall and Peterson, Witness, 417–436, suggesting Corinth (Acts 18) and Ephesus (Acts 19) is a move from the Jewish synagogue to Gentiles.

588 _{E.g. Tyson, Images; Tyson, Luke, Judaism and the Scholars: Critical Approaches to}

Luke-Acts (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1999); Robert F. O’Toole, “The Christian Mission and the Jews at the End of Acts of the Apostles”, in Biblical Exegesis in Progress: Old and New Testament Essays, ed. J. N. Aletti and J.L. Ska (Rome: Editrice Pontifico Istituto Biblico, 2009), 371–96; Phillips, “Mission of the Church”, 118. For an opposing view see Jack T. Sanders, “The Jewish People in Luke-Acts”, in Tyson, Jewish People, 51–75, who argues that the Jews are written off.

589 _{This study explores the “turning passages” further (see §5.3.2.1, p.246, n.195–97).} 590 _{Maddox, Witnesses, 62–73, citing 73.}

591 _{Bosch, Transforming Mission, 115; Larkin, “Mission in Acts”, 182–184.}

592 _{Pachuau, “Missio Dei”; Harvey G. Cox, The Secular City (London: SCM, 1965);}

Johannes C. Hoekendijk, The Church Inside Out (London: SCM, 1967); Will Loescher, “Theological Issues Arising from a Local Church Case Study and the Hypothesis of Separating Outreach from a Church’s Internal Life” (M.Phil diss., University of Wales, 1999).

(3) The mission message from a literary shape perspective within the speeches includes well-researched keynote topics593 _{such as God, Jesus as Lord and}

Christ, the resurrection, salvation, and the kingdom of God. Salvation (σωτηρία) has wide connotations of deliverance or preservation from danger and disease resulting in safety, health, and prosperity. Although the Old Testament physical emphasis is retained, Acts focuses more on moral and spiritual salvation594 _{which also includes}

the formation of a mission instrument. The kingdom of God is extensively explored in Chapter Six. This study distinguishes between the invitation to be a mission instrument and the mission message. The mission invitation to Jews focuses primarily on the Old Testament Scriptures and the Messiah. The mission message to pagan Gentiles (e.g. Lystra and Athens) starts with a focus on creation linked to missio Dei.595 _{This raises the issue of contextualisation or cultural adaptation}596 _{in the}

messenger or message. The fact that the examples of mission message do not include an invitation to be a mission instrument, nor do Gentiles in Acts engage in mission, suggests the focus is on a challenge to God’s people.

(4) The mission source involves the debate about missio Dei with a focus on God in Acts as the primary author of mission, the presence of Jesus, and especially the activity and empowering of the Holy Spirit. I propose that the Holy Spirit in Acts is primarily a mission source rather than for salvation. Acts’ literary shape and missional significance distinguish between God’s underlying plan,597 _{his activity in}

the narrative,598 _{and the indirect references to him in the speeches.}599 _{The reduction}

593 _{Thompson, Acts, 100–101, has a comprehensive table of 34 summary descriptions of the}

message preached in Acts including “the word”, the resurrection, salvation, gospel, Christ, Lord, grace, peace, kingdom of God, repentance and faith.

594 _{BDAG, σωτηρία, 985–86. There is a single use of the neuter form σωτήριον at 28:28.}

BDAG, σωτήριος, 986. Also the use of σῴζω referring to the healing of the lame man (4:9) and the rescue from the shipwreck (27:20, 31, note διασῴζω at 27:44). Cf. Ben Witherington III, “Salvation and Health in Christian Antiquity: The Soteriology of Luke-Acts in its First Century Settings”, in Marshall and Peterson, Witness, 145–166; Graham H. Twelftree, People of the Spirit. Exploring Luke’s View of the Church (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2009), 51.

595 _{Flett, Witness of God, 208–11.}

596 _{Gaventa, “Witnesses”, 422–23; Cf. Paul G. Hiebert, “The Gospel in Human Contexts:}

Changing Perceptions of Contextualization”, in Hesselgrave and Stetzer, Missionshift, 82–102.

597 _{Squires, Plan of God; Skinner, “Acts”, 363–64.}

598 _{Steve Walton, “The Acts – of God? What is the ‘Acts of the Apostles’ All About?, EQ 80}

(2008), 291–306, argues God is the main actor. He links this to mission in “Mission of God”, 6–25. Cf. Holladay, Acts, 62–65; Joseph G. Muthuraj, “The Theology of God and the Gentile Mission in Acts” (PhD diss., University of Durham, 1995), constructs his thesis on God being the cause of mission as well as the content, but tellingly the large majority of his thesis is about God as the content of mission.

599 _{Burridge, “Genre of Acts”, 12–16”, challenges Walton’s conclusions as failing to}

differentiate God directly in the narrative (only the subject at 19:11) and referenced indirectly in the speeches.

of references to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in Acts’ Ending needs an explanation.

The intersection of the mission source and means includes the Old Testament Scriptures, “the Word”, and references to “the name of Jesus”. Scholars debate whether the ambiguous “Word of God/Lord” motif refers to the Old Testament Scriptures,600 _{an agent of God,}601 _Jesus,602 _{the church,}603 _{the gospel message}604 _as

Jesus’s own words or an apostolic proclamation,605 _{or verbal communication.}606 _It

could also conceivably be Luke’s Gospel or the preceding Scripture quotation. Marguerat helpfully notes that “le nom de Jésus Christ n’est par seulement évoquer son souvenir, mais actualiser sa puissance et la représenter efficacement”.607

(5) The mission means within missiology join together Christian presence, incarnational identification, social action, verbal communication, and supernatural activity.608 _{Acts’ emphasises the last two. The main proclamation verbs are}

primarily, but not exclusively,609 _{of spoken communication.}610 _{They include: (i)}

εὐαγγελίζω linked to the gospel message;611 (ii) καταγγέλλω as public widespread

600 _{Isa 9:7; 40:7, 8; 45:22–24; 55:10–11.} 601 _{Pao, Isaianic New Exodus, 147–180.}

602 _{Moisés Silva, NIDNTTE, λόγος, 3:127–70, citing §NT 1.4, 166–69; Richard B. Hays,}

Echoes of the Scriptures in the Gospels (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2016), 419–20; Rius- Camps and Read-Heimerdinger, Acts, 3:47–51, distinguish “the Word of God” as a more general concept and “the Word of the Lord” as specifically connected to Jesus

603 _{Matthew Skinner, “The Word of God and the Church: On the Theological Implications of}

the Three Summary Statements in the Acts of the Apostles”, in The Unrelenting God: God’s Action in Scripture: Essays in Honor of Beverley Roberts Gaventa, ed. David J. Downs and Matthew L. Skinner (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 60–82.

604 _{Pereira, Ephesus, 141–46; B. Klappert, λόγος, NIDNTT, ed. Colin Brown, 4 vols. (Grand}

Rapids; Zondervan, 1975–78), 3:1081–21, citing NT §3, 1110–14; Rosner, “Progress”, 215–33.

605 _{Silva, NIDNTTE, λόγος, 3:160–66, §NT 1.2,} 606 _{Peterson, Acts, 278.}

607 _{Marguerat, Actes, 1:293, “the name of Jesus Christ is not only to evoke his memory, but to}

actualise his power and represent it effectively” (in this study all French translations are my own). Cf. John A. Ziesler, “The Name of Jesus in the Acts of the Apostles”, JSNT 4 (1979): 28–41; Walton, “Jesus”, 133–34.

608 _{Michael Nazir-Ali, From Everywhere to Everywhere. A World View of Christian Witness}

(London: Collins/Flame, 1991), 139–193; Loescher, “Separating Outreach”, 132–36, 141–53, 162–68, 172–78.

609 _{Bosch, Witnesses to the World, 18–20, notes evangelism is more than verbal}

proclamation; Gaventa, “Witnesses”, 417, that witness involves word and deed.

610 _{Thompson, Acts, 99–100, gives a comprehensive table of eighteen verbs used in Acts to}

describe the action of apostolic preaching.

611 _{BDAG, εὐαγγελίζω, 402. Also the noun εὐαγγέλιον which surprisingly only appears twice}

dissemination;612 _{(iii) μαρτυρέω as witnesses (with possible legal connotations)}613 _for

and to Christ,614 _{but with an uncertain application in teaching God’s people,}

reaching the world, or both;615 _{(iv) παρρησιάζομαι as boldness in speaking}616 _with

freedom of speech,617 _{public openness,}618 _{and courage in the context of opposition,}619

but contrary to scholars’ claims, not explicitly from the Holy Spirit;620 _{(v) διαλέγομαι}

as a dialogue with a rational appeal to thinking;621 _{(vi) πείθω as both a persuasive}

process and a positive outcome;622 _{(vii) κηρύσσω as heralding an official}

announcement;623 _{and (viii) διδάσκω as teaching or instruction in a formal or}

informal setting624 _{which as a framing device may suggest Acts is a catechism for}

612 _{BDAG, καταγγέλλω, 515.}

613 _{Trites, Witness, 128–135; Maria. T. Y. Do, The Lucan Journey: A Study of Luke 9:28–36}

and Acts 1:6–11 as an Architectural Pair, EH 23 (Bern: Lang, 2010), 159–161, argues that its Graeco-Roman legal usage is superseded by Acts’ predominant use of being an eye-witness proclamation of events involving salvific value.

614 _{BDAG, μαρτυρέω, 617–18; διαμαρτύρομαι, 233, meaning to make a solemn declaration}

often with authority in matters of extraordinary importance. Related nouns include μαρτυρία (the act of the witness), μαρτύριον (the content of the witness) and μάρτυς (the person who is a witness). BDAG, μαρτυρία, 618–19; μαρτύριον, 619; μάρτυς, 619–20.

615 _{Bolt, “Mission and Witness”, 191–214, restricted to the twelve apostles and Paul. Cf.}

Morgan-Wynne, Pisidian Antioch, 116–17; Bosch, Transforming Mission, 116.

616 _{BDAG, παρρησιάζομαι, 782, and for noun παρρησία,781–82,}

617 _{Troftgruben, Conclusion, 140, as experienced by free citizens of ancient Athens.}

618 _{Alexander, “Acts”, 1034, frankness of Greek philosophy; Mealand, “Close of Acts”, 596–}

97, as used at times within Greek culture to address the gods.

619 _{Mealand, “Close of Acts”, 597; Foster, “Conclusion”, 268–70; Gaventa, “Witnesses”,}

417–20. Other approaches include Pereira, Ephesus, 114–16, who argues for the assessment of each reference; Sara C. Winter, “Παρρησία in Acts”, in Friendship, Flattery and Frankness of Speech: Studies on Friendship in the New Testament World, NovTSup 82, ed. John T. Fitzgerald (Leiden: Brill, 1996), 185–202, that the verb does not indicate opposition. However, only 18:26 (Ephesus); 26:26 (Caesarea) and 28:31 (Rome) are not explicitly linked to a context of opposition, but in each place Jewish opposition is implicit (19:9; 26:6; 28:24–25).

620 _{Those linking boldness and the Holy Spirit includes Troftgruben, Conclusion, 140;}

Thompson, Acts, 97–98; Trites, Witness, 15–52. However, only 4:31 makes an explicit direct connection, with 4:29 and 19:8 having Holy Spirit references nearby.

621 _{BDAG, διαλέγομαι, 232. Cf. Barrett, Acts, 2:903, reasoning or arguing; Ajith Fernando,}

Acts, NIVAC (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998), 458, an initial presentation resulting in debate.

622 _{BDAG, πείθω, 791–92, as either active, which indicates the action of persuading, or}

passive/perfect as the state of persuasion. The four combinations of tense and voice for proclamation in Acts are: (1) imperfect/present active as process of persuading (13:43, though the “to continue in the grace of God” may indicate a state of persuasion; 18:4; 19:8, even though it has the antonyms of ὲθκληρύνοντο (hardened) and significantly the opposite ὴπείθουν (unpersuaded) they can be outcomes of the process rather than a contrast to a state of persuasion; 26:28; 28:23); (2) aorist active as the process of persuasion completed (19:26); (3) imperfect passive as process of being persuaded (28:24, though the joining of the antonym ὰπίστος (unbelieving) may indicate a state of persuasion); and (4) aorist passive as state of persuasion (17:4 as closest to Christian conversion). Cf. Jon A. Weatherley, “The Jews in Luke-Acts”, TynBul, 40 (1989): 107–117, esp. 110; Troftgruben, Conclusion, 125

623 _{BDAG, κηρύσσω, 543–44. Cf. Keener, Acts, 3:3022, repeating the words of a ruler;}

Larkin, “Acts”, 392, appealing to the will for a decision.

624 _{BDAG, διδάσκω, 241, and noun διδαχή. Scholars see contrast with κηρύσσω as: (1)}

appealing to mind instead of will (Larkin, “Acts”, 392); (2) a lengthier exposition (Constantino Antonio Ziccardi, The Relationship of Jesus and the Kingdom of God according to Luke-Acts, TGST 165 (Rome: Editrice Pontifica Universita Gregoriana, 2008), 74–75); and (3) to believers rather than unbelievers (Foster, “Conclusion”, 264–66).

mission.625 _{This study also explores the literary distribution of supernatural}

In document The literary shape and missional significance of Acts: an invitation to be an instrument for the kingdom of God (Page 132-144)