Interpreting

the Book

of Acts

Walter L. Liefeld

©1995 by Walter L. Liefeld

Published by Baker Books

a division of Baker Book House Company

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516–6287

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Liefeld, Walter L.

Interpreting the book of Acts / Walter L. Liefeld.

— (Guides to New Testament exegesis ; 4)

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 0-8010-2015-8 (pbk.)

1. Bible. N.T. Acts—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title. II. Series.

BS2625.2.L54 1995 226.6 p 06—dc20 95–46099

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version ®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked nrsv are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.

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To my students over three decades

at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and

to my colleagues in the New Testament Department

Contents

Editor’s Preface

Preface

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

1 The Purpose of Acts

2 The Structure of Acts

3 Narrative as Theology

4 The Speeches in Acts

5 Major Themes in Acts

6 The Background of Acts

7 From Exegesis to Application

Selected Bibliography

Editor’s Preface

The New Testament is composed of four literary types (genres): the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Letters, and the Apocalypse. Each genre is distinct, and, as has been made abundantly clear by contemporary scholars, each requires different sensitivities, principles, and methods of interpretation. Applying the same method to different genres will often lead to serious misunderstandings. Consequently, students need manuals that will introduce them both to the specific nature of a particular genre and to basic principles for exegeting that genre.

The Guides to New Testament Exegesis series has been specifically designed to meet this need. These guides have been written, not for specialists, but for college religion majors, seminarians, and pastors who have had at least one year of Greek. Methods and principles may change, but the language of the New Testament remains the same. God chose to speak to people in Greek; serious students of the New Testament must learn to love that language in order better to understand the Word of God.

These guides have a practical aim. Each guide presents various ...