Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Who cares if the book of Acts is historically accurate?
[00:00:05] Written by Bart Ehrman, read by Ken Toutch.
[00:00:11] The debate over the historical accuracy of the book of Acts is important in no small measure because, as I have pointed out already, it provides us our one and only narrative of what was happening among the followers of Jesus in the years immediately following his death. This is the key formative period in the formation of Christianity. How did it start? As a religion, acts is our only surviving historical account. But is it an accurate history? The first thing to stress is that acts, like all histories, is highly restrictive in what it talks about. It is not a comprehensive history, and it makes no pretense of being a comprehensive history. The title, the acts of the apostles was given it by later readers and scribes. The author himself, whoever he was, does not give it a title, and this particular title is not particularly apt for one very important reason. Most of the apostles do not figure in the account at all. This is a narrative of some very few of the activities of Peter and to a lesser extent, John, the main character of chapters one through twelve, and of Paul, the main character of chapters 13 through 28. The other apostles figure in on the margins and usually only as a group. Most of them are not even named, let alone discussed. What were Bartholomew or Jude or Matthew doing during these early years? We have no clue. They are not discussed. The apostles as a group, do show up as leaders of the original church in Jerusalem, and there are mentions of individual apostles on occasion. For example, James, the son of Zebedee, is said to have been martyred by King Herod and James, the brother of Jesus. Not one of the original twelve is portrayed as the head of the church in Jerusalem. But for the most part, we learn nothing of what the apostles were individually doing at the time. Even the apostles that are principally discussed, Peter and Paul, are covered highly selectively, as one would expect from a book that describes events over a 30 year period or so in just 28 chapters. And when Peter and Paul are discussed, it is in order to advance the author's own way of thinking about this early period in christian history in order to develop key themes that he, the author, wants to promote. These themes include the following one. It was God, not humans, who was in charge of the spread of the christian faith. When Jesus first meets the disciples after his resurrection, he tells them that the Holy Spirit will come upon them to empower them to be his witnesses throughout the world. And that's what happens in chapter two. On the day of Pentecost, the spirit descends on the followers of Jesus rests upon them and gives them the ability to preach the gospel in foreign tongues. They don't know, so that visitors in town from around the world can hear the message throughout this entire narrative. It is God who is at work doing miracles through the apostles Peter and Paul, protecting them from serious harm even when they are persecuted, and giving them power to proclaim salvation, leading to the conversion of many, many thousands.
[00:03:28] Two. As a result, nothing can stop the christian mission. It does have nasty opponents, principally among the jewish leaders, who reject the followers of Jesus just as violently as they rejected Jesus himself. But no opposition can stand in the way of the remarkable success of the apostolic proclamation. The more the church is persecuted, the more it grows. If Paul is beaten in one place, he goes to the next. If he is jailed, God miraculously allows him to escape. If he is stoned, he calmly gets up and goes to the next town. Nothing can stop him or his message.
[00:04:04] Three, conversions happen because people see the great miracles that happen among and by the Christians. The followers of Jesus speak in foreign tongues they have never learned. Peter explains what it all means, and thousands convert. Peter heals a lame man and explains, and thousands convert. Paul heals and converts. Conversions happen because God is doing such great miracles.
[00:04:30] Four, those who convert are in almost complete harmony with one another. The early followers of Jesus in Jerusalem form a kind of commune where everyone sells their possessions and gives the proceeds to the apostles, who distribute them to those who are in need. All things are held in common. The followers of Jesus are focused not on material goods, but on prayer and service, and they are astoundingly harmonious with one another. When someone does get out of line, the apostles take care of it with the guidance and power of the spirit, as when Peter slays two liars in their midst by simply speaking a word against them. Chapter five. Moreover, this too is a really key point. The apostles themselves are completely harmonious, with no strife of any kind among them. Peter, James, Paul, Barnabas, they are all completely on the same page because they are all completely in tune with God and so with one another.
[00:05:28] The message of the gospel originally preached to Jews in Jerusalem eventually moves out away from Jerusalem to important locations throughout the Roman Empire. Acts is principally about the astounding spread of Christianity to all people of the world.
[00:05:45] Six most important, one could argue, this spread of the christian message happens not only among Jews of the world, but among Gentiles as well. One could argue that this is the major theme of the book. The message of Jesus is for everyone, Jew and Gentile, and most critical of all this means that Gentiles do not need to become Jews in order to be followers of Jesus. That is to say, Gentiles do not need to start following the jewish laws that are widely seen as making Jews jewish. For example, they do not need to be circumcised if they are men. They do not need to follow kosher food laws, or observe the Sabbath, or keep the jewish festivals. Both Jew and Gentile can be followers of Jesus on equal terms, seven at the same time. This is also highly important and not always appreciated by readers of acts for this book. There is nothing in Christianity that is contrary to Judaism. Paul himself never stops being a Jew, for example, even though he is an apostle to the Gentiles. He himself remains thoroughly jewish in every way. But he insists that gentiles who convert to follow Jesus do not need to become jewish themselves, and in fact, they are not to come jewish.
[00:07:06] I need to stress that these are literary and theological themes of the book. I am not saying that historically this is what really happened or what the early years of the christian church were really like. It is how Luke portrays the situation.
[00:07:20] And so, again, one huge question is whether he is accurately describing the first 30 years of the christian church.
