Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Acts 1: 1-15

The passage under study today is widely thought to have been penned by the author of the Gospel of Luke. He refers in this passage to the fact that his first book reported what Jesus had done and taught from the beginning of his ministry until his ascension to heaven. This was a pattern that was commonly followed in ancient literature, as a foregrounding of past works was shared before engaging a new literary topic. Therefore, we find the author of Acts recounting his past literary accomplishments before engaging in the new topic of explicating the early life and growth of the church. 

http://www.catholicwebphilosopher.com/2010_04_01_archive.html

Perhaps among the various purposes for the writing of Acts was an attempt to counteract the many competing stories being spread about the nature and aims of the early Christian church. Furthermore, some have argued that the author was determined to reassure the Roman Empire that the Christian church was not seeking to make trouble for the Empire in order to reduce the political hostility that some Roman rulers had towards this new and growing church. Perhaps this early tension between the fledgling church and the existing state and society is one that continues to complicate the reality faced today by a much more institutionalized Church? What are we to do as “faithful” Christians, apparently inspired by the actions of Jesus, when the larger society and its concomitant power structures implicate our societies in perpetuating injustices in this world?

- Terry Rothwell