Book of Acts

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Book of Acts

• Gospel of the Holy Spirit

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• The Sanhedrin tried to stamp out the Jesus
  Movement
• Saw the Followers of the Way as dangerous to
  Judaism as they knew it
• The Way challenged the
• Interpretation of Torah
• Jesus brought new interpretation of Torah
• Interpretation of the prophets
• Jesus fulfills the prophecies
• They saw it as replacing over 1000 years of
  Jewish tradition

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• The apostles were arrested by the Jewish
  authorities because they strongly challenged
  Jewish tradition
• Were considered blasphemers
• Authorities did not want to be accused of killing
  Jesus
• Wanted to put Peter and others to death

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Yet there was one Sanhedrin Member who saw
things differently

• Rabbi Gamaliel, who
• urged the Sanhedrin
• not to stone Peter and the apostles
• argued
• There have been other movements before
• They died out
• If this one is from God it will last
• Wait and see

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• Thus Peter and the Apostles were spared
• When it came to Stephen, however,
• His words in the synagogue of the Freedmen
  (former Jewish slaves) incensed its followers
• They accused him of
• Blasphemy vs.Moses God
• Speaking vs. Temple Law

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The Life of Stephen hdt.
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And for all his effort, Stephen

• Gets
• stoned.

The first Christian martyr.
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A persecuted church

• Despite Gamaliel, the Sanhedrin remained wary of
  and threatened by the followers of Jesus
• Continued arresting/persecuting the disciples
• some Christians fled to Antioch, Damascus and
  other cities to avoid persecution in Jerusalem

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Saul comes to the picture as a Persecutor

• Paul was a Pharisee
• Was sent to Damascus to arrest Christians
• From Tarsus
• Witnessed Stephens death with approval
• probably perceived Jesus crucifixion as
  something scandalous.
• By persecuting the apostles, Paul was probably
  familiar with the basic views of the Christian
  faith.
• He started persecuting the new movement in
  Jerusalem.
• As he states it, he was violently persecuting
  the church of God and was trying to destroy it.
• He was persecuting the church not because he was
  part of the Roman Empire but because of his zeal
  for the tradition of his ancestors.

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Pauls conversion reading
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After the conversion

• The disciples do not trust Paul
• They think is he pretending to be Christian to
  get to them
• Paul proves himself to the disciples
• Preaches outside the temple
• Gets beaten for being a Christian
• Paul finally meets the apostles.
• Most Jews did not accept Paul or his message
• PAULS CLAIM TO APOSTLESHIP READING

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Pauls Claim to Apostleship

• Paul is commissioned to preach to the Gentiles
• Paul was chosen by God among the apostles to
  fulfill the proclamation announced in the
  scriptures and not being performed by the other
  apostles
• which consists on saving all people including the
  Gentiles.

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The Conflict

• Paul perceives a danger emerging from the heart
  of Christianity, not from the Gentiles who
  converted but from the circumcised, the Jews
  who became Christians.
• The Way is divided into two groups
• Circumcised Jews who converted to the Way
• Uncircumcised Gentiles who converted to the Way
• As a result, the circumcised Christians perceived
  Pauls gospel as inferior
• Paul understands that Jesus was a servant of the
  circumcised, and that Peter as well as the other
  apostles have been commissioned to go to the
  circumcised.

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• Paul was well received by the Gentiles, contrary
  to the Jews who rejected him.
• This might be one reason why Paul stayed with the
  Gentiles.
• Paul is judged by the apostles because he is the
  one allowing the Gentiles to worship God without
  converting to Judaism, and without observing the
  Jewish traditions.

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(No Transcript)