{"id":2893,"date":"2023-04-23T20:09:10","date_gmt":"2023-04-23T20:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elbespurling.com\/salvation\/?page_id=2893"},"modified":"2025-11-11T02:00:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T02:00:06","slug":"20-the-roman-church-acts","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/elbespurling.com\/salvation\/?page_id=2893","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 20: The Roman Church Acts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Chapter 20<\/mark><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Roman Church Acts<\/mark><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Going on the Offensive<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of a community of Ebionites carrying on the traditions of the Essenes and first Christians<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By 150 CE, there were many competing branches of Christianity around the Mediterranean and stretching eastward. The four most popular of these were the Marcionites, the Gnostics, the Roman Church, and the Ebionites, though many others existed in smaller numbers.1<\/a><\/sup>Ehrman, B. (2005). Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. Oxford University Press.<\/span> Certainly the Ebionites had by far the greatest claim to be the direct descendants of the original founders of the religion, but by this period these Jewish Christians had had their numbers obliterated by the wars with Rome\u2014and were not replenishing their communities nearly as fast as the more aggressively proselytizing Gentile forms of the faith. But for someone living at this time it would have been difficult to predict with any certainty which of the other three main branches of the religion would go on to out-compete the others to eventually become \u201cmainstream Christianity\u201d\u2014or whether any form of Christianity would even exist in another hundred years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of Marcionite Christians at worship<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, the Marcionites, Gnostics, Ebionites, Roman church, and other sects each saw themselves as the only true form Christianity, viewing all the rest as misguided at best. So why was it that within the next 200 years the Roman church came to dominate all others? Why did their particular theology, attitudes, and worldview become the unchallenged standard in the West for the next 1,600 years\u2014and remain the largest Christian denomination in the world to this day?2<\/a><\/sup>“Pubblicati l’Annuario Pontificio 2021 e l’Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2019” (2021). L’Osservatore Romano.<\/span> It clearly has nothing to do with their fidelity to the original founders of the religion, for in that case the Ebionites (who carried on the traditions of James, Peter, John the Baptist, and the Essenes) would have carried the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key to their eventual supremacy began to develop in the mid-100s CE, with the Roman church cultivating and then taking to an extreme a severe intolerance for all other forms of the faith. It adopted a supremely competitive attitude, seeing Marcionites and Gnostics as existential threats that must be defeated. Strategies to bring this about were then consciously adopted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of Irenaeus, the first known member of the Roman church to write systematic condemnations of heresies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Outwardly, this manifested in the pouring of resources into propaganda campaigns against their perceived enemies\u2014those preaching \u201canother Jesus\u201d as the apostle Paul had once put it. The Roman church drew stark lines in the sand between what they deemed orthodoxy (\u201ccorrect belief\u201d) which must be defended at all costs, and heresy (\u201cfalse belief\u201d) which must be vanquished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In defining orthodoxy, the Church of Rome was forced to confront doctrinal disunity within its own churches, and in what must have been a fraught series of compromises, adopted a somewhat inclusive attitude that would unite their many affiliate communities around the Mediterranean even at the expense of enshrining doctrines that were, to varying degrees, messy, or even blatantly contradictory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Gospel of Jesus Christ 2.5<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Comparison of the approximate dates each gospel version was written.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In an aggressive attempt to seize control over the story of Jesus Christ on Earth\u2014and establish a history of the early church that demonstrates its inevitable move from Jerusalem to Rome, the Church commissioned the writing of an epic two-part work\u2014a direct challenge to the first \u201cNew Testament\u201d collection that Marcion had established among his churches.3<\/a><\/sup>Tyson, J. B. (2006). Marcion and Luke-Acts: A Defining Struggle. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.<\/span> In fact, the first half of this work simply appropriates the second-written gospel\u2014the very one used by the Marcionites\u2014and adds just three and a half chapters to its beginning, altering little else.4<\/a><\/sup>BeDuhn, J. (2013). The First New Testament: Marcion’s Scriptural Canon. United States: Polebridge Press.<\/span> The result can hardly be considered a truly new gospel\u2014what we might have labeled version 5.0\u2014and could more accurately be labeled instead The Gospel of Jesus Christ 2.5. It is known to us today as the Gospel of Luke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cousin John Gets a Birth Narrative<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of the author of the revised and expanded version of the second gospel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The most significant revisions come at the very start. Whereas the original version of the second gospel began with Jesus suddenly appearing in Capernaum in Galilee where his ministry begins, this revised version instead begins with an introduction containing a dedication of the book to a certain Theophilus\u2014most likely not a specific person, but taken literally, a \u201cGod lover\u201d. The author then acknowledges that multiple other accounts of the life of Jesus have already been written, and claims that he has investigated them all to determine the truth, and presents it here.5<\/a><\/sup>Luke 1:1-4<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of an angel appearing to Zechariah the priest, the father of John the Baptist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Co-opting what may be material from a Jewish-Christian gospel that no longer survives\u2014such as the Gospel of the Ebionites, Gospel of the Nazarenes, or Gospel of the Hebrews6<\/a><\/sup>Gospel of the Ebionites. North American Society for the Study of Christian Apocryphal Literature. https:\/\/www.nasscal.com\/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha\/gospel-of-the-ebionites\/<\/a><\/span>\u2014the story is told of the birth of John the Baptist, featuring an annunciation by an angel. Aping several different stories from the Hebrew scriptures, John\u2019s father Zechariah expresses disbelief that his infertile wife Elizabeth could ever bear a child at her advanced age. He leaves his angelic encounter struck dumb, unable to speak until the birth of the child.7<\/a><\/sup>Luke 1:5-64<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of the angel Gabriel telling Mary she will soon be impregnated<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Six months into Elizabeth\u2019s pregnancy, another angel, specified here as Gabriel\u2014known originally from The Book of Watchers<\/em> and later featured in the book of Daniel\u2014appears in Nazareth to Elizabeth\u2019s cousin, a virgin named Mary who is engaged to a man named Joseph, who is specified to be a descendant of King David. Correcting the third gospel\u2019s oddity of having the angel tell Mary that her child will be named \u201cEmmanuel\u201d, here his prophesied name is the much more expected \u201cJesus\u201d. In language that is more reflective of Jewish-Christian concerns than Gentile, the angel states that \u201cThe Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob\u2019s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.\u201d8<\/a><\/sup>Luke 1:26-33<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of pregnant Mary visiting her pregnant cousin Elizabeth and bursting into song<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After the Holy Spirit impregnates Mary, she hurries off to visit Elizabeth. Upon arrival, almost as if in a musical, Mary breaks into song, praising God in an original hymn. She then stays with her cousin three months. What her fianc\u00e9 Joseph is doing during this time is left untold. Similarly, when John the Baptist is born, his father regains his voice and immediately breaks into song, with another Jewish-Christian hymn, praising God for bringing them \u201csalvation from all our enemies, and from the power of all those who hate us.\u201d John is then said to have grown up in the wilderness, away from the public,9<\/a><\/sup>Luke 1:39-80<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> possibly an allusion to the historical John having been raised in one of the desert camps of the Essenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A New Birth Narrative for Jesus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At this point, language evocative of Jewish-Christian concerns seems to give way, and the author may be segueing from his dependence on a previous source to now writing in his own voice. His narrative of the birth of Jesus seems intended to fully replace the one introduced in the third gospel (known to us as Matthew) with which it is entirely incongruous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Map with two stars marking Bethlehem in the south and Nazareth to the north<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Both writers of the competing nativity stories began with the same dilemma: how to structure the story so that Jesus can be born in Bethlehem (like a proper Jewish messiah), but also be from <\/em>Nazareth in Galilee as was established tradition since the first gospel was published half a century before. Whereas the third gospel\u2019s author presented Joseph and Mary as residents of Bethlehem who only later settled in Nazareth after their time in hiding in Egypt, this author instead presents Joseph and Mary having always lived in Nazareth, and invents a plot device to bring them to Bethlehem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coin minted during the reign of Octavian \u201cAugustus\u201d Caesar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We are told that, at this time, Caesar Augustus called for a census of the entire Roman Empire for the purpose of accurate tax assessment.10<\/a><\/sup>Luke 2:1-3<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> While such tax censuses were taken at the formation of each Roman province, there is no record of any Empire-wide census having ever occurred. Further, the gospel author claims that to abide by the census, everyone in the Empire had to travel back to the city of their birth.11<\/a><\/sup>Eisenman, R. H. (1998). James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. United Kingdom: Penguin Publishing Group.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of nine-month pregnant Mary being taken on a days-long journey on a donkey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is the device that gets Joseph and his wife back to his ancestral home of Bethlehem\u2014though it’s unfathomable that he would force his 9-month pregnant wife on a journey of several days riding on the back of a donkey. There is also no record of any Roman policy that would force people to travel such great distances to register for a census, nor should we ever expect to find such record for the simple reason that such a policy would cause chaos and grind whole economies to a halt.12<\/a><\/sup>Eisenman, R. H. (1998). James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. United Kingdom: Penguin Publishing Group.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of shepherds directed by an angel to behold the newborn messiah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The seed of the idea for such a plot device almost certainly came from the author\u2019s having read the works of the historian Flavius Josephus who mentions that the Roman governor of Syria conducted a province-wide census in 6 CE. This will be the first of several times this author uses details from the writings of Josephus to shape or simply add historical-sounding details to his narrative.13<\/a><\/sup>Mason, S. (1992.) Josephus and Luke-Acts. Josephus and the New Testament. Hendrickson Publishers.<\/span> Choosing such a date for Jesus\u2019s birth places it some 10 to 12 years after the birth of Jesus presented in the third gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of Simeon and Anna with the baby Jesus at the Temple<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is only in this telling of Jesus\u2019s birth that there is \u201cno room at the inn\u201d, causing Mary to have to give birth in a manger. And only in this telling does an angel appear to nearby shepherds, beckoning them to visit the newborn savior.14<\/a><\/sup>Luke 2:8-15<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> This contrasts with the third gospel\u2019s visitors to the baby Jesus being Persian astrologers instead. When he is 40 days old, Joseph and Mary follow Jewish ritual by taking their child to the Temple in Jerusalem. There a holy man named Simeon proclaims that the baby will be \u201ca light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.\u201d Similarly, an elder prophetess named Anna \u201cspoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.\u201d His parents then take him back home to Nazareth where he is said to grow up strong and full of wisdom.15<\/a><\/sup>Luke 2:22-40<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of 12-year-old Jesus amazing the rabbis in the Temple<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the only instance of a story in the New Testament in which he is neither a baby or an adult, this author presents a single tale of the precocious 12-year-old Jesus and his family coming to Jerusalem for Passover. When the festival ends, his parents have made a day\u2019s journey toward home when they notice that their son is not with them. After another day\u2019s travel back to the holy city, they spend three more days searching everywhere for their son. Finally, they discover him in the Temple courts discussing the Law of Moses with rabbis, amazing the elders with his questions and his understanding. When Joseph and Mary ask their son why he has treated them like this, disappearing for days and causing them great fear, the pubescent Jesus\u2019s only response is to ask, \u201cWhy were you searching for me? Didn\u2019t you know I had to be in my Father\u2019s house?”16<\/a><\/sup>Luke 2:41-50. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Baptism and a New Ancestry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is here that the author begins his use of the second gospel\u2014the one used by Marcion\u2014but because that gospel said nothing of Jesus\u2019s baptism by John, and this author wishes to reinstate it, he alters its first line:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Second Gospel<\/th>The Gospel 2.5<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, when Pilate was governing Judea, Jesus came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee.17<\/a><\/sup>BeDuhn, J. (2013). The First New Testament: Marcion’s Scriptural Canon. United States: Polebridge Press.<\/span><\/td>In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar…the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.18<\/a><\/sup>Luke 3:1-3<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of John the Baptist preaching to a crowd<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The author then copies the story of John the Baptist\u2019s preaching to the crowds from the third gospel, though adding some original material in the form of ethical teachings, with John declaring, \u201cAnyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.\u201d He tells tax collectors, \u201cDon\u2019t collect any more than you are required to\u201d; and soldiers, \u201cDon\u2019t extort money and don\u2019t accuse people falsely\u2014be content with your pay.\u201d19<\/a><\/sup>Luke 3:11-14<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediately after the scene of Jesus\u2019s baptism, the author decides to insert a genealogy of Jesus markedly different from the one introduced in the third gospel, and clearly intended to \u201ccorrect\u201d its perceived deficiencies. Whereas the third gospel traces the Lord\u2019s lineage back to the ancient patriarch Abraham, this author one-ups his predecessor by tracing it all the way back to the very first man, Adam. Neither genealogy can be taken as anything remotely historical, and they disagree with each other in several important ways, to the point where modern Christians wishing to harmonize the accuracy of both have been forced to posit that one of the genealogies is Joseph\u2019s ancestry and the other Mary\u2019s, though absolutely nothing in the text suggests this. And this is not to mention the absurdity of both genealogies focusing on Joseph\u2019s royal ancestry when they both also make abundantly clear that Joseph is not the biological parent of Jesus.20<\/a><\/sup>Davidson, P. (2014). Luke\u2019s Genealogy Compared with Matthew and the Old Testament. Is That In the Bible? https:\/\/isthatinthebible.wordpress.com\/2014\/10\/15\/lukes-genealogy-compared-with-matthew-and-the-old-testament\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Following these \u201cbegats\u201d, the narrative continues where it left off, with Jesus being led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. The text describing the three temptations is copied straight out of the third gospel, though for reasons that can only be guessed at, the latter two temptations have had their order swapped. Then, with the addition of a segue about Jesus returning to Galilee \u201cin the power of the Spirit\u201d, we return to the point where the second gospel\u2019s narrative begins. From this point forward the author copies that gospel nearly word-for-word, straight through to the end\u2014including its signature presentations like the Sermon on the Plain, its many unique parables including Lazarus and the Rich Man, and its unique post-crucifixion appearances, like that to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.21<\/a><\/sup>BeDuhn, J. (2013). The First New Testament: Marcion’s Scriptural Canon. United States: Polebridge Press.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Acts of the Apostles<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The second half of this epic two-part work is presented as a sequel to the first, and it picks up the narrative right where the Gospel 2.5 left off, and purports to tell the stories of the first Christian apostles in the 10 to 20 years after Jesus ascended into heaven. For the Roman church it was a major opportunity to shape that history to their own benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of the self-proclaimed \u201capostle to the Gentiles\u201d Paul preaching his unique version of the gospel message in Athens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More than anything else, Acts seems to have one overriding agenda: the rehabilitation of Paul. We\u2019ve seen that in actual history, from the earliest years of the Christian religion there was a chasm of enmity and distrust between its founders Peter and James and the self-appointed apostle Paul who hijacked the movement with his own set of incompatible teachings, openly disdained the \u201cfalse apostles\u201d from Jerusalem, and who repackaged Christianity as something like a Graeco-Roman salvation religion which he successfully established in various Gentile cities across the empire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of a reconciled Peter and Paul embracing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Roman church at some point came to see itself as having been established by Peter, and to this point had held Paul at arm\u2019s length. They did not go so far as the Ebionite Christians who denounced Paul as \u201cthe enemy\u201d, but Paul\u2019s extreme popularity among the Marcionites and Gnostics\u2014and surely some within their own ranks\u2014must have made the Apostle to the Gentiles a dangerous figure who must be handled with care. With this newly written history book, the Church of Rome managed to go from fearing Paul to controlling him, making him a mouthpiece for their own doctrines. Above all, the glaring rift in the earliest church was neatly paved over, and the apostles Peter and Paul were now made to speak with a single voice, in utter harmony on every issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is because this book is so thoroughly agenda-driven that scholars have long recognized it to be of only occasional use as a means to determine the actual history of the times and people it describes. Its author, as noted, is familiar with the works of Flavius Josephus, and sprinkles his narrative with historical details from his writings. But he routinely shows himself ready to alter or ignore actual history wherever it suits him22<\/a><\/sup>Hornik, H. J. & Parsons, M. C. (2020). The Acts of the Apostles Through the Centuries. United Kingdom: Wiley.<\/span>\u2014and like all the gospel writers, is, of course, utterly credulous toward all manner of miracles said to be worked by the apostles, angels, God, or the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What Happened to James?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of the disciples witnessing the resurrected Jesus ascending into the heavens <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the first pieces of surprising new information offered by Acts is that, after his death, Jesus spent a full 40 days appearing to and eating with his disciples in Jerusalem<\/em>.23<\/a><\/sup>Acts 1:3-4<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> Either this statement was intended to discredit the post-resurrection scene by the seashore at the end of the fourth gospel, or else that ending had not yet been added to that gospel. At the very end of the first part of this two-part work, Jesus was depicted as teaching the disciples how to read the Hebrew scriptures so that they can understand how all its writings are actually all about him.24<\/a><\/sup>Luke 24:45-48<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> This peculiar manner of reading the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms is the same that we first saw among the pesharim (\u201cinterpretations\u201d) writings created by the Essenes in the Dead Sea Scrolls, using out-of-context passages to discern information about the messiah and the imminent End of Days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of Judas tripping over a rock in the potter\u2019s field<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After Jesus ascends into heaven, Acts relates that the disciples went back to the upper room in Jerusalem (where the Last Supper had been held) where they engage in constant prayer along with Jesus\u2019s mother Mary and his brothers. Alas, this is the very last mention of Jesus\u2019s family members in Acts or the New Testament as a whole. Peter\u2014the perceived founder of the Roman church\u2014now stands up and takes charge. He relates the story of Judas Iscariot\u2019s death, though his telling jumbles the details of the one presented in the third gospel in which Judas feels remorse, returns his ill-gotten silver, and hangs himself, with the returned money being used to by a \u201cpotter\u2019s field\u201d to bury the homeless. Acts instead says nothing about Judas feeling remorse, and instead states that it was Judas himself who bought a field with his ill-gotten silver, and that while walking there he tripped and fell headfirst such that his torso burst open with all his intestines gushing out.25<\/a><\/sup>Acts 1:12-18<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of the disciples casting lots to choose a replacement for deceased Judas Iscariot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Peter tells his fellow disciples that they must now select a replacement for Judas.26<\/a><\/sup>Acts 1:21-26<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> Why it is important to keep their number at twelve is not said. Do they continue to maintain this number after each subsequent loss of a disciple? If so, Acts doesn\u2019t give any indication of that\u2014even though the deaths of others among the twelve disciples are later recounted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Drawing straws or sticks is the modern equivalent of drawing lots<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Could this be a glimmer of actual history in which the earliest Christians were Essenes, known from their writings to have had a governing body known as The Twelve? Quite possibly. Lending some credence to that idea is the method Acts portrays the disciples using to select the replacement disciple: the drawing of lots. This is a ritual we\u2019ve seen was used in the Hebrew scriptures to determine God\u2019s will on important matters, and was used by the Essenes to determine membership in their communities.27<\/a><\/sup>Pfann, S.J. The Essene Yearly Renewal Ceremony and the Baptism of Repentance. University of the Holy Land. https:\/\/www.uhl.ac\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Baptism.pdf<\/a><\/span> It was also\u2014as described by Flavius Josephus\u2014the method used by the messianic revolutionaries to choose a replacement high priest during the First Jewish-Roman War, and it was the method used to determine an order by which Essene soldiers will carry out mass suicide rather than surrender to Rome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For unexplained reasons, only two men are in contention to replace Judas\u2014a certain Matthais and a certain Joseph Barsabbas\u2014neither of whom have been mentioned before. Considering what we know about James the Just, a founder of the faith\u2014the bishop of the original Jerusalem church, and \u201cbishop of bishops\u201d overseeing all the earliest Christian communities, it would be very much expected that a history of the earliest Church would put a great focus on such a key and central figure. But the author of Acts seems to have little use for James in his retelling of history. If there existed a story of James being elected as leader of the earliest church, it seems here to have been intentionally overwritten with an entirely inconsequential account of a choice between two unknown men who don\u2019t feature in the rest of the story in any way.28<\/a><\/sup>Eisenman, R.H. (1998). James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Penguin.<\/span> For the author of Acts, it is only Peter who leads the church from the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pentecost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction on tongues of fire falling on the disciples on Pentecost<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Jewish holiday Shavuot (\u201cPentecost\u201d in Greek), which occurs 50 days after Passover, is both a harvest festival and a celebration of God\u2019s giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Acts tells us that the disciples of Jesus were still holed-up together that day when suddenly they heard the sound of a violent wind coming from heaven. \u201cTongues of fire\u201d filled the room and rested on each of them, filling them with the Holy Spirit and instantly bestowing upon them fluency in all languages\u2014this being demonstrated by their subsequent outdoor interactions with fellow Jews from all around the Empire and beyond.29<\/a><\/sup>Acts 2:1-11<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of the apostles miraculously able to preach in every language<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This miraculous occurrence is said to fulfill a \u201cprophecy\u201d from the ancient book of Joel, which is quoted at length. We thus see that even when purporting to recount church history, the author is less dependent on actual events, and more piecing together imagined history out of bits of scripture removed from their original context. In what is the first of many entirely implausible mass conversions, a short speech then given by Peter is said to convince 3,000 onlookers to join the church.30<\/a><\/sup>Acts 2:16-41<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Preaching at the Temple<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of Peter preaching to crowds in the Temple<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Though we know from other sources that James the Just made a habit of preaching at the Temple in Jerusalem,31<\/a><\/sup>Eisenman, R.H. (1998). James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Penguin.<\/span> Acts again ignores him, saying that it was Peter and John who went to the Temple each morning to preach to the Jews about Jesus. Their tone is more accusatory than welcoming. \u201cYou rejected the holy and righteous one and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you,\u201d they shout at the crowd, \u201cYou killed the author of life.\u201d32<\/a><\/sup>Acts 3:12-15<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> The two disciples\u2019 words anger the Sadducees who see to it that they are arrested, but we are told that 5,000 of their listeners were converted. After some threatening words from the authorities, Peter and John are released.33<\/a><\/sup>Acts 4:4-21<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Communism in the Early Church<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of Ananias putting aside a few coins before giving everything he owns to the church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Revealingly, Acts makes plain that the earliest Christian community held all money and possessions in common so that none lacked for anything. Predating Karl Marx by over 1,800 years, Acts informs us that \u201cto each was given according to their needs.\u201d In words precisely matching the descriptions of how Essene communities operated, all converts to the faith were expected to sell their land and everything they owned, \u201cand bring the proceeds from the sales and place them at the apostles\u2019 feet.\u201d34<\/a><\/sup>Acts 4:32-35<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of two early Christians digging a shallow grave for Ananias at Peter’s direction<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The way Acts presents it, this rule was not merely on pain of excommunication, but on pain of death. We are told that a couple named Ananias and Sapphira became initiates in the faith, and accordingly sold their property. But Ananias secretly withheld a portion of the proceeds and placed the rest at Peter\u2019s feet. Peter, presumably through some spiritual power, knows that something has been held back, and accuses him harshly, immediately after which Ananias drops dead. Three hours later, the innocent Sapphira arrives and Peter accuses her as well. She drops dead as well. Their bodies are hastily thrown into graves dug outside. This incident is said to cause great fear among the whole church.35<\/a><\/sup>Acts 5:1-11<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Stephen the Martyr<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of Stephen lecturing at and accusing the Sanhedrin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A convert named Stephen who \u201chas the face of an angel\u201d is said to be performing great wonders and miracles while preaching among the people. But certain Jews from Alexandria and Cyrene report him to the authorities for speaking blasphemy and he is arrested and brought before the Jewish High Court.36<\/a><\/sup>Acts 6:8-15<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> Asked to explain himself, Stephen launches into a very long speech that retells the narrative of the books of Genesis and Exodus to a council of men who have likely spent their entire lives studying the Hebrew Scriptures and would not have needed or appreciated a refresher course. Stephen then turns angry and accusatory, shouting, \u201cYou stubborn people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit like your ancestors did! They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One whose betrayers and murderers you have now become!\u201d37<\/a><\/sup>Acts 7:1-53<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> The slander that the Jews killed their own prophets is often repeated among early Christians despite having no basis in scripture or history. It is, of course, also equally preposterous that any ancient prophets predicted the coming of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of Stephen being stoned to death as Paul looks on<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Offended by this brash upstart, the high court follows the Law of Moses by ruling that he be executed for blasphemy. They take him outside the city where a crowd begins throwing stones at him. The author puts in Stephen\u2019s mouth very similar last words to those of Jesus in part one of this two-part work: \u201cLord Jesus, receive my spirit!\u201d Then, falling to his knees, he roughly quotes Jesus\u2019s follow-up last words: \u201cLord, do not hold this sin against them!\u201d38<\/a><\/sup>Acts 7:54-60<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> This, it may be remembered, was originally attributed to James the Just, who was recorded as having said just before his execution, \u201cFather, forgive them! They do not know what they are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Paul and Simon Magus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of people\u2019s cloaks being laid at the feet of Paul<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Those Jews who took part in the stoning of Stephen are said by Acts, for unknown reasons, to have laid their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Paul.39<\/a><\/sup>Note: Before his conversion to Jesus worship, Acts refers to Paul as Saul, but for simplicity’s sake, I refer to him consistently as Paul throughout this book.<\/span> This is our first introduction to the famous apostle in any narrative outside his own letters which were written a century beforehand. Young Paul is said to be leading a violent persecution against the church, going house to house arresting men and women and throwing them in prison.40<\/a><\/sup>Acts 8:3<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just after he is introduced, the story of Paul is interrupted by the description of the apostle Philip\u2019s journey to Samaria to preach the gospel. In that region, we are told, a man named Simon had won followers and made a name for himself, amazing the locals with his sorcery. But Philip performs his own wonders, healing the sick and exorcizing the demon-possessed. His miracles and preaching convert many to the faith, including Simon, who is baptized.41<\/a><\/sup>Acts 8:4-13<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of Peter refusing Simon Magus\u2019s offer of money<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hearing of this success in Samaria, Peter and John arrive and begin laying their hands on the locals to impart to them the Holy Spirit. Wishing to wield such powers as well, Simon offers the disciples money in exchange for this ability. For this, Peter upbraids him and advises him to repent.42<\/a><\/sup>Acts 8:14-25<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> The end of the account is ambiguous about whether Simon repents and remains in the church, and that is the last we hear of him in Acts or the entire New Testament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this same character\u2014most often referred to as Simon Magus (\u201cSimon the Magician\u201d)\u2014plays a significant role in multiple other early Christian writings where he is portrayed as an archrival to the apostles, the leader of his own popular religious movement in which he is a messiah figure. In other writings he is credited as the founder of Gnostic Christianity.43<\/a><\/sup>Ferreiro, A. (2005). Simon Magus in patristic, medieval, and early modern traditions. Brill.<\/span> Perhaps most shockingly, in the Jewish-Christian work, The Memoirs of Clement<\/em>, the name Simon Magus is used as a clear stand-in for the apostle Paul, who is described as the enemy of Peter and the Jerusalem church. Though this work is often considered to have been put into writing later than Acts, its traditions about Paul being equated with Simon Magus may well be older.44<\/a><\/sup>Eisenman, R.H. (1998). James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Penguin.<\/span> Such a thing would make some sense of the writer of Acts briefly introducing Paul, but then interrupting the narrative with a story that goes out of its way to firmly establish Simon as a wholly different person. This would act as another step in rehabilitating the reputation of Paul to make him acceptable to the Roman church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of Jesus appearing to Paul on the road to Damascus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When the narrative returns to following Paul, he is still making dire threats to murder the disciples, and he gets permission from the high priest to chase them down in Damascus. It is along the way to that city that he undergoes his famous conversion, having a vision of Jesus who temporarily blinds him. When his vision returns, Paul becomes as rabidly enthusiastic about preaching the gospel of Jesus as he had been about killing Christians.45<\/a><\/sup>Acts 9:1-28<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Series of Improbable Events<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of Peter\u2019s vision<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As previously noted, one of the main goals of Acts is to create the impression\u2014contrary to actual history\u2014that Peter and Paul shared an identical set of beliefs and concerns. Primary among the many examples of this disingenuousness is Peter\u2019s rooftop vision of a tablecloth descending from heaven covered in non-kosher animals, with a voice beckoning him to \u201cslaughter and eat!\u201d Peter protests that he has never eaten foods forbidden by Jewish law, but the voice tells him that God is now making all foods acceptable for consumption.46<\/a><\/sup>Acts 10:9-16<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> The notion that the earliest Jewish apostles like Peter received such a vision is fairly ludicrous, for even the letters written by Paul undermine this idea, not to mention that the Jewish-Christian followers of James and Peter continued strictly following Jewish dietary laws\u2014some even living as vegetarians as did many of the Essenes.47<\/a><\/sup>Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2007, January 4). Ebionite. Encyclopedia Britannica. https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Ebionites<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of Paul shouting at Bar-Jesus on Cyprus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In one of Acts\u2019s most puzzling stories, the apostle Paul is said to travel to the island of Cyprus where he comes across a magician and false prophet named Bar-Jesus (\u201cSon of Jesus\u201d) and a Roman official named Sergius Paulus. Immediately after mentioning these oddly familiar-sounding names, the author for the first time equates the apostle\u2019s Hebrew name Saul with its Greek form Paul, as if it is somehow relevant to this particular story. Bar-Jesus attempts to keep Paulus from being converted by Paul. Then Paul, who until recently had been a violent persecutor of Christians himself, lays into the false prophet, shouting, \u201cYou who are full of all deceit and all wrongdoing, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness!\u201d48<\/a><\/sup>Acts 13:4-10<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of Bar-Jesus temporarily struck blind by Paul<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He then temporarily strikes him blind, just as Paul himself had been recently struck blind. This does not lead to Bar-Jesus\u2019s conversion, but Paulus is suitably amazed and becomes a believer.49<\/a><\/sup>Acts 13:11-12<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> Could this awkward story be an \u201coverwrite\u201d of a more original story in which it is Paul the apostle who gets converted on Cyprus and has his name changed? It\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The narrative follows Paul as he continues his proselytizing journey into Asia Minor. In an amusing episode in the city of Lystra, after the performance of a healing miracle, Paul and his traveling companion are mistaken by the crowds for the gods Zeus and Hermes and rush to offer animal sacrifices to them.50<\/a><\/sup>Acts 14:8-18<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> Next, the author of Acts gives his account of what has been called the Council of Jerusalem, convened to settle the dispute over whether Gentile converts to the faith need to become circumcised and live by the Law of Moses.51<\/a><\/sup>Acts 15:1-2<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of the gathered apostles at the Council of Jerusalem<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is only in this scene that James is depicted accurately in his place as leader of the original church of Jerusalem. Concluding the deliberations, he calls for the issuing of a letter to foreign churches putting forth the minimal requirements for Gentiles to join the church.52<\/a><\/sup>Acts 15:13-21<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> We earlier saw that this letter was, in fact, most likely the document known as The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles<\/em> and represented a compromise which allowed Gentiles to join the faith and participate in the rituals of baptism and the Eucharist, yet still specified that full adherence to the Law of Moses is required for attaining the \u201cperfection\u201d one needs to acquire salvation. Since the Roman church disagreed with that stipulation of The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles<\/em>, it mentions nothing about it here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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All Paul Now<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of Paul fleeing for his life from an attempted stoning.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Halfway through the book of Acts, apropos of nothing, the narrative abruptly switches from being told in the third person to being told in the first person. Peter is not mentioned in the story again, leaving his ultimate fate unknown. The stories that follow tell the tales of Paul\u2019s adventures preaching the gospel throughout Asia Minor and into Greece. Miracles abound including the apostle\u2019s arrest and miraculous jailbreak facilitated by an earthquake, and his survival of being stoned by those who did not appreciate his proselytizing.53<\/a><\/sup>Acts 16:6-40<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> At Athens, Paul engages in debate with philosophers,54<\/a><\/sup>Acts 17:16-34<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> and while attempting to convert Jews living in Macedonia, Paul becomes angry at their lack of belief, shouting at them, \u201cYour bloody downfall will be your own fault! I am guiltless! From now on I will go to the Gentiles!\u201d55<\/a><\/sup>Acts 18:5-6<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of Paul encountering a group of Jews that know only the baptism of John<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Intriguingly, Acts presents a set of Jews\u2014an Alexandrian named Apollos and an unnamed group in Ephesus\u2014who \u201chad been instructed in the way of the Lord\u201d yet \u201conly knew the baptism of John\u201d.56<\/a><\/sup>Acts 18:24-25<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> The latter group even states that they have never even heard <\/em>of the existence of the Holy Spirit.57<\/a><\/sup>Acts 19:1-3<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> This group may represent Essene communities abroad who revere John the Baptist, but have yet to be exposed to Paul\u2019s unique take on the Son of God. It should be remembered that \u201cEssenes\u201d was strictly an outsider\u2019s term for the sect, and so we shouldn\u2019t expect it to be used within Christian writings. Essenes referred to themselves with terms overlapping with the self-designations of the earliest Christians\u2014The Way, The Poor, The Saints, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of men speaking in tongues as Paul lays his hands on them to impart the holy spirit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The men in Ephesus, immediately upon receiving the Holy Spirit from Paul, begin \u201cspeaking in tongues\u201d.58<\/a><\/sup>Acts 19:4-7<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthians about this same phenomenon, saying that each person who receives the Spirit will receive a gift which could manifest as wisdom, special knowledge, the power to heal, the ability to prophesy, to speak in tongues, or to interpret tongues.59<\/a><\/sup>1 Corinthians 12:1-11<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> Also known as glossolalia, this practice is still encouraged in many Christian denominations. It is generally performed as such: one member of a congregation feels the Spirit come over them and begins babbling incoherent nonsense syllables. Another congregant similarly feels the Spirit unlock their ability to instantly translate aloud the other\u2019s gibberish utterances into a comprehensible message from heaven.60<\/a><\/sup>Davidson, P. (2018). Biblical Tongues and Modern Glossolalia: From Pentecost to Pentecostalism. Is That In the Bible? https:\/\/isthatinthebible.wordpress.com\/2018\/08\/13\/biblical-tongues-and-modern-glossolalia-from-pentecost-to-pentecostalism\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Modern photo of a man speaking in tongues at a Christian event with a second man translating into English<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Even Paul himself seems to want to put a damper on the number of church members breaking out into such fevered blathering. He emphasizes in his letters that it is more blessed to prophesy in plain language or be an interpreter of tongues than it is to be a babbler with no one to translate. In order of greatest importance to the church, Paul lists: apostles like himself, prophets, teachers, those who heal, those who help, those who guide, and least of all those who speak in tongues. \u201cNo one understands them,\u201d he says, \u201cthey utter mysteries by the Spirit…Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air.\u201d61<\/a><\/sup>1 Corinthians 14:2-20<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> The Roman church, in its growing obsession with orthodoxy and stamping out heresy would soon discourage glossolalia which dangerously allowed the commonfolk to receive messages from the Spirit that might contradict established doctrine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How It Ends<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of Paul\u2019s shipwreck while en route to Rome<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The rest of Acts follows Paul through his return visit to Jerusalem during which he is arrested for bringing Gentiles into the inner court of the Temple,62<\/a><\/sup>Acts 21:17-32<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> followed by his cushy house arrest in Caesarea63<\/a><\/sup>Acts 23:12-35<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> in which he befriends Roman and Jewish politicians64<\/a><\/sup>Acts 24:24-27<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> of the highest rank65<\/a><\/sup>Acts 25:22-27<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span>\u2014men who we know from Flavius Josephus were on the cusp of waging brutal war against revolutionary messianic Jews like those in Peter’s and James\u2019s church. Finally, Paul\u2019s journey to Rome is related, including his shipwreck66<\/a><\/sup>Acts 27:27-44<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> that is remarkably similar to the one Josephus related in describing his own trip to Rome a few years before Paul\u2019s. The last scene in Acts depicts the apostle Paul under lax house arrest in Rome, able to gather large crowds at his house to whom he continues proselytizing day after day, for two years.67<\/a><\/sup>Acts 28:23-31<\/a>. The Bible. New International Version.<\/span> His ultimate fate, like Peter’s, is left untold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Continue Reading:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter 21: Gospels Galore<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Footnotes<\/h3>