The Significance of the Distribution of Self-designations in Acts
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Abstract
An analysis of the distribution of self-designations in Acts reveals that Luke’s use of these self-designations is not random. Rather significant insight into Luke’s theology and into early Christian history can be gained by looking at the way these self-designations are distributed throughout Acts, when they are actually used, and whether they are used by Luke’s narrator or by actors in his story. The self-designations discussed here are ἀδελφοί, µαθηταί, ἐκκλησία, “the believers” and “the saints” or “the sanctified ones.”
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3)
G.N. Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus (2nd ed.; Cambridge: CUP, 2002) 271.
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6)
See R. Aasgaard, “Brothers and Sisters in the Faith: Christian Siblingship as an Ecclesiological Mirror in the First Two Centuries,” in The Formation of the Early Church (ed. J. Ådna; WUNT 183; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005) 315.
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7)
See H.J. Cadbury, “Note XXX. Names for Christians and Christianity in Acts,” in The Beginnings of Christianity, Part 1: The Acts of the Apostles, Vol. 5: Additional Notes to the Commentary (ed. K. Lake and H.J. Cadbury; London: Macmillan, 1933) 379; see e.g. Acts 2:29, 37; 3:17, 22; on fourteen occasions ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί is used rather than ἀδελφοί; see e.g. Acts 1:16; 2:29; cf. 4 Macc 8:19; Barrett, Acts, 1:96.
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25)
D. Seccombe, “The New People of God,” in Witness to the Gospel: The Theology of Acts (ed. I.H. Marshall and D. Peterson; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998) 372 notes that ἀδελφοί in Acts indicates that “transcending all ethnic, cultic and social differences, they are one new people, brothers and sisters to each other, and also to the human Jesus.” But Luke indicates this in a very careful way, as I hope to have shown.
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26)
See Barrett, Acts 2:759; 9:25 and 19:1 are two probable exceptions to the general usage of µαθητής with the meaning of “Christian.”
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29)
See W. Reinbold, Propaganda und Mission im ältesten Christentum: Eine Untersuchung zu den Modalitäten der Ausbreitung der frühen Kirche (FRLANT 188; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2000) 16-17; J.P. Meier, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Vol. 3: Companions and Competitors (New York: Doubleday, 2001) 41.
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30)
See Seccombe, “New People,” 372; Meier, A Marginal Jew, 3:41, 84 n. 4. Luke uses µαθητής 37 times in his Gospel.
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37)
E. Haenchen, The Acts of the Apostles: A Commentary (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1971) 460 argues that, as we have it, Luke is responsible for the wording of this speech; see also Meier, A Marginal Jew, 3:84 n. 5.
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45)
See R.B. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ: The Narrative Substructure of Galatians 3:1-4:11 (2nd ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002) 123; H.D. Betz, Galatians (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress Press; 1979) 115 with n. 28.
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50)
See Acts 6:1; J.D.G. Dunn, Beginning From Jerusalem: Christianity in the Making, Vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009) 312, 314.
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55)
See J. Hainz, EKKLESIA: Strukturen Paulinischer Gemeinde-Theologie und Gemeinde-Ordnung (Biblische Untersuchungen 9; Regensburg: Friedrich Pustet, 1972) 236, 251; H. Merklein, “Die Ekklesia Gottes: Der Kirchenbegriff bei Paulus und in Jerusalem,” in Studien zu Jesus und Paulus (WUNT 43; Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1987) 301-302; W. Krauss, Das Volk Gottes: Zur Grundlegung der Ekklesiologie bei Paulus (WUNT 85; Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1996) 112.
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57)
See H.-J. Klauck, “Volk Gottes und Leib Christi, oder: Von der kommunikativen Kraft der Bilder. Neutestamentliche Vorgaben für die Kirche von heute,” in Alte Welt und neuer Glaube: Beiträge zur Religionsgeschichte, Forschungsgeschichte und Theologie des Neuen Testaments (NTOA 29; Freiburg: Universitätsverlag, 1994) 289; A.B. du Toit, “Paulus Oecumenicus: Interculturality in the Shaping of Paul’s Theology,” NTS 55 (2009) 133.
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62)
D. Seccombe, “Luke’s Vision for the Church,” in A Vision for the Church: Studies in Early Christian Ecclesiology in Honour of J.P.M. Sweet (ed. M.N.A. Bockmuehl and M.B. Thompson; Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1997) 47-48; see also Seccombe, “New People,” 353.
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65)
J.Y. Campbell, “The Origin and Meaning of the Christian Use of the Word ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ,” in Three New Testament Studies (Leiden: Brill, 1965) 41.
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66)
See J.A. Fitzmyer, “The Designations of Christians in Acts and Their Significance,” in Unité et diversité dans l’Église: Texte officiel de la Commission Biblique Pontificale et travaux personnels des Membres (ed. Commission Biblique Pontificale; Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1989) 231.
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72)
See O.E. Evans, Saints in Christ Jesus: A Study of the Christian Life in the New Testament (Swansea: John Perry Press, 1975) 38. It is possible that in using οἱ ἡγιασµένοι here Luke has been influenced by Deut 33:3-4 where the participle is found, but J. Dupont, Le discours de Milet, testament pastoral de saint Paul (Actes 20:18-36) (LD32; Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1962) 281 notes that Deut 33:3-4 is quite different in content from Acts 20:32.
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80)
N. Turner, A Grammar of New Testament Greek, Vol. 3: Syntax (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1963) 264-265, emphasis original; see also Barrett, Acts, 2:981.
The Significance of the Distribution of Self-designations in Acts
In: Novum TestamentumSearch for other papers by Paul Trebilco in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
An analysis of the distribution of self-designations in Acts reveals that Luke’s use of these self-designations is not random. Rather significant insight into Luke’s theology and into early Christian history can be gained by looking at the way these self-designations are distributed throughout Acts, when they are actually used, and whether they are used by Luke’s narrator or by actors in his story. The self-designations discussed here are ἀδελφοί, µαθηταί, ἐκκλησία, “the believers” and “the saints” or “the sanctified ones.”