The Origins and Development of Samaritan Christianity

1973 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 390-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles H. H. Scobie

After the account of the earliest Christian community in Jerusalem (chapters i to vii), the Book of Acts tells in viii. 1 f. of a dispersion of the Church throughout Judaea and Samaria, followed by a Christian mission to Samaria, led by Philip. It is frequently held that the author of Acts gives an indication of the outline he intends to follow at Acts i. 8 where the risen Christ tells his apostles, ‘You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses [1] in Jerusalem; [2] in all Judaea and Samaria; and [3] to the end of the earth.’ The first section, the witness in Jerusalem, occupies Acts i–vii; Acts viii and ix deal with the witness in Judaea and Samaria; while with the narrative of Peter and Cornelius in Acts x the emphasis shifts to the Gentile mission for the remainder of the book.

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-124
Author(s):  
R. Jerome Boone

This article focuses on two key aspects of the Pentecostal faith tradition: worship and biblical interpretation. It illuminates distinctive differences in these two important activities of the Christian community between Pentecostals and the broader Evangelical faith tradition. It addresses the question of the relationship of the book of Acts narrative to a contemporary model for a normative ministry of the church. Pentecostals and Evangelicals recognize the importance of the work of the Holy Spirit in both worship and hermeneutics. Yet, they differ in how they expect the Spirit to engage with members of the Christian community in worship and biblical interpretation. The differences define, in part, the distinctive identity of the Pentecostal faith tradition.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-271
Author(s):  
Joon-Sik Park

Reuben Archer Torrey III, a notable missionary to South Korea in the second half of the twentieth century, was deeply committed to demonstrating true Christianity and making it a reality in Korea through the ministry of Jesus Abbey, an ecumenical community that he and his wife, Jane, founded in 1965. Torrey’s theology and practice of Christian mission have had a transformative impact on Korean Christianity and still have much to contribute to the understanding of the nature and calling of the church. This article examines Torrey’s theology of the Holy Spirit, his view of biblical economic justice, and his understanding of Christian community.


2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik van Alten

John Calvin is often considered to have taught the cessation of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit. This certainly does not give the complete picture of how Calvin wrestled with those passages from Scripture which deal with the extraordinary gifts. In his commentary on the book of Acts Calvin makes a conscious effort to show that in most of the cases where the gifts of the Spirit are mentioned, the focus is not on the gifts in a general sense, but in an extraordinary sense. These extraordinary gifts had been limited to the initial phase of the church. The reasons that Calvin provides for this cessation is somewhat ambiguous. On the one hand Calvin indicates a very specific, divine purpose for the gifts, which limits its usefulness and existence until the point when the purpose had been achieved. However, there are also passages where one gets the impression that the cessation of the gifts was not necessarily divinely intended, but was due to human error. Of great importance is the way Calvin subsequently applies these texts to the readers of his own day. Johannes Calvyn oor die gawes van die Heilige Gees in sy kommentaar op Handelinge Dikwels word aangeneem dat Johannes Calvyn die beëindiging van die buitengewone gawes van die Heilige Gees voorgestaan het. Dit gee egter nie die volle prentjie van hoe Calvyn met daardie Skrifgedeeltes, waarin die buitengewone gawes behandel word, geworstel het nie. In sy kommentaar op die boek Handelinge wys Calvyn bewustelik daarop dat in die meeste gevalle waar die gawes van die Gees genoem word, die fokus nie op die gawes in ’n algemene sin is nie, maar eerder op die gawes in ’n buitengewone sin. Hierdie buitengewone gawes is beperk tot die beginfase van die kerk. Die redes wat Calvyn vir hierdie beëindiging aanvoer, is egter dubbelsinnig. Aan die eenkant wys Calvyn op ’n baie spesifieke, Goddelike doel met die gawes, waardeur hulle bruikbaarheid en voortbestaan beperk word tot die tyd toe die doel bereik is. Aan die anderkant, egter, is daar ook gedeeltes wat die indruk skep dat die beëindiging van die gawes nie noodwendig Goddelik bepaal is nie, maar ’n gevolg was van menslike sonde. Van groot belang is hoe Calvyn hierdie tekste vervolgens toepas op die lesers van sy eie tyd.


2000 ◽  
Vol 8 (16) ◽  
pp. 102-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wynand de Kock

AbstractTo these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, 'Which,' He said, 'you heard from Me; for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.' And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, 'Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?' He said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.'And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them; and they also said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.' Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.Acts 1.3-12, NASBAnd when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rush ing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.Acts 2.1-4, NASB


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 229-248
Author(s):  
Bolean Silalahi

The Contribution of Intercessory Prayer in the Growth of the Early Church according to the Book of the Acts provide a great role and influence for the growth and development of the Church. The Church as a Spiritual Organization craves healthy growth and development, both in quality and quantity. One of the most effective and efficient ways is to intercede, in addition to other methods of course. Nowadays, Intercessory prayer is receiving less serious attention in some churches. The growth and development of the Gospels according to what is written in the Book of Acts shows an event that resulted in major and prominent changes to be examined. There is a significant growth in the preaching of the Gospel both in terms of quality and quantity, many prayers delivered to God are fulfilled and accomplished. In the development of Mission and Gospel in this world it cannot be denied that there are certain individuals, even certain groups do not agree that the creation of a Church growth and development is caused by one of the supporting factors, namely Intercessory Prayer. Luke the writer of the Book of Acts reveals the extraordinary events experienced by Jesus's disciples. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit became the basis of everything that happened and the disciples obeyed the commandments. Behind these events there is a very important thing to remember, that they gather and pray, and even intercede for the fulfillment of God's promises for them and the world. Disciples are baptized, equipped, and even empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry out the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. There is no denying that this miraculous event in the Book of Acts has had a great impact until now. Because through this event many people became believers in Jesus Christ and accepted the Gospel in their lives. So that the Church is growing rapidly and extraordinary. Everything that happened during the Early Church was the key to the growth and development of the Church today. May Churches today increasingly realize that behind the Intercessory Prayer there is a real power that will be fulfilled by God for His people. Especially at this time of the Pandemic Covid-19, Intercessory Prayer is very urgent and important because the Churches needed the power of the Holy Spirit poured out for the Churches in this world.


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-25
Author(s):  
Terri Martinson Elton ◽  
Richard Osmer

Confirmation is a ministry aimed at strengthening young people's understanding of faith, deepening their experience in Christian community, and equipping them to discern their calling to join in God's mission in the world. As the church engages in confirmation, young people encounter the gospel anew and congregations bear witness to the redemptive love of God and the covenant of grace into which all Christians are baptized. Learning from and with each other, within and across denominations, enhances confirmation as a discipleship ministry for young people. But it does more than that. As the body of Christ comes together to help young people encounter the gospel anew, lives are changed and become open to the Holy Spirit. Embracing our call to share the gospel and cultivate faith within young people not only serves the church today, it invests in the future.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-101
Author(s):  
Constantin Prihoancă

Abstract This article is a critical engagement with D. Stăniloae’s and J. Ratzinger’s ecclesiological thought as shaped by the description of church as the body of Christ and the Trinitarian roots of this ecclesiology. Starting from practical problems of prayer and living a Christian life, the authors argue that God’s relationship to the Christian community has primacy over God’s relationship to individual believers. When one conceives of the Christian community as being the body of Christ, one can uphold the elevated Christian ideal of Eucharist Communio without making it unattainable. The authors show that the being of the church is given to the Christian community not as a possession or property, but as a task to be fulfilled through the power of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. One can discover that in becoming the church, the Christian community is elevated to the Trinitarian life in communion. Communion ecclesiology has the potential to bridge the divide between the Orthodox and Catholic churches.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robby Chandra

There has not been a study on the word ὥσπερ or ὡσεὶ (as) in the Book of Acts Chapter 2 by using Cognitive Linguistic Analysis theorem. Employing a method of interpretation based on such a theory, this study explores the meaning of the words. The hypothesis is the word ὥσπερ or ὡσεὶ.signify the complexity of the Holy Spirit’s role and the the Spirit’s agility. The finding shows that the Holy Spirit has multiple roles and agility beyond human word can describe. However, the Spirit’s main role is guide people to the Lordship of Christ, to transform the disciples to become courageous persons, people with the ability to communicate across borders, and to have agility in following God’s guidance to create real impacts in the society. The church that the Spirit dwells in and leads should possess such fluidity and multiple roles as the Holy Spirit.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick Kakwata

This article seeks to articulate a biblical pneumatological approach to transformational development. The aim is to explore and examine the work of the Holy Spirit in Grudem’s perspective and how it relates to transformational development. It is argued that the work of the Holy Spirit and the integral human development it brought amongst the early Christian community can function as a paradigm for the contemporary church globally, and particularly in Africa engaging in developmental work as well as for subsequent generations of Christians dealing with issues of transformation development.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Isaac Boaheng

This paper explores the theological message embedded in the hymns: “The incarnate God appeared” and “Come Holy Spirit, come now”. Theological findings from these hymns are used to formulate an African Christian theology of mission based on thematic areas such as the trinitarian dimension of mission, the centrality of the cross in mission, mission as the core mandate of the Church and mission as incarnational agapaō. By this, the paper makes the message of the selected hymns accessible to the global Christian community, promotes the development of hymnody in the African church and at the same time provides a paradigm for Christian mission in the 21st century African society. This is a literature research that uses data from books, theses, journal articles, among others. The findings indicate that hymns constitute a great tool for the missionary enterprise of the church, therefore Christian hymns should be developed and promoted. It is recommended that, for Christian mission in Africa to be meaningful and relevant to Africans, it must endeavor to address the existential issue in African societies. Key Words: Africa, Hymns, Christology, Mission, Pneumatology, Theology


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