Paul's Personality and Temperament

[ITS]

From the book of Acts, describe Paul's personality and temperament.

[Craig]

Here is my response to Question #2

1. A major application issue for Acts relates to what is normative teaching in Acts. That is what commands and practices are viewed as binding on the church today. How does one decide what is normative andwhat is merely descriptive of how it was done, and consequently, argue how to apply ancient scripture to the current believing community?

2nd Timothy 3:16 states All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. I think an analytical look at what was tradition may be the key to this question. As I look at Acts, in chapter 2:41-47, I see that as the ingredients for a New Testament church. We still have been called to witness, preach and proclaim the gospel to endure hardships and follow the unction of the Holy Spirit. Our challenge has not changed; we may have protection from false religions, but they have the same rights. We may not necessarily go to other countries to witness, for the harvest is plentiful in our own back yards. Each church must seek the will of God to determine How God wants them to apply his word; for we all have different situations and circumstances.

[Craig]

One of the issues that has been debated during the history of the church is the organizational structure of the church, be that a local church or a denominational organization. From your study of the Pastoral Epistles, what insight have you gained regarding local church organizational structure?

My Answer:

Being a member of local church, I can see merits and demerits in being a local and independant church. A church which functions on its own knows the needs of its member and its community. Often when church have governing bodies, they are prompted to adhere to the governing bodies goals and objectives, whcih can hinder possibly it's ability to meet the needs of its community. However, I have seen on the other hand where a governing body would have been welcomed because of church strife and certain familes and leaders dominating the church. Having been in church where it was dominated by certain people, I would have welcomed a governig body. When those persons moved off the scene, I was also glad we did not have governing bodies hinder the ability to determine our course.

[jkohn]

The purpose of writing Acts can be linked to the the purpose of why he wrote Luke. Luke states that he is writing to give an accurately investigated account of the activities that occurred during Jesus time and the early church. The purpose of Acts being written is basically that it is a continuation of the Gospel so that one may see the progression or impact that Jesus had on the early believers. Luke declares that he writes this to his beloved or most excellent Theophilus. It is assumed that Theophilus was a Gentile and would need to be given encouragement and affirmation of the events and topics that he has begun to learn about. Luke's Gospel and account of the Acts is thus written mainly to a Gentile audience. In Luke 20, Jesus proclaims that the message of salvation will be given to the Gentiles because of the Jewish rejection. Paul picks up on Jesus message and will be seen going to the Gentiles because he is encountering Jewish rejection.

[jkohn]

It is difficult to discern the teachings in Acts from what is prescriptive and what is normative. The teachings that should be considered normative in the book of Acts cannot be contained by a list of do's and don'ts because then these activities would become abused and mundane. It is important that one consider the context of the teaching. It is imperative that a teaching regarding any ancient Jewish tradition in the book of Acts be studied to understand the reason that a practice was actually being done. It is also important to see how a particular practice relates to the message of the entire Bible. Some of the practices that could be considered normative would include witnessing to people everywhere, being compassionate to the poor, and sharing one's possessions with people in need. One of the customs in Acts that was descriptive would be the food regulations imposed at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15. This question is difficult to answer because there is not a clear cut answer. It would be my suggestion to study the text thoroughly and then ask for the help of the Holy Spirit to discern which acts were prescriptive and which were descriptive.

[jkohn]

2nd Timothy 3:16 states All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. I think an analytical look at what was tradition may be the key to this question. As I look at Acts, in chapter 2:41-47, I see that as the ingredients for a New Testament church. We still have been called to witness, preach and proclaim the gospel to endure hardships and follow the unction of the Holy Spirit. Our challenge has not changed; we may have protection from false religions, but they have the same rights. We may not necessarily go to other countries to witness, for the harvest is plentiful in our own back yards. Each church must seek the will of God to determine How God wants them to apply his word; for we all have different situations and circumstances.

It is sometimes too easy for the Christian community to throw this blanket verse out to cover a multitude of answers to difficult questions. Although, it most likely not the contention of this student here, it would seem that scripture is more complex than this passage can give. Scripture is multi-faceted with a multitude of meanings and depth. God has revealed himself to us in human terms and is difficult for us to understand what was purely a timely custom or if it was a practice that should be continued for the church today. Many times one can take the principle of an ancient custom and be able to apply the Scripture to today's believing community. Scripture should be applied in such a way as to be cautious, study extensively, and to ask for the Spirit's guidance.

[Nathan Venton]

In response to Question 1:

Q: What is Luke's purpose in writing Acts? In your answer, account for how Acts' connection to Luke and the prominence of Paul and the mission to the Gentiles fit into this purpose.

A: I would say that Luke's main purpose in writing the book of Acts was to show the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Very early on in chapter one, Luke states a form of the great commission. He then traces this new mission of the church to eventually show it's completion (as far as he was concerned). Peter was the main player in sharin the gospel in Jerulam and first bringing it to the Gentiles. Then Paul becomes the main 'hero' in bring the good news to the 'ends of the earth' (Rome, possibly spain, asia minor). Thus the book of acts traces the early mission of the church to show an account of how the early church followed the commands of Christ as they were empowered by the Spirit. The writing of Acts is the natual continuation of the story that Luke had started in the book of Luke. Acts is written to show the completion and fulfillment of the things that Jesus stated.

[Nathan Venton]

The purpose of writing Acts can be linked to the the purpose of why he wrote Luke. Luke states that he is writing to give an accurately investigated account of the activities that occurred during Jesus time and the early church. The purpose of Acts being written is basically that it is a continuation of the Gospel so that one may see the progression or impact that Jesus had on the early believers. Luke declares that he writes this to his beloved or most excellent Theophilus. It is assumed that Theophilus was a Gentile and would need to be given encouragement and affirmation of the events and topics that he has begun to learn about. Luke's Gospel and account of the Acts is thus written mainly to a Gentile audience. In Luke 20, Jesus proclaims that the message of salvation will be given to the Gentiles because of the Jewish rejection. Paul picks up on Jesus message and will be seen going to the Gentiles because he is encountering Jewish rejection.

I would agree with this assesment of why Luke wrote the book of Acts. The book of acts was the second part of Luke's earlier book written to the Gentile Theophilus. Thus Luke is continuing his story of where he left off in Acts and is showing the fulfillment of the great commission, as done especially by Peter and Paul. it is a safe assumption, as mentioned above, that the readers of Luke would like more information of what happened after Jesus' assencion. thus Acts would be of great encouragement and affirmaion of the events that Luke had already written to them about.

[Nathan Venton]

In response to Question 2:
Q: A Major aplication issue for Acts relates to 'what is 'normative' teaching in Acts.' That is, what commands and practices are viewed as binding on the church today. how does one decide what is normative (prescribed for all time) and what is merely 'descriptive' of how it was done, and consequently, argue how to apply ancient Scripture to the current believing community?

A: I would say that the best way to answer this problem would be to look at the book of acts in light of all the rest of the Bible. It would not be good just to pick out something from the book of acts and say we have to do it today without looking at the rest of scripture to see how it matches up with what is said by Jesus, or other books of the Bible. we must remember that Acts is a story. much of it is narrative. Luke wasn't writing to us today to give us commands of what we are supposed to do. he was writing narrative about what the early church was experiencing and doing to get the gospel out from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth as they were empowered and directed by God. Thus we should be learly of saying that just because the characters in the narrative in Acts did something, we must do it too. we can learn from them, and apply principles from the story after carefull exegesis and research of the historical setting. But unless we see a direct command in Acts that is consistent with the rest of scripture, we should not hastily prescribe the situations and acts of the early church as normative for today.

[Nathan Venton]

It is difficult to discern the teachings in Acts from what is prescriptive and what is normative. The teachings that should be considered normative in the book of Acts cannot be contained by a list of do's and don'ts because then these activities would become abused and mundane. It is important that one consider the context of the teaching. It is imperative that a teaching regarding any ancient Jewish tradition in the book of Acts be studied to understand the reason that a practice was actually being done. It is also important to see how a particular practice relates to the message of the entire Bible. Some of the practices that could be considered normative would include witnessing to people everywhere, being compassionate to the poor, and sharing one's possessions with people in need. One of the customs in Acts that was descriptive would be the food regulations imposed at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15. This question is difficult to answer because there is not a clear cut answer. It would be my suggestion to study the text thoroughly and then ask for the help of the Holy Spirit to discern which acts were prescriptive and which were descriptive.

I would say that this is a good assesment of the situation. as mentioned in my assesment, we must look at the entire bible. this will help us in assesing the book of acts and what we should or should not apply to today. we should more readily extract principles from the text, like the ones mentioned above (sharing goods, money, being compasstionate, ect.) There are many things done in the book of Acts that believers should be doing today, and we must. We just don't nessecarily have to do them in the same way that the early church did it. our times and cultures have changed, and it seems that God has given us great freedom in the way we approach doing ministry.

[ronald james mahler]

As Saul the persecuting pharisee, (Paul) appears to be dogmatic, ruthless and self-righteous. However, the Damascan road experience transforms him into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Paul seems to quickly take on the humble, selfless, pastoral characteristics that marked Jesus'ministry. From his conversion - onward, Paul is steadfast, longsuffering and even at times, feisty. The Lord redeemed his feiry tendencies as a pharisee and used them for the betterment of the church and the Gospel's advancement.

Ron Mahler

[micahkephart]

There are many themes and sub-themes that emerge in Luke’s purpose for writing Acts. One theme that seems to be apparent is that it is apologetic in nature. Luke wanted to persuade government officials to tolerate the movement of Christianity. To convince them that it was not a threat to the Roman Empire. He spends a great deal of time providing the narrative of Paul’s trials the response to Roman officials. There are many cases of the Christian faith being defended in front of Jewish Authorities.

[micahkephart]

Many attempts have been made to distill what a vibrant Christian community is in five easy characteristics. It may be as simple and more complex in some ways. The normative ideas can be found in very nature of God in the trinity and how he has communicated himself to us through his son. Jesus prays for us that are to be one (with each other and him) just as He and his father are one. The spirit of God’s mandates are always the same, but it seems throughout time, the expression of those mandates, how they are practiced, changes. Normative teaching is the spirit of the word of God, descriptive is how it is expressed in changing culture. The feast of atonement and the Last supper are a great example.

[Spencer]

Perhaps second only to Christ’s own example, the apostle Paul set the precedent in the New Testament (in terms of character) for passionate and single-minded devotion to what he understood as the “Truth.” Paul was willing to unreservedly place all things, including any personal desires for achievement, comfort and even safety far behind what had become his all-consuming life-long task, that of “testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24).