Is it appropriate to interpret Revelation as it relates to current events, or should it be interpreted wholly in light of its 1st century context? Cite references from your reading to support your answer.
 ​

   One of the most misunderstood and confusing books of the Bible to read and understand may very well be the book of Revelation. Due to its detailed imagery, symbolism, and Old Testament/Jewish cultural references it is difficult to depict what it exactly means by just reading the book alone. In order to carry out a detailed Bible study or exegesis of Revelation, it often requires many resources such as historical dictionaries, concordances, and various commentaries. A book such as this should be treated with the utmost respect and sincerity. My first suggestion for the exegesis of Revelation would to be to learn as much about its form and authorial intent as possible. Secondly, the historical context of the writing would also find itself to be valuable. We must also keep in mind that we will not “get” everything right away from the book of Revelation that it lays down. Some things and revelations will come with time, discernment and the process of repetitive study not just of Revelation, but also the Old Testament itself.
 
   Regarding whether Revelation covers current or historical events, we must study it for ourselves to make this determination and in what majority direction it goes. Our text points out some facts that we may find useful in the interpretive process. It mentions, “Jesus announced the nearness and even (partial) arrival of God’s kingdom (Mark 1:15; Luke 11:20). The presence of God’s kingdom suggests the eschatological fulfillment of the prophetic promises regarding the son of David, the restoration of Israel, and the renewal of creation.”[1] The confusion is not with the symbolism and metaphorical references as our text points out, “No one doubts that Revelation is saturated with symbolism, but not all agree on what those symbols mean.”[2] How we interpret the book of Revelation is all up to how it is viewed and what our preconceived ideas are before viewing it. What are our outside influences such as theological background, culture, experiences, and motives? Our text reiterates this by saying, “Finally, your eschatological perspective becomes the theological lenses which influence how you answer the historical questions and how you interpret the book’s symbols.”[3]
 
Our text explains that there are “four different and basic interpretive schools of thought,
 
Preterist: believe the events of Revelation unfolded in the first century.[4]
Historicist: These interpreters believe that, “vision as forecasting the course of history in Western Europe with particular emphasis on popes, kings, and wars.”[5]
Idealist: the Idealist believes in the enhanced symbolism of Revelation and that the events that unfold are the symbolic struggle between that which is evil and good.[6]
Futurist: these believers are under the impression that Revelation is strictly “futuristic” in nature. There are two main schools of thought for futurists, which are “dispensationalists” and “modified/moderate futurism.”[7]
 
 
   My interpretation is that Revelation provides us with an intricate web of both 1st century past, present, and future which are woven together perfectly to prevent the prediction of the inevitable apocalyptic arrival. It is the typical style and fashion of the Lord Jesus Christ’s way of doing things to shroud it in symbolism and mystery. Today’s church has been the ongoing recipient of the blessings of knowledge regarding God’s Word, in contrast to the world which gains more of man’s foolish knowledge. It is for this reason that I take a balanced approach to say that many of these events may be similar to and speak of spiritual war of the past and present, while most depicts what is to come in the future. I rely upon God’s Word and insightful accurate resources to guide me in a safe direction for determining how to best understand God’s warnings in the book of Revelation.


[1] Andreas J Köstenberger, and Richard D. Patterson, "Invitation to Biblical Interpretation: Exploring the Hermeneutical Triad of History, Literature, and Theology."  (2011) 518. Accessed July 8th, 2017. , http://gcumedia.com/digital-resources/kregel/2011/invitation-to-biblical-interpretation_exploring-the-hermeneutical-triad-of-history-literature-and-theology_ebook_1e.php
 
[2] Patterson and Köstenberger. “Invitation to Biblical Interpretation. 518
 
[3] Ibid. 522
 
[4] Ibid. 522
 
[5] Ibid. 523
 
[6] Ibid. 523
 
[7] Ibid. 524-525

           
   There is no other character in all of the text of the Old Testament who could have lived a life more entertaining than Jonah. Getting swallowed by a giant “sea creature” is probably one of the oldest and quickest ways of becoming famous, or should we same infamous worldwide (Jonah 1:17). Join me as we dive into one of the most exciting stories of the Bible. This extensive work on the book of Jonah will begin by looking into the subgenre, along with the literary features/poetic devices that are found within the text, followed by examining the historical context of the book. We will also examine the prophetic elements of this text to determine if they apply to the prophet’s day, a future time, or both. Finally,we will learn the application of theological truths found within the text and how they apply to our church today.
 
The Subgenre and Literary Features of The Book of Jonah
 
   According to Yvonne Sherwood, “The book of Jonah is one of the twelve so-called Minor Prophets.”[1] The fact that it is considered a minor prophet does not give any revelation to the importance of the prophet, but rather the length of the book. Jonah is considered a minor book, mostly because of its short length of four chapters. The book of Jonah is certainly and overwhelmingly majority narrative, with a single Psalm (2:1-10). There are multiple literary features and elements within the book of Jonah. Among them Yvone Sherwood points out, “innter-biblical allusions and humor.”[2] She also mentions some differences between the book of Jonah and other prophets by saying, “Unlike other clearly multi-layered prophetic books, Jonah seems to be a tightly crafted unity.”[3]
   There are also many others within the field of theology who seem to believe that some of these differences and exciting elements do not make positive contributions to the reputation of the book. Steven McKenzie mentions,“The characters in Jonah are also exaggerations, or better, stereotypes, that at least border on the rediculous.”[4] McKenzie even goes as far as pointing out the flaws in how God is perceived my saying, “Yahweh is an onmipotent micromanager who controls not only the force of nature but also personally appoints and commands fish, insects, and plants. The God of Israel is also the God of the entire universe, the creator of sea and land.”[5]
“God’s purposes througout the story are unfailingly redemptive and merciful.”[6] While McKenzie redeems his point in the last part of the prior quote, it seems that he is pointing out God to be a micromanager in the story. However, strong personalities, plots, and plays on emoition are all qualities of a good narrative story.
 
The Historical Context of The Book of Jonah
 
   Knowing that the book of Jonah is more narrative than any other sub-genre, we can now determine the historical context and elements of the book. Jonah is obviously set in the time of prophets of the Old Testament. Yvonne Sherwood points out,“Unlike most other prophetic books, the book floats free of any historical anchor or time signature.”[7] This makes putting an exact date of authorship and the happening of its events very difficult. However, she states, “The vast majority of contemporary scholars favor dates between the sixth and third centuries B.C.E.”[8] There are those scholars who believe this book lacks the evidence required to consider it having any kind of historical significance. Micheal Grisanti mentions, “Although these narratives give the impression that they speak of the past, many scholars regard them as ‘hisotricized fiction,’ viewing them as ‘stories rather than historically reliable accounts.”[9] Even Steven McKenzie brings up this point when he says, “It is obvious from the foregoing examination of its content that the book of Jonah was not written as biography or history.”[10] His main evidence seems to be as he states, “There are hsitorical inaccuracies, such as the title ‘king of Nineveh’ and the description of Neneveh’s size, not to mention the prominence of Nineveh in the eigth century.”[11] He also seems to present the idea that this Jonah is not a depiction of the real prophet Jonah by saying, “Jonah is an unreal figure—a statrical imitation of a prophet rather than the historical prophet of the same name.”[12] Micheal Grisanti continues this argument by saying, “The question is whether narratives with a didactic or propagandistic intent can also be viewed as hisotry writing.”[13]
   There are multiple errors in the belief that the Book of Jonah presents historical inaccuracies. One is the historical significance that the Jews themselves place on the Book of Jonah. The Jewish traditions are set in very concrete historical accuracies. Bernard Raskas helps point this out by mentioning, “The Book of Jonah, a seemingly fantastic tale of a reluctant prophet swallowed by a huge fish while fleeing from God, is read publicly once a year in the synagogue late in the afternoon on Yom Kippur.”[14] If God’s chosen people have read this book every year for such an important event for them, why would they do this with a historically inaccurate book. We have to remember that most all the Jewish holidays and sacrements are based on the real events of God’s Word.
   Jesus also mentions the Book of Jonah directly in Matthew 12:40, something that I doubt He would have ever done had there been any discrepancies historically with the book. Another argument against the false belief that the Book of Jonah is historically inaccurate is because many academia force their methods upon texts that are much older and more sacred. Micheal Grisanti says, “In the opinion of various scholars literary craft and an accurate historical representation are incompatible. This unfortunate conclusion arises, at least in part, from the association of biblical literature with modern literary theories. To secular literary theorists, literature is art, created for its own sake and not for any purpose external to itself.”[15] He goes on to say later in the article that, “The literary craft of the Bible does not in itself argue against the truthfulness or historicity of the events and people it describes.”[16] It is for this reason that the Book of Jonah has a historical context to not only Jonah’s day, but for everyone who reads this valuable story. It is truly a Book of God’s Word that transcends time.
 
The Prophetic Elements of The Book of Jonah
 
   The prophetic elements of the Book of Jonah are partly summarized by Yvonne Sherwood when she mentions, “The book of Jonah is a misfit among the prophetical books. The only oracle is ‘Forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown’ (3:4, author’s translations throughout)—a terse five words in Hebrew.”[17] This is only assuming that there are only prophetic applications to the day that Jonah lived, however if this were the case it would be true. Fortunately, however; Jonah has some implied prophetic elements. Jesus himself mentions the similarities between Jonah’s three day stay when he says in Matthew 12:40 (NIV), “in the belly of the huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
   Steven McKenzie seems to believe that, “Jonah is full of contradictions.”[18] However, many of God’s people here on the Earth have a life full of contradictions. God loves to proove us wrong by having us do things that we said we would never do. I can attest to this myself as I told my wife when we met that, “I would never be that little church boy she wanted in a boyfriend.” A few years later I was not only back in college, but in Seminary training how to become a pastor to those other little “church boys.” This was  a contradiction, but we all have them. The individuals who were characters of the Book of Jonah are people, so they were no different.
 
 
The Theological Truths and Their Application To The Church Today
 
   There are severl strong theological truths and leadership tips for today’s church that we can get from such an awesome story as Jonah’s. Among them, were one of the few points that I agree with Yvonne Shewood on and that was when she mentions,“From king to beasts, the Ninevites put on sackcloth and fast. Since they repent of their evil, God repents from the evil that he said that he would do to them (3:10).”[19] There are six truths that Bernard Raskas believes the book of Jonah teaches. They are: “you can’t run away from God, you can’t run away from responsibility, you must be willling to do teshuvah (work on relationships) if you want to find life meaningful and worthwhile, there is only one God and one humanity, there is always hope, and it is never too late to change.”[20]
   I have tried many of these mistakes myself that Jonah tried, and I can attest to the fact that they are indeed hard lessons to be learned. Bernard Raskas expands on this idea when he states, “God then instructs Jonah: If Jonah could have compassion for a simple plant, doesn’t he understand the compassion God must feel toward a city of 120,000 men, women, children, as well as innocent animals? God teaches Jonah (and us) that the God of the Jews is the God of the entire world. The enemy is human.”[21] As Rob Barret points out, the point that I see many fail to recognize (even speakers) is, “In the structurally parallel encouters with the sailors and the Ninevites, the strikingly consistent contrast with Jonah is that the other human characters are immediately consumed with fear of the dangerous implications of resisting YHWH’s will and power while Jonah consistently exhibits no concern and stubbornly twists his neck away from the direction of YHWH’s leading.”[22] The fear of the Lord is something that seems to be lost in our faith today. People shake their fists at God and have gained the notion that they can walk with God without fearing Him, however our Scripture states in Psalms 112:1, “Praise the LORD! How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who greatly delights in His commandments.” This Scripture along with many others helps to point out how important it is for us to properly respect and reverance our God and Creator of the universe.
 
Conclusion
            The Book of Jonah has proven itself to be a great resource for both Jew and Christian for many years and will continue to until the Day of the Lord. The question is, do we see the value it provides us? If we properly study and apply the subgenre, the literary features/poetic devices, the historical context, its prophetic elements, and the truths which are found within the text; we can then see that value. It is for this reason that I consider the Book of Jonah to be an essential part of growth in our faith. Let us have compassion for others, like God had on Ninevah. 



Bibliography

Barrett, Rob. "Meaning More than They Say: The Conflict between YHWH and Jonah." Journal for the study of the Old Testament. 20, no. 2 (June 2011): 155-69.

Elwell, Walter, A. Bakers Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2001. 
Goodrick, Edward W. The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1999.

Grand Canyon University. “Old Testament Exegesis: Exegeting the Prophets.” Lecture 4, Biblical Hermeneutics, Grand Canyon University, 2016.

Grisanti, Michael A. "Old Testament poetry as a vehicle for historiography." Bibliotheca Sacra 161, no. 642 (April 2004): 163-178. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed June 15, 2017). 

McKenzie, Steven L. . " Jonah and Genre." In How to Read the Bible. Oxford Biblical Studies Online, http://www.oxfordbiblicalstudies.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/article/book/obso-9780195161496/obso-9780195161496-div1-2 (accessed 04-Jul-2017).

​Raskas, Bernard. 1992. "What Made Jonah Run?: Six lessons for Yom Kippur."Baltimore Jewish Times, Oct 02, 8. https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/docview/222844353?accountid=7374.

​Sherwood, Yvonne ed. Jonah. In The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible: Oxford Biblical Studies Online, accessed July 2nd, 2017. http://www.oxfordbiblicalstudies.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/article/opr/t280/e103
 


[1] Yvonne Sherwood ed. "Jonah." The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible: Oxford Biblical Studies Online, accessed July 1st, 2017, http://www.oxfordbiblicalstudies.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/article/opr/t280/e103
 

[2] Yvonne Sherwood ed. "Jonah."
 

[3] Ibid.
 

[4] Steven L, McKenzie, "Jonah and Genre: How to Read the Bible.” Oxford Biblical Studies Online, accessed July 3rd, 2017, http://www.oxfordbiblicalstudies.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/article/book/obso-9780195161496/obso-9780195161496-div1-2
 

[5] Steven L, McKenzie, "Jonah and Genre: How to Read the Bible.” 
 

[6] Ibid. 
 

[7] Ibid.
 

[8] Ibid.
 

[9] Michael A. Grisanti, “Old Testament poetry as a vehicle for historiography,” Bibliotheca Sacra 161, no. 642 (April 2004): 164, accessed June 15, 2017, ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost.
 

[10] Ibid.
 

[11] Ibid.
 

[12] Ibid.
 

[13] Michael A. Grisanti, “Old Testament poetry as a vehicle for historiography.” 165.
 

[14] Raskas, Bernard. "What made Jonah Run?: Six Lessons for Yom Kippur." Baltimore Jewish Times, Oct 02, 1992. 8, https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/docview/222844353?accountid=7374.
 

[15] Ibid. 166.
 

[16] Ibid. 168.
 

[17] Ibid.
 

[18] Ibid.
 

[19] Ibid.
 

[20] Bernard Raskas. "What made Jonah Run?: Six Lessons for Yom Kippur."
 

[21] Ibid.
 

[22] Rob Barret. "Meaning More than They Say: The Conflict between YHWH and Jonah." Journal for the study of the Old Testament. 20, no. 2 (June 2011): 155-69.

The Message and Structure of Acts
 
            The book of Acts may very well be one of the most famous books of the New Testament. It certainly has a reputation of being the center of focus from which many denominations within the evangelical church find their differences of opinion with one another.  What we can certainly agree upon regarding the book of Acts is its importance to the New Testament church of today. Because the book of Acts contains rich church history, ministry, and its spiritual principles it is very important that we understand what God is communicating to us through His Word. In this work we will examine the theological normativity of the events within Acts, examine its structure and how this relates to the massage of the book, and explain the major hermeneutical issues within the book, followed by how its principles can be applied to the church today.  
 
The Theological Normativity of The Events Within The Book of Acts
 
            The first order of business when trying to read, understand, and apply the reading of Acts is to consider the level of normativity and descriptive principles within the text.[1] This is where many denominations find that their view of the accounts within the book of Acts seperates them from the others. Normativity in definition is self-explanatory in meaning, how normal is the event or circumstance described in the text compared to the church today? Descriptive text is different in that it describes events in their circumstances and details, although not necessarily meaning to be copied. For example, Moses assaulted an Egyptian when we found the man beating on one of his fellow Israelites, but the fact that Scripture records the event does not necessarily mean that the author approves of Moses’ actions.
            The problem with normativity is its existence is dependent upon the reader. Your normal may not be my normal and so forth. In my denomination, occasional services are much like the events explained at Pentecost (Acts 2), while during others there may be an occasional “amen” with hands raised. This may not be very normative in your denomination or church. Does this mean that either one of us are wrong, there is no evidence in the Bible that seems proves that it is. In a text written by William Klein, he observes this issue by saying, “As they do with the Gospels, many interpreters of Acts succumb to false dichotomies between theology and history.”[2] What we often look for as with the Gospels is a direct command by Jesus or an apostle of some kind, however much of Acts lacks these direct commands. What we do know regarding the normativity and descriptive nature of the book is that as Klein warns, “Nevertheless, one must proceed much more catiously when direct commands are absent.”[3] It is obvious through research that we as individual believers must rely upon the conviction of the Holy Spirit to guide us through the New Testament Scripture as J. Scott Duval and J. Daniel seem to point out in their text that normative principles really depend upon the church today, which seems to be rather unreliable at best as we sway with the winds of the world in opinon.[4] Both authors are sure to point out that, “We encourage you to let the overall story of Acts set the boundaries for what is normative in individal passages.”[5] An article authored by Carl Holladay mentions, “Acts still remains a vlauable resource for shaping the church’s understanding of mission. A lot depends, of course, on how we read Acts.”[6]
 
Acts: A Narrative In Action
 
    Even when we disagree regarding normativity and descriptive properties of the Acts accounts, what we can agree upon is its structure and genre. Just by observing any research paper on the book of Acts, one of the first points made is how it certainly a narrative. William Klein and Craig Blomberg point out that, “As might be expected, Acts—the second volume of Luke’s two-part work—bears a strong resemblance to the Gospel genre.”[7] They go on to state, “a narrative of interrelated events from a given place and time, chosen to communicate theological truths—best characterizes Acts.”[8] J.Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays are a little more straightfoward when they state, “Like the Gospels, Acts is a narrative.”[9] Carl Holladay leaves no room for error by saying, “No one denies that Acts is a narrative.”[10] Joshua Jipp points out in his article that, “narratives construct and project possible worlds.”[11] This is not to say that Acts focuses on an imaginary world, but rather speaks of what was and could be if the church were in line one-hundred percent with the will of God.
Because we can classify Acts as a narrative, we can now focus on interpreting it and finding its structure. Klein and Blomberg divide up the book of Acts into two main sections regarding the focus of the mission and six sub-categories between the two. It is as follows:

1. The Christian Mission to Jews (1:1-12:24)

1. The Church in Jerusalem (1:1-6:7)
2. The Church in Judea, Samaria, and Galilee (6:8-9:31)
3. Further Advances in Palestine and Syria (9:32-12:24)

1. The Christian Mission to Gentiles (12:25-28:31)

1. First Missionary Jouney of Paul and the Jerusalem Council (12:25-16:5)
2. Wide Outreach Trough Pauls’s Two Other Missionary Journeys (16:6-19:20)
3. To Jerusalem and Then to Rome (19:21-28:31)[12]

This breakdown of the structure allows us to see the intended outcome and theme of the whole book of Acts, as Carl Holladay points out by saying, “The church begins with a clear sense of mission that enables it to grow and expand in its formative decades.”[13] It is by the structure and syle of the Acts narrative that we can see how and at what speed the church grew, which was certainly fast and aggressive.
 
The Hermeneutical Issues of Acts and How Its Principles Can Be Applied To The Church Today
            As we have stated previously, the major hermeneutical issues of Acts is not whether the events of the book actually took place, but rather how descriptive or normative the details should be. There are many ways of viewing these dilemmas, but as Klein and Blomberg mention, “narrative often teaches more indirectly than didactic literature without becoming any less normative.”[14] It is for this reason that we should look at certain details in Acts and determine through conviction and spiritual maturity whether it is normative for our situation or not. While I do not ever intend to see someone drop dead from lying about their giving or pick up a snake to prove their fate in God’s will, I consider every detail in Acts to be necessary for my growth and understanding. As the text by Klein states, “We wish to put it even more strongly: 2 Tim 3:16 provides the grounds to assume students can learn some kind of lesson from every passage, even in narrative literature.”[15] Every line of Scripture is to be treated with the utmost sincerety and authority as the Word of God is inerrant.
            Knowing how much in common that Acts has with the Gospel of Luke and that they share an apostle as an author gives it even more authority. Duball and Hays mention that, “Originally these two volumes even circulated among the churches as a single work, but in the second century the gospel of Luke joined the other three gospels and Acts began to circulate on its own.”[16] Carl Holladay mentions in his article that, “At the simplest level, Acts was written in order to continue the Gospel of Luke.”[17] Because we know the similarities of the Gospel of Luke and Acts, we can now find the meaning and purpose of the writing of Acts. Acts focuses on the post-resurrection early church and its development. Acts, just as the Gospels written before it shares many principles such as Jason Ripley points out, “Functionally speaking, the apostles embody the person of Jesus in proclomation and healing throughout the narrative of Acts.”[18]
            Even though Acts can be explained as a continuation of the Gospel of Luke and that the Gospels focus more on the imitation and example of Christ, the Acts account seems to have some additional priorities. Duvall and Hays believe that, “This is biblical historhy at its finest, painted in broad strokes to assure Christians that they are part of God’s grand plan.”[19] They also state that, “Perhaps we should thing of Acts as a kind of comprehensive discipleship manual, designed to reinforce the Christian faith for new believers.”[20] Others such as Joshua Jipp focus on other areas as he mentions, “The sujbect of Luke-Acts is the living God as revealed in Jesus Christ and, as Acts would have us affirm, within his church.”[21] F.F. Bruce seems to describe the main theme of Acts to be the empowering of the new church by the Holy Spirit.[22] Due to the account of Acts we are once again assured of the spiritual authority and divinity of the Holy spirit as Everett Ferguson mentions, “The experience of the coming of the Holy Spirit, recorded in Acts 2, launched the church as a distinct entity on a mission of proclaiming Jesus as both Lord and Christ.”[23] This arrival and empowering by the Holy Spirit dominates the theme of the Acts accounts. It brings attention to how the early church launched and how it will end with additional outpouring such as in Acts 2:17. Acts continues to shape how we view missions and the role of the Spirit within the trinity as F.F. Bruce mentions, “The coming of the Spirit, then, was essential for effective witness bearing,” just as it is today.[24]
 
Conclusion
   Regardless of how normalative or desicriptive we view the book of Acts, we can all stand to gain some spiritual insight as how the church began and its focus since its foundation, which is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we mentioned, its structure and how it relates to the message of the book are closely interwoven. The hermeneutical issues within the book as we discussed are difficult to balance, but possible with the conviction and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. As we move into the next age of the church, we know that Acts continues to be a necessary influence on our spiritual and ministerial development. We may not live in communities today, sharing our provisions and eating all of our meals together as brothers and sisters, but we do share a common bond. That common bond is that we are saved by the shed blood of Christ through faith and repentance. I pray that the book of Acts can be a source of Spritual enrichment for you as it has for me many times over. As Carl Holladay mentions in his article, “Acts still remains a valuable resource for shaping the church’s understanding of mission. A lot depends of course, on how we read Acts.”[25]
 


[1] Grand Canyon University, “New Testament Exegesis: Exegeting the Acts” (lecture 6, Biblical Hermeneutics, Grand Canyon University, 2016). https://lc.gcu.edu/learningPlatform/user/users.html

[2] William Klein et al. Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc., 2004) 419.
 

[3] Klein et al. Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. 424.
 

[4] J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays. Grasping God’s Word: A Hands On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012) 300-303.
 

[5] Duvall and Hays. Grasping God’s Word: A Hands On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. 303.

[6] Carl R. Holladay. “Interpreting Acts,”  Interpretation 66, no. 3 (2012): 245-258, accessed July 18, 2017, ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost 
 

[7] Ibid. 418.
 

[8] Ibid. 418.
 

[9] Ibid. 293.
 

[10] Holladay. “Interpreting Acts,” 246.
 

[11] Jipp, Joshua W. "The beginnings of a theology of Luke-Acts: divine activity and human response." Journal Of Theological Interpretation 8, no. 1 (2014): 29, accessed July 18, 2017, ATLA Religion Database with ATLA Serials, EBSCOhost 
 

[12] Ibid. 420.
 

[13] Ibid. 245.
 

[14] Ibid. 424.
 

[15] Ibid. 424.
 

[16] Ibid. 292.
 

[17] Ibid. 248.
 

[18] Jason J. Ripley ,“Those things that Jesus had begun to do and teach”: narrative Christology and incarnational ecclesiology in Acts." Biblical Theology Bulletin 44, no. 2 (May 2014): 90, accessed July 18, 2017, ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost.
 

[19] Ibid. 295.
 

[20] Ibid. 295.
 

[21] Jipp, Joshua W. "The beginnings of a theology of Luke-Acts: divine activity and human response." 24. 
 

[22] F.F. Bruce,“Luke’s Presentation of the Spirit in Acts,” Criswell Theological Review (1990): 15-29, accessed July 13th, 2017, https://lcgrad3.gcu.edu/learningPlatform/externalLinks/externalLinks.html?operation=redirectToExternalLink&externalLink=https%3A%2F%2Flopes.idm.oclc.org%2Flogin%3Furl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebscohost.com%2Flogin.aspx%3Fdirect%3Dtrue%26db%3Drfh%26AN%3DATLA0000847623%26site%3Dehost-live%26scope%3Dsite 
 

[23] Everett Ferguson, Church History: From Christ to Pre-Reformation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), 34

[24] F.F. Bruce,“Luke’s Presentation of the Spirit in Acts,” Criswell Theological Review (1990): 15-29, accessed July 13th, 2017, https://lcgrad3.gcu.edu/learningPlatform/externalLinks/externalLinks.html?operation=redirectToExternalLink&externalLink=https%3A%2F%2Flopes.idm.oclc.org%2Flogin%3Furl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebscohost.com%2Flogin.aspx%3Fdirect%3Dtrue%26db%3Drfh%26AN%3DATLA0000847623%26site%3Dehost-live%26scope%3Dsite 
 

[25] Ibid. 258.