The Nature of the Book
Before attempting a structural analysis of this narrative, two questions must be answered: Firstly, is it reasonable to expect a fully developed literary intent in an historical account such as this?
In regard to the first question, various commentators have viewed Acts as being everything from pure history to pure literary creation. Among those admitting to admiration of Luke's literary style and intent in Acts are both those who hold low and high views of its historical worth. Correspondingly, those ignoring or denigrating Luke's artistic skill can be found in both the liberal and conservative camps. The least we can do is agree with Cary Newman: “To construe the book as merely sermons framed by travelogue is to decline the true invitation of Acts.”
The Completeness of the Book
The second question to answer is whether the 28 chapters of Acts constitute a complete literary creation. Acts 28:30-31 has left many readers puzzled and frustrated, and they may be tempted to agree with F. F. Bruce's contention: “No one can accept the ending of Acts as the conclusion of a rationally conceived history.” Munck has summarized a number of proposed reasons for this abrupt ending: (a) the time of writing coincided with last events narrated, (b) Luke reached the end of his papyrus, (c) a third volume was intended, or (d) Luke had fulfilled his purpose – “the end of the earth” was reached. Munck's own opinion was that (e) Paul's execution would have been tactless to mention in view of the apologetic nature of the work or, as others have suggested, (f) it would have given too gloomy an ending to the book.
If explanation (a), (b) or (c) holds, then the reason for the book's length is somewhat accidental and William Ramsay is correct in stating, “the plan of Acts has been obscured by the want of the proper climax and conclusion, which would have made it clear...” The majority of NT scholars believe that the ending was purposeful, even if their explanations of its meaning may differ. Some literary clues indicating that Luke intended to finish the book with the 28th chapter are (a) the comment in ch. 19 (“I must also see Rome.”) which prepares us for the ending and (b) an inclusio for the entire book provided by the phrase “kingdom of God” at 1:3 and 28:30. Other structural indications of the completeness of the text will be shown below.
Major Divisions in Acts
The book of Acts has been characterized as a two-part invention. These two parts can be differentiated by either their major actors or geographically.
Most scholars have recognized that the first half of the book is dominated by Peter and the second half by Paul (with the figure of Stephen perhaps serving as a bridge between the two) and that both are purposely presented as having parallel rather than contrasting characters and divine authentication. Luke accomplishes this by highlighting similarities in their two ministries.
A second manner of bisecting Acts is geographically. Many have noted that the book begins in Jerusalem and ends in Rome. As Albert Winn remarks, this transition from one city to another “is not a question of mere geographical transfer...There has been a theological transfer. God's great deed for his People has been rejected by them and accepted by the Gentiles.”
Where exactly does the division between the two halves of Acts occur? Here, unfortunately, there is no clear agreement. Those stressing the two major personalities in the book usually see it as happening between chs. 12 and 13 while those concentrating on geographical factors treat the Jerusalem council in ch. 15 as the center of the book. We will attempt to answer this question more precisely later. But in any case, it can still be stated, “In the first, the church discovers its identity: in the second, it reaches out to the world.”
Table of Contents
To go beyond a simple two-part structure for the book, it is probably best to begin with Acts 1:8, as have most commentators. In this verse, Luke does not present the outline of the book; Jesus himself does. Attempts to collate the geographical indicators in this verse of the gospel's progressive spread with specific chapters in Acts have unfortunately given rise to at least ten different divisions. This represents an amazing lack of agreement in interpretation of a verse that is supposed by these scholars to be, in Marshall's words, “the explicit statement of its [Acts'] plan.” The reason for this widespread disagreement is the failure to take into account the other major structuring device used by Luke: summary statements.
Summary Statements
C. H. Turner proposed that Acts consisted of six panels each ending in a progress report. Although there is some disagreement as to their exact identities, these are generally felt to be 1:1-6:7; 6:8-9:31; 9:32-12:24; 12:25-16:5; 16:6-19:20 and 19:21-28:31. Two additional summary statements are found at Acts 1:26, which delineates the end of the introduction to Acts and is consistent with the other summaries in stressing addition, and at 2:43-47.
Several telling patterns can be seen in the seven major summaries. The even-numbered ones all contain the phrase “the word of God/Lord” and concentrate solely on the rapid expansion experienced by the early church while the odd numbered summaries do not contain this phrase but do talk about the nature of the church's life in the Spirit. This purposeful alternation between expansion and consolidation, between numerical and spiritual growth, is an apt characterization of a major dual theme of the book.
Seven-Part Structure
Figure 1: The Structure of the Acts of the Apostles
Introduction (1:1-26)
First Part: Peter/Jerusalem (2:1-9:31)
1. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses...” (2:1-2:44)
2. “...in Jerusalem...” (2:45-5:42)
3. “...and in all Judea and Samaria...” (6:1-9:31)
4. Transition (9:32-12:25)
Second Part: Paul/ “...and to the end of the earth.” (13:1-28:31)
5. Paul's First Trip and Jerusalem Council (13:1-16:5)
6. Paul's Second and Third Trips (16:6-19:20)
7. To Rome (19:21-28:31)
It is now only necessary to delineate the relationship between the “Table of Contents” in Acts 1:8 and the seven sections concluding with these summary statements. This is done in outline form in Fig. 3. A glance at this figure will show that the first three sections (after the Introduction) deal almost exclusively with the ministry of the Jerusalem church under Peter to Jews and Samaritans in the perimeter of the Holy Land, in contrast to the final three sections in which Paul is shown spreading the word to the Gentiles, culminating in Rome. Interestingly, an integral part of the preaching witness in Part I consists of statements regarding Jesus’ present position, as evidenced by three similar statements found near the respective centers of sections 1, 2 and 3:
“ The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, till I make thy enemies a stool for thy feet.'” (Acts 2:34)
“God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” (Acts 5:31)
“Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56)
Similarly, at the start, middle and conclusion to Part 2, the Jewish people are shown to have rejected the gospel (Acts 13:46; 18:6 and 28:28).
Sandwiched between parts 1 and 2 is a transitional unit in which, interestingly, it is Peter and members of the scattered Jerusalem church who preach to the Gentiles. Bauckham notes that it is in ch. 12 that the point is reached “ where leadership at the center in Jerusalem can no longer be combined with personal leadership in the missionary movement out from the center.” At or near the end of the two major divisions of the book are similar statements regarding Paul's ministry, helping to confirm both the validity of the proposed structure and the intention of Luke to end Acts at 28:31.
“ So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.” (9:28-29a)
“And he lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unhindered.” (28:30-31)
Additional confirmation for this proposed structure is provided by noting the key positions of several parallel words, phrases and passages in the text in addition to numerous similarities between sections 3 and 7. It is in these two contrasting sections that Paul finds himself as first the ally of the Sanhedrin and then its victim.
The similarities between the suffering and death of Judas in the Introduction and that of Herod in the Transition section are especially close if one considers the more detailed accounts of their deaths in Papias and Josephus, respectively. The six references to Christianity as “the way” appear only in the last sub-sections of parts 1 and 2, three in each. It is also worth noting that the two major summaries of Jewish history in Acts appear in the last section of Part 1 (ch.7) and the first section of Part 2 (ch.13).
One unusual phenomenon that can be related to the proposed structure in Fig. 1 is the disappearance of “the Twelve” after the opening verses of Section 3 and of “the Apostles” after the end of Section 5. This effectively divides the book into three parts of two major sections each and tends to progressively universalize the identity of Christian followers. The name change from Saul to Paul also occurs at the opening of the second half of Acts, although Fitzmyer considers that an incidental event of no particular importance.
Another point addressed by the outline above is that brought up by Fee and Stuart, who note that most commentators concentrate exclusively on the geographical pointers in Acts 1:8 to the exclusion of the first part of the verse. “(T)his sense of 'movement'...seems to capture what is going on” with the omission of “one crucial factor – indeed the crucial factor – namely, the role of the Holy Spirit in all of this.” Similarly, Fitzmyer remarks on Acts 1:8, “It is not just the geographical areas mentioned, but the theme of testimony that is important in the articulation of the structure.” Luke's purpose in Section 1 is to set the stage for the rest of the book by clearly showing the source of power that will be driving the forward movement of the church's expansion through the Apostles’ testimony.
Structures of Individual Units
Each of the sections identified in Fig. 1 possesses its own internal symmetry. That of Section 2 is shown below as an illustrative example:
Figure 2: The Structure of Section 2
Setting: Day by Day in the Temple and Home (2:45-47)
A. Miracle and Aftermath (3:1-4:31)
1. Two-fold Reaction to a Miracle (3:1-4:4)
2. Question and Answer (4:5-12)
3. Rulers' Predicament (4:13-17)
4. Apostles Charged Not to Speak and Released (4:18-22)
5. Rejoicing (4:23-31)
B. “All things in common” (4:32-5:11)
1. Positive Example: Barnabas (4:32-37)
2. Negative Example: Ananias and Sapphira (5:1-11)
A'. Miracles and Aftermath (5:12-41)
1. Two-fold Reaction to Miracles (5:12-21a)
2. Question and Answer (5:21b-32)
3. Rulers' Predicament (5:33-39)
4. Apostles Charged Not to Speak and Released (5:40)
5. Rejoicing (5:41)
Setting: Every Day in the Temple and Home (5:42)
Conclusion
As noted perceptively by Newman, the end of the book takes us back to its beginning, especially the Apostles' odd question of Jesus in 1:6 concerning the coming of the kingdom and his almost non sequitur answer in 1:7. Newman feels that “the textual muteness on this key question demonstrates that the ending fails to connect with the beginning completely.” To the contrary, the Apostles, and readers, have learned through the events described in Acts that the visible Kingdom of Israel expected at the beginning of the narrative has been authoritatively redefined by God as the invisible Body of Jesus Christ. The ending, with its repetition of the word “kingdom,” thus corresponds completely with the beginning of the book. Even the “textual muteness” regarding Paul's fate mirrors Jesus refusal to answer the apostles' question at the start of the book.
Also, the mention of “the Kingdom of God” in 28:31 marks the seventh time that phrase is used in the book (The first reaches back to the start of Acts in verse 1:3), in keeping with the seven stages of the Kingdom's growth identified above.
What will Paul's fate be? One possible indication is found in another parallelism between Peter and Paul. The last major story regarding Peter before Paul takes the center stage in the book is his imprisonment in ch. 12. Just as Peter is miraculously released to continue his ministry, one may feel confident that the same will happen to Paul.
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