Acts is an exciting book, telling the story of the beginnings of the church over its first thirty to forty years. It’s in the form of ‘edited highlights’, picking out key events, key people, and key themes in the establishment and growth of the church. The story itself is strongly driven by God himself: time after time, human planning and organisation and strategy has only a small—if any—contribution to the forward movement of the believing communities.
So how do we engage with this amazing book today? Is Acts describing things which simply don’t happen any more? Or is Acts prescribing how the church is meant to be at all times and in all places? Or is there a middle ground between the two? What’s the role of this book as Christian Scripture for today’s Christian communities?
Students will grow in this summer course by:
- understanding the overall shape and focus of Acts
- learning about some key approaches and resources for reading Acts
- looking in depth at key passage in Acts
- grasping major themes in Acts
- studying Acts with an eye on how how it speaks to today’s world and church