Study Guide Week 1: Study on “The Book of Acts through the Eyes of the Early Christians.”

Exploratory Bible Study on the Acts of the Apostles:
Acts Through the Eyes of the Early Christians

Bible Study #1
Acts, Chapter 1

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Read Acts 1:1-11

Q:            What do we learn about the author of Acts and what can we infer about the author in the first few verses? (See theGospel of St. Luke 1:3)

Vocabulary: “Theophilus” (Gk. = “lover of God”)

Verse 1
Q:            What commandments do we see Jesus Christ giving to His apostles before His ascension? What are the last words Christ gives to them?

Verse 2 “The day He was taken up”—the Ascension

Verse 3 “His suffering”—Christ’s Passion, or suffering, refers to the mocking, spitting, striking, and              torture of being nailed and hung on the cross at Golgotha until He had died

“Many infallible proofs”—what are these “proofs”? (c.f., I Cor. 15:6)

“Presented Himself alive”—the Resurrection from the dead.

“the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God”

Verse 3
Q:            What is significant about the number 40?

Verse 4
Q:            What is “the Promise of the Father”? What does this “promise” refer to? (See also Jn 16:5-13)

Vocabulary:            “Helper” (Gk. Parakletos) =Comforter, ‘One who comes along side.’ How does He                         ‘help’?

Q:            What have we learned so far about the relationship of the Scriptures to each other? What does this mean for us and all those generations that have come after these events?

Verse 6            “Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Q:            How does Christ answer this question? What is striking about His response? 

Vocabulary:            “witnesses” = Gk. “martyres” (from the root of the word, “martyr”)

Verses 7-8
Q:            How would you characterize the relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as seen here?

 

The Ascension: Jesus Christ ascends into heaven

Read Acts 1:9-11

Verse 9            “A cloud received Him…”
Q:            How is this event portrayed iconographically in the icon of the Ascension? (Look at the icon on the first page) How is this passage captured through the ‘window’ of divine reality portrayed in the icon?

Q:            How is this passage (vv 9-11) also a response to the question regarding the kingdom of Israel?