Transformation by the Spirit and the Word: A Literary Exploration of Acts

By Will Loescher and Steve Walton

This book is a distillation of reading Acts for over fifty years, preaching it for twenty-five years, and studying it in-depth for five years. My aim is for students, church leaders, preachers, and missionaries to join me on a journey of narrative theology--a literary exploration of transformation by the Spirit and the Word in Acts. As with every part of God's inspired Scriptures, there is always more to discover and apply. As a Reformed Charismatic I believe that Acts is our story. However, rather than just attempting to copy it, I suggest that the book's unexpected literary shape reveals a challenging missional significance. The need for world gospel mission continues today. However, like the early church, we often contain the Holy Spirit within our own structures and are reluctant to move out of our comfort zones. Acts shows the church's priority is to be God's mission instrument in the world. Let's study, lead, preach, and go from Acts so that we realize Jesus's promise "that you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the end(s) of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Mar 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781666753516

Will Loescher

Will Loescher is the present director of Kinetic Network’s Academy. He completed his PhD, “The Literary Shape and Missional Significance of Acts. An Invitation to be an Instrument for the Kingdom of God” (2017), with ARU, Cambridge, UK. Previously, he was the pastor of Walsall Independent Evangelical Church, Bath Street, Walsall, UK.

Book preview

Transformation by the Spirit and the Word

A Literary Exploration of Acts

Will Loescher

Foreword by Steve Walton

Transformation by the Spirit and the Word

A Literary Exploration of Acts

Copyright © 2023 Will Loescher. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

Wipf & Stock

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

Eugene, OR 97401

www.wipfandstock.com

paperback isbn: 978-1-6667-5349-3

hardcover isbn: 978-1-6667-5350-9

ebook isbn: 978-1-6667-5351-6

09/17/15

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ Emphases added.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Foreword

Abbreviations

Introduction

Section One: A Literary Approach

Chapter 1: Method of Interpretation

Chapter 2: Structure and Story

Chapter 3: Background Issues

Section Two: Transformation

Chapter 4: Church and Salvation

Chapter 5: Mission

Chapter 6: The Kingdom of God

Section Three: The Spirit

Chapter 7: The Spirit Outpourings

Chapter 8: The Spirit Directing Mission

Chapter 9: The Disappearing Spirit

Chapter 10: Jesus, the Gospel, and the Gift of Prophecy

Chapter 11: The Speeches

Chapter 12: Old Testament Quotations

Conclusion

Bibliography

To my wife, Caroline, and growing family of children, spouses, and grandchildren.

We must (a divine necessity) go through many hardships (pressures) to enter the kingdom of God.

Acts

14

:

22

It is my prayer that we may all be brought safely to (the) land.

Acts

27

:

44

(ESV)

Foreword

Will Loescher is a careful and thoughtful reader of the book of Acts, and I have learned much from him. By reading his book you will be enriched, provoked, and helped to understand Acts, which is crucial to understanding the life of the earliest churches and has much to say to readers today. Four key things signal the value of this study.

First, it holds together what others divide. For Dr. Loescher, we should not separate Spirit and word in the way some do, making one subordinate to the other, or even sidelining one entirely. Both are vital sources of understanding and power for the believing communities. He spends two major sections studying these themes (§§ 3 and 4) and shows how both word and Spirit are central to the growth of the churches in Acts. Similarly, Will argues that transformation is an important theme in Acts, showing that God’s work is transformative for people, groups, and societies. The gospel message does not simply create churches—in fact, Acts is rather light on descriptions of church life—and it does not simply bring people into personal salvation and leave them there. Rather, through the gospel God draws people into his mission and transforms them into the people he calls them to be—disciples, people who suffer for the gospel, people who announce and embody the gospel, and people whose own transformation leads to the transformation of their communities, villages, towns, and cities.

Second, Will digs into Acts in detail in thoughtful and critical conversation with the scholarly literature. He knows his way around the text and the scholarship well enough to recognize where Acts is saying things that are surprising, or that are not what we have been led to think Acts says. For instance, while the kingdom of God is a major theme in Luke’s Gospel, many do not regard it as significant in Acts. With Bultmann, many regard the proclaimer, Jesus, as having become the proclaimed—and thus see what Jesus proclaimed, which centers on the kingdom of God, as peripheral at best to the early churches. Will shows with some care that references to the kingdom of God are strategically located within Acts, and that the kingdom of God connects in important ways with other major Acts themes: God, Jesus, the Spirit, salvation, Israel and church, mission and mission expansion. He also rightly challenges the idea that the kingdom of God is spiritual rather than having geographical and historical aspects too.

Third, this is a methodologically thoughtful work. Rather than cherry-picking Acts for its greatest hits, Will has reflected carefully about how to read this rather long narrative book. While he prioritizes a text-focused literary approach as regulating historical and theological approaches, he also recognizes and discusses well the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. He works in ways that play to the strengths and seeks to mitigate the weaknesses. He is aware of dangers in assuming Acts is a blueprint for today’s churches and provides sensitive ways of engaging with Acts in relation to mission and ministry in today’s world.

Finally, Will has a great eye for a picture and knows that pictures convey things in accessible and engaging ways for many readers. The eleven diagrams throughout the book provide helpful summaries, graphical portrayals of the structure of all or part of Acts, outlines of scholars’ views (notably on the Holy Spirit), the various key components of Acts’ story, the geographical spread of the gospel message, the roles of key characters, and the advance and decline of mission in Acts. The diagrams alone are worth the price of admittance!

Overall, Will sees Acts as calling its readers, then and now, to engage more fully in God’s mission in the world. His conclusion draws the major threads of his detailed study together to offer some important themes for reflection on Acts, particularly for those who regard this book as Scripture.

I am pleased to commend this book to you—please read it, reflect on it, and engage with its message. You will be richer as a result.

Steve Walton

Trinity College, Bristol, UK

August 2022

Abbreviations

ANTC Abingdon New Testament Commentaries

ATANT Abhandlungen zur Theologie des Alten und Neuen Testaments

AUS American University Study Series

BAFCS The Book of Acts in Its First Century Setting

BDAG Bauer, Walter, Frederick W. Danker, W. F. Arndt, and F. W. Gringrich. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

BibInt Biblical Interpretation Series

BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft

CBET Contributions to Biblical Exegesis & Theology

CBQ Catholic Bible Quarterly

CPBT Counter Points: Bible and Theology

CSC Christian Standard Commentaries

EC Epworth Commentaries

ExpTim Expository Times

FC Fathers of the Church

GH Gorgias Handbooks

JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement

LCL Loeb Classical Library

LNTS Library of New Testament Studies

LSJ Liddell, Henry George, and Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon: With a Revised Supplement. 9th ed. Revised by Henry Stuart Jones. Oxford: Clarendon, 1996.

NCCS New Covenant Commentary Series

NovT Novum Testamentum

NPNF Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers

NSBT New Studies in Biblical Theology

NTS New Testament Studies

PBM Paternoster Biblical Monographs

PNTC Pillar New Testament Commentaries

PRSt Perspectives in Religious Studies

PrTMS Princeton Theological Monograph Series

SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series

SBLMS Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series

SBLSBL Society of Biblical Literature Studies in Biblical Literature

SBLSP Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers

SBLSymS Society of Biblical Literature Symposium Series

SBT Studies in Biblical Theology

SHS Scripture and Hermeneutic Series

SNTSMS Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas Monograph Series

SP Sacra Pagina

StBibLit Studies in Biblical Literature (Lang)

TGST Tesi Gregoriana Serie Teologia

TynBul Tyndale Bulletin

WTJ Westminster Theological Journal

VR Vox Reformata

WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament

Introduction

The Bible grasps us before we grasp it. Different parts impact us at different points in our lives. We develop a favorite go-to part. For me it is Acts. It has been my joy to live with it for over fifty years, preach it for over thirty years, and study it in depth for five years.¹ A deepening spiritual journey took me from my conservative evangelical roots to a discovery of Reformed truths, a Holy Spirit encounter, a Pentecostal/charismatic theology, and a literary approach to biblical interpretation. Each step further fueled the passion for mission into which I was born at my conversion. Acts weaves these strands together. Many of my present traveling companions honor both the Spirit and the word.² I am privileged at present to teach on Acts for Kinetic Network.³ This has given me opportunity to develop my thinking and practice on the Spirit and the word, not as two themes held in academic tension but in a way that seeks all that can be encountered of the Spirit⁴ and all that can be known from the word. It is my prayer that this book helps church leaders and preachers to do the same.

It has been common practice to refer to the word and the Spirit. However, since the word in this context usually means the Bible, I argue that it is better to reverse the order and speak of the Spirit and the word, so that the Spirit who is a divine person precedes the word (the Bible), which is not a divine person. It is this order which I follow in this book, exploring the Spirit before the word. This is especially pertinent for the book of Acts. However, as will become apparent in section 4, the word can take on a wider meaning, including Jesus. If this is the case, then there is no priority to be given between Jesus, the living Word, and the Holy Spirit.

Acts has a special role in the Bible. It is Luke’s second volume that connects the story of Jesus, and behind that the story of the Old Testament, with our story as the church. It is at present common to refer to Luke-Acts as showing the strong connections between the two books. Important though this is, I write this book with the conviction that Acts also needs its own stand-alone treatment as a distinct literary unit with its own distinct message. Acts starts with a sliding entrance (1:1–8)⁵ in which the preface beginning at 1:1 moves imperceptibly into the prologue of the story itself. Such imprecision encourages us to join the story. In many ways, along with the New Testament letters, Acts is our book. It is a true history of the early church and a reliable narrative theology. Most of all, it is a literary masterpiece inspired by the Holy Spirit. Come and enjoy it with me. This is not a commentary on Acts, though plenty of passages are commented on! Rather, it is an explorer’s handbook of the territory ahead. A literary survey in four sections, each with three chapters.

Section 1

This outlines a literary approach. Chapter 1 looks at the different models of biblical interpretation. Chapter 2 outlines the structure and story of Acts. Chapter 3 discusses the background issues in Acts, such as date, author, text, etc. Readers, beware. These chapters are more academic than those that follow. Be patient and persevere, since they lay a foundation for the more practical applications that lie ahead.

Section 2

This explores transformation in Acts. Chapter 4 debunks the popular view that Acts is predominantly about salvation and the church. Chapter 5 is the longest and climbs the mountain peak of mission as the main area of transformation in Acts. Chapter 6 shows the surprising significance of the kingdom of God in Acts.

Section 3

This explores some fresh insights into the Spirit in Acts. Chapter 7 shows how the six outpourings⁶ are for the purpose of mission. Chapter 8 reveals how the Spirit gives the mission direction and guidance even in the face of human resistance. Chapter 9 suggests a reason for the Spirit’s unexpected disappearance.

Section 4

This explores aspects of the word in Acts. Chapter 10 looks at Jesus, the gospel, and the gift of prophecy. Chapter 11 examines how the speeches link to a mission framework. Chapter 12 considers the Old Testament quotations.

The eleven diagrams act as maps along the way.⁷ They are a summary of all that surrounds them. A bonus for those who learn better from pictures than words! My prayer as we start our journey together into Acts is that somewhere along the way we may experience the transformation that comes by the Spirit and the word.

1

. This book flows out of my PhD completed in

2017

, The Literary Shape and Missional Significance of Acts. As a way for an ongoing conversation, the reader is invited at various points to consult a constantly updating version available on my website, www.actsandspirit.co.uk.

2

. It is common to use a capitalized word to show reverence to the authority of the Bible. However, without diminishing this, I am following Society for Biblical Literature guidelines to capitalize Word only when it refers to Jesus. This has the advantage of emphasizing that we worship Jesus as God rather than the Bible as God’s revelation.

3

. See https://www.kineticnetwork.org.

4

. Terminology is loaded with preconceived meaning. I use encounter (perhaps emphasizing God’s side) and experience (perhaps emphasizing our side) interchangeably to refer to the manifest or felt presence of the Holy Spirit.

5

. Throughout this book, such chapter and verse references without a designation are from Acts.

6

. This is my preferred way of describing an encounter with the Holy Spirit. See support from Allison and Köstenberger, Holy Spirit,

229–33

, giving their reasons for this term as: (a) correcting an overintellectual approach, (b) emphasizing the Spirit’s sovereign presence and control, (c) correcting a caricature of a deferential Spirit, and (d) underscoring a long-overdue focus on the person and work of the Holy Spirit inaugurated with Pentecostal and charismatic twentieth-century renewals that have led to continuing rapid church growth. I would add (e) focusing on the idea of saturation and abundance (see Allen, Poured Out,

30–33

, that outpouring is an image of lavish generosity, of breadth and richness and fullness portraying the mission of the Spirit in the age of Messiah from Isa

44

:

3

; Ezek

39

:

27–29

; Joel

2

:

28–29

; Acts

2

:

32–33

;

10

:

44–45

; Rom

5

:

2–5

; Titus

3

:

5–6

), and (f) connecting with the verb baptizō, which in Greek is an intensive form with the meaning of a lasting immersion to bring about a complete change. See Holley, Sustainable Power,

146–47

; Beasley-Murray βαπτίζω,

1

:

144

.

7

. To print out A

4

versions, see www.actsandspirit.co.uk.

Section One

A Literary Approach

This section of three chapters sets out the parameters for a literary approach to Acts. As I previously warned, this means a greater engagement with the scholars. While this may deter some readers, I will attempt to be concise and clear so that those without a background in biblical study may feel involved rather than excluded. It is a necessary step towards the more practical applications in the following sections. Chapter 1 shows why we should prioritize a text-focused literary approach, which allows God’s inspired revelation to speak today. This approach should regulate both historical and theological approaches, since it is the text itself that is our focus rather than speculative discussions about the surrounding context of author and readers. Chapter 2 develops a literary approach to Acts by exploring its structure and story. Chapter 3 then deals with the background issues of Acts—its date, author, reader(s), genre, title, text, and connection to Luke’s Gospel.

Chapter One

Method of Interpretation

A study of Acts must first decide what method of interpretation we will use. There are many different approaches we could take, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. However, our method of interpretation will largely determine what we discover, preach, and apply from Acts. While it is possible, and even beneficial, to combine several approaches to interpretation, it is still helpful to be clear on which method is uppermost and why that is the case. This chapter aims to establish confidence in a text-focused literary approach to Acts by considering the literary-historical-theological interpretative triad, the author-text-reader debate, the doctrine of inspiration, and the issues of application.

Literary-Historical-Theological Triad

Recent evangelical approaches to biblical interpretation join a triad of literary, historical, and theological aspects.¹ However, rather than seeing the three as equal, I suggest we need to ask how they relate to each other and which, if any, is to have priority. A Bible author begins with a theological intent or message that they want to communicate to their readers. They then select historical material to support the theological message and place it within a carefully constructed literary arrangement. We the readers work in the opposite direction, starting with a literary arrangement of the selected historical material. From this we attempt to discern the intended theological message. Interestingly, neither the author nor the reader begins with a historical approach, even though this is presently the dominant method for interpreting Acts. To allow you to arrive at your own conclusion as to how we should approach Acts, I will explore the weaknesses, strengths, and advocates of literary, historical, and theological interpretation.

Literary Interpretation

I begin with this, since I contend that a literary approach, known as narrative criticism in application to biblical literature, should be the primary method of interpretation not only for Acts but for the whole of the Bible.² By this I mean a text-focused approach and not the more speculative schools of thought included within narrative criticism, e.g., structuralism, deconstructionism, or reader-response.³ While historical context is important, the text is a concrete present reality in a way that past history is not. It therefore seems logical that a literary approach should take precedence over either a historical or a theological one. At least this gives us the best opportunity to read observations out of the text rather than to read into it our extra-biblical historical discoveries or theological biases. Since the literary approach continues to be treated with suspicion, I will defend its weaknesses, outline its strengths, and present its advocates.

Weaknesses

Various objections are raised about the literary approach, but often these are targeted against the more radical schools of thought.

1.It is a new method of study that rejects older academic disciplines. While this is true of some aspects of modern literary criticism, many aspects are not new and are used by the Greek fathers, Augustine, Calvin, Luther, and Melanchthon to focus on the biblical text. Narrative criticism complements the other academic disciplines of textual criticism, form criticism, source criticism, redaction criticism, and historical criticism.⁴

2.It imposes modern literary concepts onto ancient literature. While tentative application is required, modern concepts are often developments of ancient concepts. Those from Horace and Aristotle have a long history of application within literary criticism.

3.It uses fictional or philosophical concepts that undermine historical veracity. However, ancient world histories (both Old Testament and Graeco-Roman) were written with a rhetorical literary shape. Story artistry coexists with accurate history.

4.It is too sophisticated and complicated for the original readers. However, the pervasiveness of the Greek culture and education means literary and rhetorical practice was widespread. The author