The Acts of the Apostles was originally composed by a first century Christian and dedicated to a certain man called Theophilus. It is the second volume of a two-volume work, the first known as The Gospel according to Luke. In commenting about these two documents F.F Bruce, one of the foremost New Testament scholars, says, "That these two documents were written by the same author is almost universally acknowledged."1 That author is Luke. Although the title The Acts of the Apostles focuses on the works done by the apostles, the underlying theme is really the extraordinary acts of God done through the acts of the apostles in the birth and spread of the church from Jerusalem to "the ends of the earth".2 The Acts of the Apostles, or Acts for short, describes the origin and growth of the early Christian movement and is a pivotal book in the New Testament, bridging the gospels and the letters. It gives an account of how the early followers of Christ lived out their faith in a frequently hostile environment.
Speeches play an important role in the book of Acts. There are 28 speeches recorded in Acts accounting for approximately 1/3 of the book.3 The speeches in Acts show us many things – not least of which is the content of the message that the apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ first preached. The speeches in Acts also function as a window – allowing the reader to see into the culture and context surrounding first century Christianity. Inspired by (but not limited to) the many evangelistic speeches found in Acts, the first part of this paper will address the question, "What is the gospel?" Then, with special emphasis on Paul’s speech in Athens, this paper will address the practical question of, "How can the Gospel be communicated in a pluralistic society?"
The gospel is "the power of God for the salvation of all who believe."(Romans 1:16) The Apostle Paul says to the believers at Corinth: "By this gospel you are saved." (1 Corinthians 15:2) What therefore is this gospel that can save and is so powerful? The word "gospel" comes from the Greek word euaggelion and literally means "good news".4 The nature and content of the gospel is seen in Acts through the "preaching" or kerygma of the Apostles.5 Ajith Fernando, in his commentary on Acts, outlines seven essential evangelistic speeches in Acts – each of which demonstrate what the message of the gospel is that was first preached by the Apostles and disciples of Christ. The seven main speeches are the Day of Pentecost (2:1-47), after the temple gate healing (3:1-26), Philip to the Ethiopian (8:26-39), at Cornelius’ home (10:1-48), at Pisidian Antioch (13:14-52), at Lystra (14:6-20), and in Athens (17:16-34).6 Fernando summarizes each speech and their content by creating a table of thirty-two various points that many or all of the sermons include. It is beyond the scope of this paper to study each of these speeches in such great detail. Instead, two will be examined in greater detail: the sermon by Peter spoken to a Jewish audience on the Day of Pentecost, and the sermon by Paul in Athens spoken to a gentile audience.
The first evangelistic speech in Acts comes in chapter two after the Holy Spirit has been poured out on the believers. Numerous reconstructions of this speech have been attempted. One of the best is probably from C.H Dodd’s famous lectures at King’s College, London, on the kerygma of Peter and Paul, and their coincidence, which were published under the title The Apostolic Preaching and its Developments. He summarized Peter’s sermon on Pentecost as follows:7
Although the above pattern for apostolic preaching is based on Acts 2:1-47 it also represents the core of apostolic preaching as portrayed in the entire book of Acts. It is important to note that in Peter’s speech we are observing a Jew speaking to Jews. Thus, Peter takes great care to link the story of Jesus with the Scriptures of the Jews – namely the Old Testament.
The message of the gospel centers on the person and work of Jesus Christ. What is immediately clear from all the evangelistic preaching in Acts is that the preachers focused on Jesus Christ. Although the gospel centers on Christ, there are other important parts of it as well. J.I. Packer, in his book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, submits four essential ingredients that define the gospel. They are a helpful way to answer the question, "What is the Gospel?"
1. The Gospel is a Message about God. "It tells us who He is, what His character is, what His standards are, and what He requires of us."8 It is interesting to observe that when Paul was preaching to the Jews at Pisidian Antioch, he did not need to mention the fact that men and women were God’s creatures. He could take this for granted because his hearers had the Old Testament Scriptures as a foundation. He could immediately declare that Christ was the fulfillment of Old Testament hopes. However, when Paul was preaching to Gentiles, who knew nothing of the Old Testament, Paul had to start with foundational truths about God and His creatorship. More on this subject will be discussed later.
2. The Gospel is a Message about Sin. "It tells us how we have fallen short of God’s standards; how we have become guilty, filthy, and helpless in sin, and now stand under the wrath of God."9 The Bible teaches that the root problem in the world is sin, stemming from the choice of the first humans to rebel against God, thereby introducing the cancer of sin into the human race. Sin is therefore universal. All people are sinners, and unless saved by God’s grace, face God’s just wrath and eternal condemnation for sin. (John 3:36; Revelation 20:11-15) Harold Netland in his book Encountering Religious Pluralism says, "It is crucial to grasp the seriousness of the biblical understanding of sin, for the Christian teaching on salvation makes sense only against the backdrop of sin."10 The apostles preaching on sin led to a genuine conviction by the hearers of their need for a restored relationship with God. On the Day of Pentecost, the people responded to Peter’s sermon by saying, "What shall we do?" (Acts 2:37) Peter replies, "Repent". Peter’s hearers understood that their sin had offended God and needed to be repented of.
3. The Gospel is a Message about Christ. Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, died and rose again physically from the dead. Here we see one of the great truths in Scripture – the Creator is gracious and merciful. "God’s terrible wrath against sin and unfathomable love for all persons come together in a marvelous way in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth."11 The sermons in Acts show that the Apostles preached on both the Person of Christ and the Work of Christ. Preaching one without the other gives only half the story. Packer comments about this saying:
"Evangelistic preachers and personal workers have sometimes
been known to make this mistake. In their concern to focus attention on the atoning death of Christ, as the sole sufficient ground on which sinners may be accepted with God, they have expounded the summons to saving faith in these terms: ‘Believe that Christ died for your sins.’ The effect of this exposition is to represent the saving work of Christ in the past, dissociate from His Person in the present, as the whole object of our trust. But it is not Biblical to isolate the work from the Worker. Nowhere in the New Testament is the call to believe expressed in such terms. What the New Testament calls for is faith in (en) or into (eis) or upon (epi) Christ Himself."11
In every evangelistic speech in Acts the facts of the crucifixion and resurrection are either explicitly or implicitly spoken. They are the basis for which forgiveness of sin can be obtained.
4. The gospel is a summons to Faith and Repentance. The preaching of the gospel is not complete unless there is a call to respond to God. The response involves both Faith and Repentance. Both are needed. It is not enough to resolve to turn from sin (repentance), and try and put Christ’s teaching into practice by being religious and doing good works. There must also be trust (faith) in Christ and His redeeming power to give a person acceptance before God. Repentance and Faith are proclaimed as man’s obligation. If man does this then God promises forgiveness of sins, the gift of his Holy Spirit, and eternal life.
The gospel is "the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." (Romans 1:16) As such, it is equally meant for all people at all times in all cultures. The gospel is in effect unchangeable. Society and culture, however, are not. The sermon that Paul preached in Pisidian Antioch speaking to Jews was noticeably different than the sermon Paul preached in Athens – where he was speaking to Gentiles. Does this mean he was preaching a different gospel? No, it simply means he was contextualizing his message to fit his audience. A brief comparison of Paul in Pisidian Antioch and Paul in Athens will help the discussion. The audience in the synagogue listening to Paul’s sermon in Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:1-52) were Jews or Jewish proselytes (Gentiles who had converted to the Jewish religion). They would have had an Old Testament background. Paul didn’t have to convince them that there was one Creator God, or that Adam’s rebellion at the beginning of the human race had led to all humans being under God’s judgment. Nor did Paul need to convince them that God’s penalty for sin was death. They knew about the thousands of animals that had been sacrificed in their history as a result of sin. Instead, Paul needed to convince his hearers that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah spoken of in the Scriptures, and that his death and resurrection were vital to their salvation. Recalling the four ingredients of the gospel outlined above, Paul could in effect skip over the first one about God because his hearers were familiar with Old Testament foundations about God. This approach to Jews stands in stark contrast with Paul’s preaching to the gentiles in Athens.
By way of a prelude to examining Paul’s speech in Athens, it is necessary to talk about a major ideology ingrained in the culture of the first century Roman Empire. The ideology is called pluralism. D.A Carson in his book The Gagging of God writes extensively about the issue of pluralism. He speaks of various spheres of pluralism. On one level there is what he calls empirical pluralism. This refers to the "sheer diversity of race, value systems, heritage, language, culture, and religion in many Western and some other nations."13 Carson also speaks of philosophical pluralism. Others refer to this type of pluralism as "religious pluralism".14 This is the most serious development of pluralism. In this sphere it carries the notion that no religion or ideology has the right to pronounce it superior, true, or right while pronouncing the others to be inferior, false, and wrong. In his book The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society, Lesslie Newbigin describes religious pluralism in the following way: "Religious Pluralism…is the belief that the differences between the religions are not a matter of truth and falsehood, but of different perceptions of one truth; that to speak of religious beliefs as true or false is inadmissible. Religious belief is a private matter. Each of us is entitled to have – as we say – a faith of our own."15 Religious or philosophical pluralism poses special challenges to the Christian faith. According to Carson, the world confronting the early church was a highly pluralistic world.16 So is the Western world at the dawn of the twenty-first century.17
Communicating the gospel in a pluralistic society is a challenge because in a religiously plural context the gospel is seen as one possibility among many rather than the unique solution to man’s problems. The late Lesslie Newbigin outlines the nature of this struggle: "The problem of communicating it in a pluralistic society is that it simply disappears into the undifferentiated ocean of information. It represents one opinion among millions of others. It cannot be "the truth," since in a pluralistic society truth is not one but many. It may be "true for you," but it cannot be true for everyone. To claim that it is true for everyone is simply arrogance. It is permitted as one opinion among many."18 Theologian, author, and evangelist Michael Green says that the result of this prevailing attitude is that, "All truth claims are suspect, and none more than the Christian insistence that Jesus is the Way to God, the Truth about God, and the very Life of God."19
In Athens, Paul’s sermon is preached to a non-Jewish audience. These Gentiles were of two groups: Epicurean philosophers and Stoic philosophers. The Epicureans taught that everything on earth evolved directly from the material of the earth itself.20 The ideal Epicurean philosophy was a life of tranquility and a life of pleasure. Stoic philosophy had a pantheistic view of God – that is many gods. Both groups were people who had probably never read the Old Testament or heard the Old Testament read. Thus, it was a completely different audience than the Jewish audience in Pisidian Antioch. In Athens, Paul is trying to evangelize people who are biblically illiterate and whose worldview is far removed from the Judeo-Christian tradition. The similarities with our own day are quite striking. By and large, the Western culture today is characterized by Biblical illiteracy and worldviews that are far removed from the Judeo-Christian tradition. Therefore, the speech by Paul to the Greeks in Athens can be applied with great directness to the analogous pluralism and culture of our day.21
What can we learn from the way Paul preached to the Greeks? There are several elements about his sermon in Acts chapter 17. The following are the key ones:
1. He established common ground with his hearers. Firstly, he did this by referring to the altar he saw addressed to an unknown god (v.23). The altar was a "felt need" his audience was conscious of (which necessitated setting up an altar to an unknown god).22 Appealing to a "felt need" allowed him to introduce the gospel about the one true known God. In speaking with unbelievers today it is important similarly to identify a common "felt need" that the gospel speaks to Most unbelievers aren’t generally aware of their true spiritual need for Christ. However, if it can be shown that the gospel meets an immediate and tangible need that they have, they will be more open to the message. Secondly, Paul established common ground with his audience by quoting from poets that his hearers were familiar with (v.28). Paul doesn’t appear to directly quote from the Bible. He does however quote from sources that his hearers were familiar with. Similarly today, making reference to a well known book or film may add to our cause more than endless quotes of Bible verses.
2. Paul carefully defined the nature and character of the true God. Paul introduces God as separate from the universe. He is both the Creator and the Lord (v.24). He is also transcendent in that he "does not live in temples built by hands" (v.24). Paul also points out that God "is not served by human hands" (v.25). This means that, "God is so independent that he does not need us."23 All these statements would have been in contrast to the Greeks polytheistic worldview. In communicating the gospel today, it is of critical importance to first establish who God is and what He is like.
3. Paul described the rebellious history of the human race. Firstly, Paul explains how mankind has descended from one man – Adam. Mankind has always been under God who rules over all. God has in fact determined the times and places that nations and peoples should take in history (v.26). His purpose in doing this is to incite human beings to seek him (v.27). The implication is that otherwise they would not seek after God. Paul goes on to explain that idolatry is further proof of man’s rebelliousness. Although done sometimes in ignorance it is nevertheless wrong (v.30).
4. History is moving towards a judgment day. History is not cyclical, as many Greeks thought, but rather it is teleological – heading towards one common direction.24 This is the natural outcome of man’s rebellion and this final judgment day is fixed and set (v.31).
5. Paul talks about the Resurrection. Although it is God who will judge on the last day, he will do so through one person – Jesus Christ. God showed his stamp of approval on Jesus by raising him from the dead (v.31). It is interesting to note that only after he has set out an entire worldview does Paul introduce Jesus. Although Paul’s speech makes no specific mention of Christ’s death and its significance, it is difficult to talk about the resurrection without some mention, even implicitly implied, of the crucifixion. It is probable that Paul was planning to talk in more depth about Christ’s crucifixion, but he then gets cut off (v.32). Paul’s insistence on the resurrection also takes on a deeper meaning when one considers the background of his audience. Carson elaborates on this theme:
Not only does the picture Paul paints contradict animism, Epicureanism, and Stoicism, but by so boldly introducing physical resurrection ascribed to God himself, Paul is directly taking on one of the common places in a great deal of Greek thought, namely neo-Platonic dualism. If the spiritual is good, the physical world bad, it is inconceivable that God, who is by definition good, would raise someone up to physical life, which is at least relatively bad. That is the very point that causes some to sneer (v.32)… But Paul will never compromise the gospel so as to make it pleasantly compatible with the culture he is evangelizing.25
6. Finally, Paul talks about the need for a response to this gospel message. The response includes repentance (v.30) and belief. He urged them to repent from their erroneous ways and believe in the true God. The response of belief is seen in v.34 where it is stated that "a few men became followers of Paul and believed".
The approach taken by Paul in preaching the gospel to the Gentiles of first century Athens is a helpful model for Christians today communicating the gospel to a biblically illiterate people in the twenty-first century A.D. The approach Paul uses is to establish a Biblical worldview into which the framework of the gospel fits. As Carson states: "In short, the good news of Jesus Christ is virtually incoherent unless it is securely set into a biblical worldview."26 This Biblical framework or worldview rests heavily upon two ideas: The Creation and the Fall. These two great doctrines are not just the framework and foundation for the gospel. They are also key elements of the entire gospel message (as discussed above in the 4 key ingredients of the gospel). The doctrine of Creation informs us of our responsibility before God while the doctrine of the Fall informs us that by nature and choice we are alienated from God, justly condemned, and without hope unless God himself delivers us. All evangelism in a pluralistic and biblically illiterate society must incorporate both the foundations of Creation and the Fall as the basis for preaching the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the need for repentance and faith in Him.
Dr. Ken Ham, in his book Creation Evangelism for the New Millennium, affirms the need to emphasize and defend the Biblical understanding of Creation in preaching the gospel in a modern pluralistic society. He points out that in the past, our Western culture had a Biblical foundation of truth and could be thus be compared in terms of evangelism to the Jews in the New Testament. Now, however, with the biblical illiteracy and pluralistic culture that is predominant, our Western culture can be more accurately compared to the Greeks or Gentiles. Ham compares the Greeks idolatry in Athens to the idolatry of evolution today.27 Evolution, as a theory, seeks to explain the origins of life and of man solely on material causes – devoid of any understanding of a Creator God. According to Ham, this has created a new foundation for a humanistic worldview which leads to many social problems. Ham argues that the most effective way to communicate the gospel today is to rebuild the foundation of God’s word. Humanism (and evolution) must be fought at the very place where humanists have attacked the Bible (i.e.: Creation).28 Evangelism, in our Western culture, therefore, must begin by setting forth and defending the doctrine of Creation. This approach is in line with how Paul communicates the gospel in Athens. He sets forth the Biblical foundations of Creation and the Fall as key elements of the gospel before he even mentions Jesus.
In conclusion, the gospel is the power of God for our salvation. It is a message that has four key ingredients:
Communicating the gospel in our pluralistic society is challenging. In the past, most people in our Western culture had a Biblical foundation and understanding of God’s word. They could be compared to the "Jews" of the Bible. Today this is not true. The result is that our culture has come to resemble more the "Greeks" of the Bible. For this reason it is important to approach them using the model of Paul preaching the gospel to the Greeks in Athens. This model of communicating the gospel emphasizes the doctrines of Creation and the Fall in order to establish a Biblical worldview. Without this structure the message of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ will not be rightly heard. However, with this framework, the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ will be coherent and relevant in a pluralistic society.
1
F.F Bruce. The Book of the Acts. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988), p.3.2
Ed.Kenneth Barker. The NIV Study Bible. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1985), Acts 1:83
Marion Soards. The Speeches in Acts. (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1994), p.1.4
J. Knox Chamblin. "Gospel". Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Ed. Elwell, Walter A. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1996), p.305.5
D.S. Lim. "Evangelism in the Early Church" Dictionary of the Later New Testament and its Developments. Eds. Ralph P. Martin and Peter H. Davids. (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1997), p. 357.6
Ajith Fernando. Acts: The NIV Application Commentary. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998), p.327
C.H. Dodd. The Apostolic Preaching and its Development. (New York: Harper and Row, 1937), pp.38-45.8
J.I. Packer. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. (London: Inter-Varsity Fellowship,1967), p.58.9
Ibid., p.5910
Harold Netland. Encountering Religioius Pluralism. (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2001), p.318.11
Ibid. p.31912
J.I. Packer. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. (London: Inter-Varsity Fellowship,1967), p.66.13
D.A Carson. The Gagging of God. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), p.13.14
Harold Netland. Encountering Religioius Pluralism. (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2001), p.12.15
Lesslie Newbigin. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. (Michigan:William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000), p.14.16
Carson. The Gagging of God. p.496.17
Ibid., p.9.18
Newbigin. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society., p.242.19
Michael Green. Strange Intelligence. (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1997), p.42.20
Ken Ham. Creation Evangelism for the New Millennium. (Green Forest: Master Books, Inc., 2000), p.51.21
Carson. The Gagging of God. p.496.22
Ibid. p.499.23
Ibid. p.500.24
Ibid. p.501.25
Ibid., p.501.26
Ibid., p.502.27
Ken Ham. Creation Evangelism for the New Millennium. (Green Forest: Master Books, Inc., 2000), p.76.28
Ibid., p. 85.Balke, Tom. The Changing Face of The Canadian University: What will it look like in 2007? Unpublished Work by Atlantic Divisional Director IVCF Canada.
Barker, Kenneth. Ed. The NIV Study Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1985.
Brown, Colin. Ed. New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 2. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.
Bruce, F.F. The Book of the Acts. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988.
Carson, D.A. The Gagging of God. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996.
Chamblin, J. Knox. Gospel. Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Ed. Elwell, Walter A. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1996.
Dodd, C. H. The Apostolic Preaching and its Development. New York: Harper and Row, 1937.
Fernando, Ajith. Acts: The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998.
Green, Michael. Strange Intelligence. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1997.
Ham, Ken. Creation Evangelism for the New Millennium. Green Forest: Master Books, Inc., 2000.
Lim, D.S. Evangelism in the Early Church Dictionary of the Later New Testament and its Developments. Eds. Martin, Ralph P., and Davids, Peter H. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1997.
Long, Jimmy. Generating Hope: A Strategy for reaching the Postmodern Generation. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997.
McLaren, Brian D. A New Kind of Christian. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc., 2001.
Netland, Harold. Encountering Religious Pluralism. Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2001.
Newbigin, Lesslie. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000.
Packer, J.I. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. London: Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1967.
Sinkinson, Chris. Confessing Christ in a Pluralist Culture. Grace and Truth in the Secular Age. Ed. Timothy Bradshaw. Grand Rapids, Michigan:William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998.
Soards, Marion L. The Speeches in Acts. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1994.
Stott, John. The Spirit, the Church, and the World: The Message of Acts. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1990.
Taylor, Mrs Howard. Behind the Ranges: Fraser of Lisuland. London: Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1973.
Turner, Nigel. Christian Words. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1981.
Willimon, William H. Acts: Interpretation. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988.
Bible Gateway which has several translations and many languages from which you can choose
or Crosswalk's Bible Study Tools which has many English translations, including the NKJV.
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