Acts seems to have been written to create an importance of Jerusalem to Christianity in contrast to the gospels of Mk and Mt which end pointing to Galilee. Paul's Jerusalem is the home of Jewish messianists who show no knowledge of Jesus nor his teachings. (We know about such messianists from the strange story of Apollos proselytizing, knowing only the baptism of John in Acts 18:24ff.)a/ I think the importance of Jerusalem as an early center of Christianity can be argued from the letters of Paul e.g. Galatians. (I am not really interested in discussing whether Galatians etc have been interpolated to support later orthodoxy.)
Do you know what assemblies in Christ were in Judea (Gal 1:22)?
What is that probability really based on? Can it be distinguished from retrojection?b/ I think the 'we' passages in Acts are probably an independent source for Paul.
While I'm looking for a radical analysis of Paul in his context free of post-Pauline anachronism, how can you show any relevance of Acts to the times it purports to deal with?c/ Acts may date from the very beginning of the second century, but this would not prima-facie make it of no historical value for mid first century events. IMO Acts is too familiar with the social world of the first century to be later than the death of Trajan.
Statistics: Posted by spin — Sat Feb 03, 2024 8:20 am