Some Contacts of the Book of Acts with the Every-Day Life of Its Age

Authors

H. A. Keinath, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis

Publication Date

2-1-1936

Document Type

Article

Keywords

jew, greek, alexandria, gentile, st. jew, greek, alexandria, gentile, st. paul, egypt, roman, agrippa, christianity, palestine, paul, egypt, roman, agrippa, christianity, palestine

Submission Type

Bible Study; Lecture; Sermon Prep

Abstract

New Testament Christianity, first garbed in the swaddling-clothes of Semitism, soon exchanged its outward dress for the more practical robes of Hellenism. Jesus of Nazareth was active in a little speck of ground on the edge of the mighty Roman Empire; His language was Aramaic, His disciples were Jews, His contacts and the intellectual atmosphere of the men among whom He moved were chiefly Jewish. Yet within a few years after His resurrection Christianity had gone beyond the sphere of distinctly Jewish surroundings and had begun its mission of world conquest. This explosion immediately required an accommodation in the field of language. The gospels were written, not in the "sacred" language of Christ, but in the language which alone could servo a Gospel aiming at universal acceptance: Hellenistic Greek. The greatest missionary and most literary of the apostle, though himself a Jew, was yet a Jew from the Diaspora and as such had rubbed shoulders with the non-Jew from childhood.

Disciplines

History of Christianity

Scripture References in this Resource (separated by semi-colons)

Acts 13:14-43; Acts 13:45; Acts 17:5; Acts 19:34; Acts 18:2; Acts 18:24; Ephesians 2:14; Acts 19:33; Acts 14:11-13; Acts 28:6;

Submission Cost

Free

Submission Audience

Laity; Ministers; Scholars

Recommended Citation

Keinath, H. A. (1936) "Some Contacts of the Book of Acts with the Every-Day Life of Its Age," Concordia Theological Monthly: Vol. 7, Article 13.
Available at: https://scholar.csl.edu/ctm/vol7/iss1/13