John the Baptist, Bethlehem, the Acts of the Apostles Essay

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Bible Dictionary, New Testament

The New Testament book of the ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, or Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament, following the four Gospels. The author of Acts is in some dispute, however it is clear from the presence of the notorious "we passages" -- described by Bruce as "sections (dealing largely with journeys by sea made by Paul and some of his friends) in which the narrative is cast in the first person plural ('we'/'us') instead of the usual third person plural ('they' / them')" -- that the author was present for at least some of the events narrated. As Bruce notes "it is a reasonable inference that the narrator was one of Paul's companions for the periods covered by those sections. This inference (which is not universally drawn) may have given rise at an early date to the tradition that the author of the twofold work was Luke the physician" (Bruce 7). Thus the most common identification of author is the evangelist Luke. Peterson notes that "Acts cannot be proved by quotation or allusion to have existed before about AD 150…a first century date for its composition can be argued from the evidence of the work itself." (Peterson 4). This evidence includes the fact that the book does not narrate the death of Paul, thus suggesting Paul was still alive at the time of its composition.

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Acts tells the story of the early church, with a specific emphasis on the disciple Peter and the apostle Paul. The early chapters of the book describe the resurrection of Christ, the ascension, Pentecost, and the early church-building efforts of the disciple; the latter chapters cover the conversion of Saul of Tarsus (Paul) and his ministry. The purpose of the book would seem to be providing a historical account of the early church as well as records of miraculous events.

JOHN THE BAPTIST is recorded in all four Gospels as a prophet and a significant forerunner of Jesus. He is the first to practice baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and baptized Jesus Himself in the river Jordan. In what is widely considered to be the oldest of the four gospels, Mark, John is presented as the fulfillment of a prophecy of Isaiah, which seems to define John as both a preparer of the way for the Messiah as well as a "voice crying in the wilderness" (Mark 1). This latter aspect is well-recorded of John, as he would appear to have lived mainly in the desert wasteland. This has led to much scholarly speculation about John's relationship to the historical sect of the Essenes, who are mentioned by contemporary Jewish historians (Flavius Josephus, Philo Judaeus) but not mentioned in the New Testament: however, there are suggestive connections between….....

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