Browsing by Author "Chen, Hui-Chun"

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    The Law and the Gentiles in Acts 15 : divine authority between the scriptures of Israel and Jesus on the law
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-03) Chen, Hui-Chun; Punt, Jeremy; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. Old and New Testament.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation reads Peter's speech and James' speech in Acts 15 in light of Jesus' view of the law in the Gospel of Luke. In Luke's presentation of the Jerusalem Council, Peter and James appropriate different aspects of Jesus' teaching. Recalling Jesus' taking issue with the Pharisees for focusing on the outside behavior of cleansing cups and plates in Luke 11:37-41, Peter in Acts 15 uses Jesus' emphases that it is the inside that renders a person clean; James reflects Jesus' teaching in Luke 24:47 that the Scriptures speak of repentance for the forgiveness of sins among all the nations on the basis of the name of Jesus. In response to the demand of the Jewish believers for the Gentile believers to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law in relation to their salvation, Peter emphasizes the certainty of the salvation of Gentile believers, pointing out that God cleanses their heart when they respond to the gospel through faith (Acts 15:9); James uses the connection between the name of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins for including people within the Jesus movement. James in the book of Acts uses an Amos text from the Scriptures that speaks of Gentiles being included among the people of God as called by God's name. James emphasizes that the way for Gentile believers to bear the name of God is through their calling upon the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, James orders that the Gentile believers not be circumcised. Through reference to Jesus' stress upon the importance of the inside in one's relationship with God, and to Jesus' teaching that his name offers forgiveness of sins, Luke in Acts shows that the identity of the Jesus movement is the purification of the heart and the calling upon the name of Jesus. These two elements are vital for Luke' presentation of what constitutes salvation.