Read Along: Chapter Five—Paul’s Speeches in Acts

Today we begin Chapter Five of the Read Along with Apologetics 315 project. This is a chapter-by-chapter study through the book The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul’s Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World by Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak. (Hear the introductory interview about the book here.) Below you will find an audio intro for Chapter Five, a brief summary of the chapter, a PDF workbook with questions for the chapter, and some notable quotes. You’re also encouraged to share your comments and feedback for each chapter in the comment section below. Feel free to interact on the Christian Apologetics Alliance Facebook page here.

[Audio Intro] – Paul Copan introduces this chapter.
[Chapter 5 Study Questions] (with kindle locations) – PDF study guide.
[Podcast Feed RSS | Podcast in iTunes] – Click to subscribe to the audio.

Summary
Chapter Five: Paul’s Speeches in Acts
[pages 64-73]

Chapter 5 begins by examining the genre of the book of Acts and Luke’s approach in writing it. The authors then explore Paul’s approach and methods, the mixed response that was received, and the example that the speeches present for Christians.

Notable quotes:

Luke followed this practice in the speeches in Acts. These speeches provide the gist of what was said by Peter, Paul, Stephen and others. This in no way takes away from the historical reliability of Acts. (Kindle 1111-1112)

The speeches in Acts that quote biblical texts explicitly are often seeking to bring Jews to believe in Jesus as the Messiah. Speeches made to Gentiles that have an evangelistic focus , however, do not quote biblical texts, even though these speeches reflect biblical themes. (Kindle 1158-1159)

Acts offers two speeches as models for approaching non-Christian audiences that have little or no background in biblical ideas. This is relevant for us because many people in our culture have only a vague idea of some of what is in the Bible and are far from being biblically literate or able to summarize even core theological teachings of the Bible. (Kindle 1205-1208) 

Discuss

  1. Why do you think it is important to understand the genre of Acts when thinking about Paul’s speeches?
  2. What does the mixed response to Paul’s message teach us about our evangelistic efforts?
  3. What do you think successful evangelism looks like, and why?
Next Week: Chapter 6—Paul’s Audience
Written by

Brian Auten is the founder emeritus of Apologetics315. He is also director of Reasonable Faith Belfast. Brian holds a Masters degree in Christian Apologetics and has interviewed over 150 Christian apologists. His background is in missions, media direction, graphic design, and administration. Brian started Apologetics315 in 2007 to be an apologetics hub to equip Christians to defend the faith.

Type at least 1 character to search
Catch the AP315 Team Online:

The mission of Apologetics 315 is to provide educational resources for the defense of the Christian faith, with the goal of strengthening the faith of believers and engaging the questions and challenges of other worldviews.

Defenders Media provides media solutions to an alliance of evangelistic ministries that defend the Christian worldview. We do this by elevating the quality of our members’ branding to match the excellence of the content being delivered.