1:4 Not so. By at least one account, Jesus told them to watch out for the moment to leave Jerusalem.
1:11 This is certainly unambiguous. No wonder many today expect a literal and visual descent from heaven, as opposed to the metaphorical interpretation of the Witnesses.
11:23 This reminds me of a cute anecdote from my childhood. I was probably 8 or 9, and even at that age a devout Witness. My Dad was conducting the congregation Watchtower study, a meaningless exercise wherein somebody read the paragraph, the conductor asked the question, and somebody from the audience of about 100 people to read the answer to the question from the paragraph. It was the lowest level of bloom's taxonomy--in fact, it wouldn't even measure on Bloom's taxonomy, that's how little learning or thinking was going on. Precocious little thing that I was, I took the liberty of making a comment that was not word-for-word from the paragraph. The comment was to the effect that Judas' sin was especially grievous since he forsook the immeasurable privilege of being called an Apostle, one of only thirteen that ever got that privilege.
My Dad thought that I had made a factual error, and felt obligated to correct me in front of the entire congregation. "Actually," he reprimanded into the microphone, "Paul wasn't officially considered an Apostle," thinking that Paul was the thirteenth apostle to whom I referred. I was not about to be humbled! I replied into my microphone, "Actually, I was thinking of Matthias." I was right, my dad was wrong, and a hundred people bore witness to the fact that a smartassed nine-year-old was smarter than his father.
I had a discussion yesterday with my father, and I wish I had remembered this episode to add to the conversation. My position is that it was frowned upon in the Witnesses to be too good at somethings. It was impossible to be too humble, of course, or to memorize too many scriptures, but most other types of excellence were inadvisable. I was looked upon as a showoff, for example, because I was a good singer and made no attempt to hide the fact. I even (gasp) harmonized during the hymns! By the same token, I was also seen as too smart for my own good, a trait of which the above vignette is a good example. True intelligence, it was thought, was the ability to accept whatever The Society said, and find some intellectual contortion to make it seem true. Lord, what a mess of mental lasagna that religion is.
1:25 It seems that Paul's proscription against divination was rather sudden news to the early Christians.
2:2 This reminds me of moments in Job and David's part of the Psalms wherein also God is seen as a divine wind. Perhaps this is less of a metaphor, and more literal.
2:5-11 A reverse Babylon. Pentecostals speak in gibberish, which has no resemblance to the experience at Pentecost.
2:17-21 This is a surprisingly accurate quote. So many times, "As it was written" refers to something that does not seem to be written anywhere. Of course, Luke does have a reputation as one of the more scholarly Bible writers.
2:25-28 This is more like the revisionist prophecy that I have come to expect from the Greek Scriptures. It is quite evident that David was referring to himself when he wrote this, not some future figure.
2:31-35 This is a little more unclear. I don't know where exactly these verses are, so I can't tell from context whether David was indeed prophesying, or merely reflecting.
2:36 At any rate, this is a first rate speech by Peter, and I'm sure I would have been convinced, were I in the audience.
2:45 Communism! Dios Mio!
3:6 This may be an act of faith even more impressive than walking to meet the aquambulatory Christ. How could Peter have been sure that he had this ability? And there was no Jesus there to save his bacon.
3:12 Thereby avoiding Moses' and Aaron's mistake.
3:15 Here's an interesting sobriquet to which I have not given much attention before: the Author of life. Interesting too that only the word Author is capitalized. The Greek here is ἀρχηγὸν, which is more properly translated "prince" or "leader". It certainly seems that the NRSV is taking a liberty here, not only with translation, but with punctuation. The word is clearly being used as a title, not as a name.
3:21 Peter's newfound confidence here is invigorating. He demonstrates a scholarly grasp of prophecy, and a politic use of rhetoric. Where did he get this piece of metaphysical knowledge? From The Comforter, no doubt . . .
4:3 On what charges? With Jesus' trial, they at least pretended to follow legal guidelines. The religious leaders are likely getting fed up with this so-called cult, to which they thought they had put an end.
4:13 How is John considered bold? He has yet to say anything.
4:19 So which is speaking? Is is unlikely that they shared these words. I propose that Peter was speaking here. This sidekick role complicates John's role in the scriptures.
4:22 The implication being that is the man were a minor, they would have committed some offense?
4:24-30 Again, words clearly spoken by one person are attributed to more than one, as though they had uttered them in unison--unlikely. Is this a nod to the communality of the early church?
4:32 . . . even their words.
5:1-6 This account is a bit terrifying. It does not say explicitly that Ananias' death was a divine punishment, but it is certainly implied, and I know that if I were a first century Christian, I would certainly have taken it that way. It's a bit Maoist to be killed for secretly holding onto some personal property. Of course, it is the lie, not the withholding that is the sin here, but is lying a deadly sin?
5:8 And knowing what happened, Peter sets the wife up. This is borderline evil.
5:11 This is not the good kind of fear that is seizing the congregation. Peter (as a divine agent) acts rather terrifyingly in this account.
5:15 And he develops a following of his own.
5:25 This more lighthearted miracle is a relief.
5:33 Gamaliel certainly comes out of this account much fresher than Peter does.
6:5 A nice mix of Hebrews and Greeks
6:15 Speaking of Moses . . . this glow is an interesting subject. It is too persistent, in many religious traditions, to be discounted as metaphorical. Even the Buddha was spoken of similarly. What is this glow? Energy of some sort? A partial transfiguration? Fascinating shit.
7:2 Of all God's homonyms, The God of Glory seems a very appropriate choice for Stephen to use.
7:30 This makes Moses quite a bit older than I had always picture him at the time of the Exodus, at least sixty.
7:30 This part would be especially moving if Stephen's face was still shining with the holy light that is described in v. 15
7:35 Although the resistance to Moses was rather incidental, it is relevant to the argument Stephen is trying to make.
7:60 If I were rewriting early christian History, I would make Stephen a more central figure--not Peter, at least not the way he has behaved so far.
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