8:13 Now here's an interesting metaphysical question. It is not said that Simon's power came from demonic sources, nor is it thought thusly or he would be painted differently. From what source, then?
8:17 So Philip does the work, and Peter and John rush in and get the glory.
8:29 In what sense did the spirit speak to Philip? Literally? Or in the sense that he simply knew what he had to do?
8:34 A good question, one that should be more seriously asked of many so-called prophecies.
8:39 WTF? This miracle is not often discussed, possibly because it seems to serve no obvious purpose. Was it teleportation? Or was Philip taken elsewhere in a trance, with no memory of it? Even more curious, what if Philip was only present in a vision in the first place?
9:1 This is an uncommon bit of figurative language from Luke.
9:2 Is the the first instance of this appellation, The Way?
9:8 Again with the light trope. So far we have in Acts: the tongues of fire, the glowing face of Stephen, and the blinding light from heaven.
9:10 A different Ananias, of course . . . or is it?
9:31 A nice contrast: the fear of the lord, and the comfort of the holy spirit--yet another argument for the femininity of the spirit. A little yin-yang action going on here.
9:35 Surely hyperbolic. I refuse to believe that every last resident of these two cities was convinced by this miracle.
9:40 A rather meaningless miracle in one way. What did it profit her to be resurrected? She had a beautiful life, clearly. Why release Dorcas version 1.2?
10:2 In what way was this man devout? More specifically, to what God did he give prayers?
10:5 It seems unlikely that he was a Christian, if he didn't know who Peter was.
10:26 Good thing he said this! He wouldn't want to end up like Moses and Aaron!
10:31 It is so far not clear what Cornelius prayed for. It is implied that he prayed for understanding, which makes him the second (after the Ethiopian) to have his prayers answered in this way.
10:35 I wonder if Peter was really this quick to learn the lesson, or if the process was edited down for sake of readability. If so, Peter has grown quite a bit since we last saw him.
11:3 This didn't take long. This is the first whiff of taint on the new religion. As William James observes, that which is necessary for the genesis of religion, namely authentic religious experience, is deadly to it once established. It took mere years for the first Christians to go from embracing the gift of the spirit to being afraid of it.
11:22 Thankfully, at this point it is only a whiff of conservatism. They are still quick to adapt.
12:2 It feels like a shame that we didn't get to know James better. He was clearly influential, and Jesus looked at him as closely as he did John or Peter.
12:7 I remain fascinated by every instance of this light.
12:15 And by "angel" here they clearly mean "ghost".
12:17 Waaaaaaaitaminnit. I thought James was dead. Which James is this then?
12:23 the only instance I can recall of this type of punishment--a fitting one to be sure. There is a Biblical pattern of hubris being punished immediately, rather than in the more roundabout, Greek style.
13:3 I wonder what purpose the laying on of hands did in this case. THey were already filled with the Holy Spirit.
13:5 Here, as throughout the book, John is an afterthought.
13:11 A rather poetic reversal of Saul's own experience. ALso interesting that it is at this point that Saul becomes referred to as Paul
13:15 Did they not know who Paul and Barnabas were? Or was this some kind of endorsement?
13:22 An interesting characterization, now that I think of it. In what way was David a "man after [god's] heart? In his love for music? In his humility? In his lust?
13:43 This is certainly no populist religion, as one might expect. In this chapter alone, there are Manaen, a member of Herod's court, Sergius Paulus, a frickin' proconsul, and now the entire synagogue of Antioch.
13:45 and it is not until it becomes popular with the Gentiles that this shifts among the Jews.
14:2 This time it is the Gentiles who are stirred up against them.
14:5 So, what is it that makes GEntiles and Jews alike plot against them? It just occured to me that when John was with Paul and Barnabas, they were PB&J.
14:15 I can't imagine a way to fit this into their paradigm. The Greek perspective of god was just so alien to what is being presented to them here.
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