Acts 4:12 and its First Century Setting

Abstract

This paper, given at the Edinburgh Christology Conference, 2002, seeks to better understand the theology of salvation presented in Acts 4:12 by considering the verse in appropriate contexts. It is viewed (1) as part of the genre of Lucan literature: apologetic in nature, subject to first century rhetorical conventions, and concerned with the identity of God’s chosen people; (2) in the context of the Gentile mission: seeking to make converts at a time when exclusivist religion was not the norm, Luke had to be clear that adherence to the Christian faith meant rejection of Graeco-Roman religion. It asserted as a result that the verse should be understood in the context of the late first century, and that it must be accepted that it does not speak to many of our modern concerns about exclusivism.