Acts

26 Episodes

Acts is a late narrative sequel to Luke that presents the expansion of the Jesus movement from Jerusalem into the wider Mediterranean world. It is both historiographical and literary, shaping early Christian memory through speeches, scenes of conflict, and carefully arranged transitions that elevate certain figures and theological outcomes.

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Why this book matters

Acts returns on the show as the New Testament’s great bridge text: the book that narrates how a Jesus movement rooted in Jerusalem becomes a wider Gentile movement centered increasingly on Paul. The hosts come back to it whenever questions arise about the Jerusalem council, communal life, scriptural interpretation, angelology, martyrdom traditions, and the narrative handoff from Peter and Jerusalem to Paul and the nations.

It also matters because it often reveals its own literary construction. The show repeatedly uses Acts to explore how a late author organizes speeches, quotes the Septuagint against the Hebrew, reshapes Israel’s past to serve present theological goals, and turns debates over circumcision, law, and Gentile inclusion into foundational scenes for Christian self-understanding.

Where to start

Start here for the strongest listening on Acts.

Quotes from the Data

“Acts 15, the... The dead center of the Book of Acts ... Peter's got to beware the Ides of the Book of Acts because he's mentioned in Acts 15. And then he drops out of the Acts of the Apostles entirely. Peter is not mentioned again after the Jerusalem Council. Paul then takes over as the main character.”

Dan McClellan Episode 54

“Because the argument is we're extending the Gospel to the Gentiles. Why? Because, well, the Greek translation says the Gentiles, the Gentiles are going to seek after the Lord. The Hebrew says absolutely no such thing. And so what this suggests is that this is a literary creation. This appeal to this passage on the part of James to close down the Jerusalem Council ... was a literary invention.”

Dan McClellan Episode 80

“I think it's interesting because what [Stephen's speech] represents is the author of the Book of Acts negotiation with the history of Israel as told in the Hebrew Bible as they have access to it and as they have negotiated with it. ... it might indicate they're going from the Greek and not the Hebrew ... and some places where they even contradict what's going on in the Hebrew Bible and contradict themselves.”

Dan McClellan Episode 150

“The Septuagint also has 75 in Exodus 1. So both, both of the passages that in the Masoretic Text say 70 are 75 in the Septuagint. So we have another example of, of the author, uh, relying not on the Hebrew but on the Greek, right?”

Dan McClellan Episode 150

All episodes

Every episode currently tagged with Acts.