Doctrine Analysis
Doctrine Analysis — Acts (English → english)
Purpose
This document executes PRD Phase 1 Step 4: a full doctrine matrix spanning the entire book of Acts, chapter 1 through chapter 28. Acts 2:1-41 (Pentecost) is this curriculum’s theological anchor, not its scope boundary. Every doctrine below is drawn from, and stays fully consistent with, assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json (same doctrine names, same risk tiers, same review routing) and extends analysis/08_core_glossary.md. No new doctrine or risk tier is introduced here that is not already reflected in the registry; this document instead supplies the chapter-by-chapter narrative mapping the PRD requires.
Per the baseline Romans Language Package’s structural note, this is not a cross-language translation task. English is simultaneously source and destination. “Translation risk” below documents drift within English itself: false-friend drift (a term’s dominant secular/legal/pop-culture sense silently displacing its biblical sense), denominational contest (English-speaking Christian traditions disagreeing on a term’s meaning), and post-Christian cultural erosion (secularization hollowing out or trivializing a term’s felt weight).
Section A — Full Doctrine Matrix
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Acts) | Risk Level | Translation Risk (Summary) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | 1:8; 2:1-4, 16-18, 33, 38; 4:8, 31; 10:44-47; 19:1-6 | Critical | ”Pentecost” annexed by the modern Pentecostal movement’s brand name; “filled with the Holy Spirit” sits at the center of a live Pentecostal/charismatic vs. Reformed/covenantal contest over subsequent-experience vs. repeated-empowerment readings. | Human theologian |
| Tongues and Spiritual Gifts | 2:4-11; 10:46; 19:6 | Critical | Most denominationally contested phenomenon in Acts (cessationist vs. continuationist); popular media prejudices readers before the text is read; Acts 2 itself specifies known human languages. | Human theologian |
| The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 2:39; 10:1-48; 11:1-18; 13:46-48; 15:1-29 | Critical | ”No other name” (4:12) collides with contemporary religious pluralism; “circumcision” has been captured by a religiously-neutral modern medical sense, erasing the covenantal stakes. | Human theologian |
| Repentance and Baptism | 2:38-41; 8:36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48; 16:15, 31-34; 18:8; 19:1-5 | Critical | ”Baptism” is the single most denominationally contested practice-term in the curriculum (mode, subjects, theological effect); “repentance” suffers obsolescence-plus-dilution. | Human theologian |
| The Church as Community | 2:42-47; 4:32-35; 9:31; 11:26; 20:28 | Critical | ”Church” carries negative/institutional post-Christian connotations; “Christian” has been diluted into a loose cultural/political identity marker; “breaking of bread” and “holding all things in common” invite sacrament-vs.-meal and socialist-framing misreadings. | Human theologian |
| Church Governance and Leadership | 6:1-6; 14:23; 15:2, 4, 6, 22-23; 20:17, 28 | Critical | ”Elder/overseer/shepherd” used interchangeably in 20:17,28, yet English denominational traditions have built mutually exclusive governance structures on this same text; “bishop” now carries hierarchical connotations that can mislead readers of elder/pastor traditions. | Human theologian |
| Apostolic Authority and Miracles | 3:1-16; 4:7, 33; 5:12; 8:9-24; 13:6-11; 19:11-12 | High | Post-Enlightenment skepticism defaults to legend/exaggeration explanations; modern entertainment-coded “magic” flattens the serious true-power-vs.-occult-counterfeit contrast. | Human theologian |
| Persecution and Bold Witness | 4:1-31; 5:17-42; 6:8-7:60; 8:1-3; 12:1-19; 19:23-41 | High | ”Witness” flattened to neutral courtroom/true-crime sense, losing its costly, Spirit-empowered, life-risking force (root of English “martyr”); “boldness” risks being read as personality trait rather than Spirit-given gift. | Human theologian |
| Conversion of Paul | 9:1-19; 22:1-21; 26:9-23 | Critical | ”Chosen instrument/vessel of election” (9:15) mitigates but does not remove election’s political-vote false-friend capture; 26:18’s “power of Satan” risks reduction to a cartoonish folkloric devil. | Human theologian |
| Effectual Calling and Election | 2:39; 9:15; 11:18; 13:48 | Critical | ”Election” nearly totally captured by political-voting sense; “granted repentance” (11:18) raises the grace/works synergism-vs.-monergism contest directly. | Human theologian |
| Justification apart from the Law | 13:38-39; 15:1-29 | Critical | ”Justification” remains the single most severely false-friend-prone word in the curriculum (everyday sense: giving a reason/excuse); “circumcision” requires the ancient controversy’s stakes to be explicitly reconstructed. | Human theologian |
| The Great Commission Fulfilled | 1:8; 13:1-3; 28:23, 30-31 | High | ”Mission” dominated by corporate-branding sense (“mission statement”); the book’s 1:8…28:31 literary bracket must carry matching structural weight to Romans 1:16-17. | Human theologian |
| Deity of Christ | 2:33-36; 3:14; 7:55-56; 9:20; 12:23 | High | ”Historical Jesus” popular narratives deny deity while retaining reverent language; “Son of Man” (7:56) is easily misread as emphasizing humanity, the opposite of Daniel 7’s intended force. | Human theologian |
| Lordship of Christ | 2:34-36; 10:36; 16:31 | Critical | ”Lord” has nearly disappeared from ordinary spoken English outside this usage; 2:36’s climactic “Lord and Messiah” confession parallels Romans 10:9 and needs actively restored weight. | Human theologian |
| Resurrection of Christ | 1:9-11; 2:24-32; 4:2, 33; 17:18, 31-32; 23:6-8; 26:23 | Critical | Post-Christian culture treats resurrection as metaphor/myth; Acts narrates ancient precedent for this exact skepticism (Athenian mockery, Sadducee denial); ascension (1:9-11) risks being read as pre-modern cosmology. | Human theologian |
| Sonship of Christ | 9:20; 13:33 | Medium | Comparatively stable phrase; the eternal, unique, divine sense must still be actively taught, not assumed retained by familiarity. | Native speaker |
| Davidic Covenant | 2:25-31; 13:22-23, 34-36; 15:16 | Medium | Most readers’ David-knowledge is limited to David-and-Goliath; “covenant” dominated by real-estate/contract-law sense. | Native speaker |
| Messianic Promise | 2:36; 3:18-20; 13:47; 17:3; 26:23 | Medium | ”Messiah complex” pop-psychology pejorative colors the term; positive Jewish-messianic-fulfillment sense must be restated. | Native speaker |
| Inspiration of Scripture and Fulfillment of Prophecy | 2:16-21; 7:37, 48-52; 13:40; 15:32; 21:9-11; 28:23 | High | Secular/academic culture treats Scripture as a purely human artifact; “self-fulfilling prophecy” idiom is unrelated to, and easily confused with, God-inspired predictive prophecy (Agabus, 21:10-11). | Human theologian |
| Providence and God’s Sovereign Plan | 2:23; 4:27-28; 13:36; 20:27; 27:22-25 | Critical | ”Providence” is archaic and easily displaced by “everything happens for a reason” (impersonal); 2:23 holds sovereignty and human culpability together without contradiction, a compatibilism tension that must be named, not smoothed over. | Human theologian |
| Idolatry and the Living God | 14:11-18; 17:16-31; 19:23-27 | Medium | ”Idol” dominant modern sense is an admired celebrity/talent-show figure, carrying no worship content; Paul’s Athens approach (17:23) risks over-generalization into pluralism. | Native speaker |
| Civil and Religious Authority | 4:1-22; 5:17-42; 23:1-10; 25:1-12 | High | 5:29’s precedent must not be read as a blanket civil-disobedience license; “Pharisee” is now an almost pure pejorative for hypocrisy, obscuring historically important convictions (including bodily resurrection) Paul himself retained. | Human theologian |
| Unity of Jews and Gentiles | 10:34-35; 11:1-18; 15:1-29 | Medium | Post-Holocaust supersessionism caution requires care; “God shows no partiality” resonates with modern equality discourse but risks a generic-egalitarianism reading divorced from its Christ-centered basis. | Native speaker |
| Angelic Ministry | 5:19; 8:26; 10:3; 12:7-11, 23; 27:23 | Medium | Greeting-card/pop-culture “guardian angel” imagery dilutes the biblical sense of a real, powerful, obedient created spiritual being on a specific errand. | Native speaker |
| Occult Power versus Divine Power | 8:9-24; 13:6-11; 16:16-18; 19:11-19 | Medium | Secular culture treats magic/divination as entertainment or benign consumer spirituality (astrology, tarot); Acts’ serious framing of real spiritual bondage and deliverance must be restored. | Native speaker |
| Universal Human Accountability and the Call to Repent | 2:38; 3:19; 17:30-31 | Critical | Therapeutic, non-judgmental culture resists guilt-based moral language; “times of ignorance” (17:30) must not be softened into moral relativism regarding other beliefs. | Human theologian |
| Christian Fellowship | 2:42-47; 4:32-35 | Medium | ”A fellowship” more often encountered as an academic/professional grant; “breaking of bread” carries live sacrament-vs.-meal contest. | Native speaker |
| Sainthood (Called to be Holy) | 9:13, 32, 41; 26:10 | High | Catholic/Orthodox usage reserves “saint” for a canonized figure; Acts uses it corporately of every ordinary believer. | Human theologian |
| Kingdom Mission | 1:3, 6; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31 | Medium | Fantasy-fiction “kingdom” associations for younger/media-saturated readers; Acts’ 1:3,6…28:23,31 bracket frames the book around this doctrine’s real, historical, ongoing nature. | Native speaker |
| Prayer and Intercession | 1:14; 4:24-31; 12:5, 12; 13:2-3 | Medium | ”Intercession” rare/formal in ordinary speech (obsolescence, not false-friend); surviving idiom “intercessory prayer” is a mild asset. | Native speaker |
| Thanksgiving | 27:35; 28:15 | Low | The capitalized national holiday could crowd out the general theological sense; context in these travel-narrative passages usually disambiguates. | Automated |
| Mutual Edification | 11:23; 14:22; 15:32; 16:40; 20:1-2 | Low | ”Exhort/exhortation” rare and archaic-sounding (obsolescence) but no significant competing meaning. | Automated |
Risk Summary (matches doctrine_risk_registry.json exactly): Critical: 13 · High: 7 · Medium: 10 · Low: 2 · Theologian review required: 20 · Native speaker review: 10 · Automated only: 2.
Section B — Chapter-by-Chapter Coverage, Acts 1-28
Every chapter of Acts is reviewed below. Chapters whose content is substantially a continuation of an already-documented doctrine, rather than a source of new terms or risk, are marked explicitly as [Reviewed — continuation, no new doctrinal content] rather than silently omitted.
Acts 1 — Kingdom Mission (1:3, 6, the disciples’ nationalist-tinged question redirected by Jesus); The Great Commission Fulfilled (1:8, the book’s opening thesis-bracket); Persecution and Bold Witness (“witnesses,” 1:8); Resurrection of Christ (1:9-11, the ascension as a historical claim, not cosmology-as-metaphor); Apostolic Authority and Miracles / Church Governance (1:2, 21-26, the non-repeatable eyewitness qualification for apostleship, and Judas’s replacement); Providence (1:16, David spoke by the Spirit concerning Judas); Prayer and Intercession (1:14).
Acts 2 (core passage) — Holy Spirit and Pentecost (2:1-4, 33, 38); Tongues and Spiritual Gifts (2:4-11); Inspiration of Scripture and Fulfillment of Prophecy (2:16-21, Joel citation); Davidic Covenant (2:25-31); Messianic Promise and Lordship of Christ (2:36, “both Lord and Messiah” — this curriculum’s parallel confession-verse to Romans 10:9); Resurrection of Christ (2:24-32); Repentance and Baptism (2:38-41); Universal Human Accountability and the Call to Repent (2:38); Effectual Calling and Election (2:39, calling extended to Gentiles “far off”); The Church as Community and Christian Fellowship (2:42-47, breaking of bread, holding all things in common); Thanksgiving (implicit in 2:47’s rejoicing/praise).
Acts 3 — Deity of Christ (3:14, “the Holy and Righteous One” compound title); Resurrection of Christ (3:15, “Author of life”); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (3:1-16, the healing of the lame man performed explicitly “in the name of Jesus,” not by apostolic power itself); Messianic Promise (3:18-20); Universal Human Accountability and the Call to Repent (3:19); Inspiration of Scripture and Fulfillment of Prophecy (3:18, 21-25).
Acts 4 — Persecution and Bold Witness (4:1-31); Civil and Religious Authority (4:19-20, an early statement of the 5:29 principle); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (4:7, 33); The Church as Community (4:32-35, holding all things in common); Providence and God’s Sovereign Plan (4:27-28, “predetermined plan”); Prayer and Intercession (4:24-31).
Acts 5 — Persecution and Bold Witness (5:17-42); Civil and Religious Authority (5:29, “we must obey God rather than men” — the doctrine’s defining statement); The Church as Community (5:11, “great fear” upon the whole church after Ananias/Sapphira); Holy Spirit and Pentecost (5:3, 9, lying to the Holy Spirit presupposes a personal, indwelling Spirit); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (5:12, signs and wonders); Angelic Ministry (5:19).
Acts 6 — Church Governance and Leadership (6:1-6, appointment of “the Seven”); The Church as Community (Hellenist/Hebrew tension over care for widows); Inspiration of Scripture (6:7, “the word of God grew”). No new doctrine beyond these; risk load carried by the deacon/church-governance entries already documented.
Acts 7 — Persecution and Bold Witness (7:54-60, Stephen’s martyrdom, the paradigm case for the whole doctrine); Deity of Christ (7:55-56, “Son of Man” vision — Daniel 7 background); Inspiration of Scripture and Fulfillment of Prophecy (7:37, 48-52, Stephen’s Old Testament argument); Davidic Covenant background (7:45-46).
Acts 8 — Occult Power versus Divine Power (8:9-24, Simon Magus); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (8:6, 13); The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (8:26-39, the Ethiopian eunuch, a transitional figure between Jew and full Gentile); Repentance and Baptism (8:12, 36-38); Persecution and Bold Witness (8:1-3, the scattering); Holy Spirit and Pentecost (8:15-19, laying on of hands and reception of the Spirit).
Acts 9 — Conversion of Paul (9:1-19, the doctrine’s founding narrative); Effectual Calling and Election (9:15, “chosen instrument”); Repentance and Baptism (9:18); Sainthood (9:13, 32, 41, first narrative uses of “saints”); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (9:17, 32-42, Peter’s healing and raising ministry); The Church as Community (9:31, the church’s growth “in the fear of the Lord”).
Acts 10 — The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles and Unity of Jews and Gentiles (10:1-48, the Cornelius narrative, the doctrine’s central case study); Holy Spirit and Pentecost (10:44-47, the “Gentile Pentecost”); Repentance and Baptism (10:47-48); Angelic Ministry (10:3); Peace with God (10:36, “preaching peace through Jesus Christ”).
Acts 11 — The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles and Unity of Jews and Gentiles (11:1-18, Peter’s defense before the Jerusalem church); Effectual Calling and Election (11:18, “granted repentance”); The Church as Community (11:26, the term “Christian” first coined at Antioch); Mutual Edification (11:23, Barnabas’s exhortation).
Acts 12 — Persecution and Bold Witness (12:1-19, Peter’s imprisonment and miraculous release); Prayer and Intercession (12:5, 12, the church’s corporate prayer, the doctrine’s clearest narrative); Angelic Ministry (12:7-11, 23); Deity of Christ (12:23, Herod’s death for not giving God the glory — a vivid narrative warning).
Acts 13 — The Great Commission Fulfilled and Church Governance (13:1-3, the Antioch commissioning, “set apart”); Justification apart from the Law (13:38-39, the doctrine’s clearest narrative statement); Davidic Covenant and Messianic Promise (13:22-23, 33-36); The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (13:46-48, “a light to the Gentiles”); Effectual Calling and Election (13:48, “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed”); Occult Power versus Divine Power (13:6-11, Elymas).
Acts 14 — Apostolic Authority and Miracles (14:3); Idolatry and the Living God (14:11-18, Lystra); Persecution and Bold Witness (14:19, stoning); Kingdom Mission (14:22); Church Governance and Leadership (14:23, elders appointed in every church).
Acts 15 — Justification apart from the Law and The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (15:1-29, the Jerusalem Council, the New Testament’s central narrative resolution of the circumcision controversy); Church Governance and Leadership (15:2, 4, 6, 22-23); Grace (15:11, “we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus,” Acts’ clearest thesis-parallel to Romans).
Acts 16 — Repentance and Baptism (16:15, 31-34, household baptism, the doctrine’s sharpest denominational flashpoint); Occult Power versus Divine Power (16:16-18, the spirit of divination); Persecution and Bold Witness (16:19-40, the Philippian imprisonment); Mutual Edification (16:40).
Acts 17 — Idolatry and the Living God (17:16-31, the Athens sermon, “an unknown god”); Resurrection of Christ (17:18, 31-32, mockery of the resurrection — ancient precedent for modern skepticism); Universal Human Accountability and the Call to Repent (17:30-31, “now he commands everyone everywhere to repent”).
Acts 18 — Repentance and Baptism (18:8, 25, Apollos and “the baptism of John,” Luke’s own distinction between two non-equivalent baptisms); The Great Commission Fulfilled (18:5, 28, proclamation of the Messiah). [Reviewed — remainder of chapter is travel-narrative continuation, no additional new doctrinal content.]
Acts 19 — Holy Spirit and Pentecost / Tongues and Spiritual Gifts (19:1-6, Ephesus); Repentance and Baptism (19:1-5, John’s baptism distinguished again); Occult Power versus Divine Power (19:11-19, the sons of Sceva; burned scrolls); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (19:11-12); Idolatry and the Living God and Persecution and Bold Witness (19:23-41, the riot over Artemis).
Acts 20 — Church Governance and Leadership (20:17, 28, elders/overseers/shepherds used interchangeably — the doctrine’s defining text); Providence and God’s Sovereign Plan (20:27, “the whole counsel of God”); Christian Fellowship (20:7, 11, breaking of bread); Mutual Edification (20:1-2); The Church as Community (20:28, “purchased with his own blood”).
Acts 21 — Inspiration of Scripture and Fulfillment of Prophecy (21:9-11, Agabus, Acts’ clearest specific, fulfilled predictive prophecy); Civil and Religious Authority (21:20-24, Paul and the law); Persecution and Bold Witness (21:27-36, Paul’s arrest).
Acts 22 — Conversion of Paul (22:1-21, the second retelling); Civil and Religious Authority (22:22-29, Roman citizenship and due process). [Reviewed — largely continuation of chapter 9’s and chapter 26’s doctrinal content, no new risk category introduced.]
Acts 23 — Civil and Religious Authority (23:1-10, the Pharisee/Sadducee dispute); Resurrection of Christ (23:6-8, the Sadducees’ denial — ancient precedent for modern skepticism); Providence and God’s Sovereign Plan (23:11, the Lord’s assurance to Paul); Persecution and Bold Witness (23:12-35, the plot against Paul).
Acts 24 — Civil and Religious Authority (24:1-27, trial before Felix); Righteousness (24:25, Paul reasoning of “righteousness, self-control, and judgment to come” — baseline term, Acts-specific forensic-and-ethical double use); Resurrection of Christ (24:15, 21). [Reviewed — otherwise continuation of the civil-authority narrative.]
Acts 25 — Civil and Religious Authority (25:1-12, trial before Festus, appeal to Caesar). [Reviewed — continuation of chapters 23-24’s doctrine; no new doctrinal category or term introduced.]
Acts 26 — Conversion of Paul (26:9-23, the third and fullest retelling); Obedience of Faith (“not disobedient to the heavenly vision,” 26:19); Occult Power versus Divine Power / the reality of Satan (“turn from darkness to light… from the power of Satan,” 26:18); Resurrection of Christ and Messianic Promise (26:23); The Church as Community (26:28, “Christian” used a second time, now by an outsider, Agrippa).
Acts 27 — Providence and God’s Sovereign Plan (27:22-25, the angel’s assurance amid the storm — God’s purposive care, not “everything happens for a reason”); Angelic Ministry (27:23); Thanksgiving (27:35). [Reviewed — shipwreck narrative; no new doctrinal category beyond providence and thanksgiving, both already documented.]
Acts 28 — The Great Commission Fulfilled and Kingdom Mission (28:23, 30-31, “preaching the kingdom of God… quite openly and unhindered” — the book’s closing thesis-bracket, matching 1:8); The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (28:28, “this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles”); Thanksgiving (28:15).
Section C — Cross-Reference Notes
- This matrix intentionally reuses, rather than re-derives, all risk tiers and review routing from
assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json. Any future Phase 2 routing decision should cite that file as the system of record; this document is the narrative/chapter-mapping companion required by Step 4. - Baseline Romans doctrines not restated as separate rows here (e.g. Grace, Salvation, Faith, Adoption, Spiritual Gifts as a general category, Peace with God) remain governed by the baseline
doctrine_risk_registry.jsonandtranslation_memory.json; Acts occurrences of these terms are catalogued in08_core_glossary.mdSection 1 and are not duplicated in this matrix except where Acts creates a new doctrinal flashpoint (e.g. Church Governance and Leadership, Household Baptism under Repentance and Baptism). - Full-book coverage confirmed: all 28 chapters of Acts are represented in Section B above, with continuation-only chapters explicitly marked rather than silently skipped, per the PRD Phase 1 mandate.
Critical Risk Doctrines
The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
English name: the Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Key terms: Holy Spirit, Pentecost, filled with the Holy Spirit, tongues, gift of God
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: the modern ‘Pentecostal’ movement has annexed ‘Pentecost’ itself as a denominational brand name, and ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’/‘baptism in the Spirit’ sits at the center of a live, unresolved contest between Pentecostal/charismatic (subsequent, distinct experience) and Reformed/covenantal (repeated empowerment of the already-indwelt believer at conversion) readings. This curriculum must state its own reading explicitly rather than assume English-speaking readers already agree, and must anchor ‘Pentecost’ to its Old Testament Feast-of-Weeks background before any denominational application is introduced.
Tongues and Spiritual Gifts
English name: tongues and spiritual gifts
Key terms: tongues, spiritual gifts, prophesy
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: the most denominationally contested phenomenon in Acts — cessationist traditions hold this gift ceased with the apostolic age, continuationist/Pentecostal-charismatic traditions hold it continues today (often as a private prayer-language distinct from Acts 2’s known languages), and popular media associates ‘speaking in tongues’ with televised revival spectacle, prejudicing readers before the text is read. Must state plainly that Acts 2’s tongues were understood, known human languages, while noting without adjudicating the live cross-denominational disagreement over the relationship to 1 Corinthians 12-14.
The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
English name: the gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Key terms: Gentiles, no other name, circumcision, unclean / common, God-fearer, a light to the Gentiles
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: this doctrine’s central term, ‘no other name’ (4:12), is a direct flashpoint with contemporary religious pluralism and popular ‘many paths to God’ spirituality; equally, ‘circumcision’ has been almost entirely captured in ordinary English by a religiously-neutral modern medical/hygiene sense, stripping out the covenantal, works-of-the-law stakes of the first-century controversy Acts 15 resolves. Both the exclusivity claim and the historical controversy must be actively, explicitly reconstructed rather than assumed understood by cultural analogy.
Repentance and Baptism
English name: repentance and baptism
Key terms: repentance, baptism, household (baptism), baptism of John, forgiveness of sins, gift of God
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: ‘baptism’ is the single most denominationally contested practice-term in this curriculum — English-speaking Christian traditions divide sharply on mode (immersion vs. sprinkling/pouring), subjects (believers only vs. entire households, cf. Acts 16), and theological effect (symbolic ordinance vs. means of grace conferring regeneration/forgiveness). ‘Repentance’ itself suffers obsolescence-plus-dilution, surviving mainly as fire-and-brimstone caricature or reduced to mere ‘regret/apologize.’ This curriculum must state its own reading of the baptism-repentance-forgiveness link (Acts 2:38) explicitly and note, respectfully, the range of other English-speaking Christian readings.
The Church as Community
English name: the church as community
Key terms: church, fellowship, breaking of bread, holding all things in common, saints, disciple, Christian
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: in the contemporary post-Christian West, ‘church’ increasingly carries negative or purely institutional connotations (declining attendance, clergy-abuse scandals, a growing religiously-unaffiliated population), and ‘Christian’ itself has been diluted into a loose cultural, ethnic, or political identity marker detached from committed discipleship. ‘Breaking of bread’ and ‘holding all things in common’ are further live sites of denominational and ideological misreading (sacrament-vs.-ordinary-meal debates; anachronistic socialist/communist framing). This doctrine’s living, relational, Spirit-filled, costly-identity sense must be actively restored across all these terms.
Church Governance and Leadership
English name: church governance and leadership
Key terms: elders / overseers / shepherds, deacon, laying on of hands, apostle
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Acts 20:17, 28 uses ‘elder,’ ‘overseer’ (source of English ‘bishop’), and ‘shepherd’ (source of English ‘pastor’) interchangeably of one office, yet English-speaking Christian traditions have since developed sharply divergent, mutually exclusive governance structures from this same text (episcopal polities with a distinct higher ‘bishop’ office vs. presbyterian/congregational polities with no such separate rank). The English word ‘bishop’ now carries strong institutional/hierarchical connotations that can actively mislead readers of traditions using ‘elder’ or ‘pastor’ language, and vice versa; similarly, whether Acts 6’s ‘the Seven’ establishes a formal ordained ‘deacon’ office is genuinely disputed. This curriculum must state its own reading and transparently note the range of later denominational developments.
Conversion of Paul
English name: the conversion of Paul
Key terms: chosen instrument, Why do you persecute me?, not disobedient to the heavenly vision, turn from darkness to light
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Paul’s conversion is Acts’ paradigm case of the doctrine of election, rendered as ‘chosen instrument/vessel of election’ (9:15) — a phrase that mitigates but does not eliminate the near-total political-voting capture of ‘election’ in ordinary English. Separately, 26:18’s ‘power of Satan’ language risks being reduced by post-Christian secular culture to a cartoonish, folkloric devil-figure rather than the real personal spiritual bondage and deliverance the text asserts; both risks require active, explicit correction.
Effectual Calling and Election
English name: effectual calling and election
Key terms: called, calling, election, chosen instrument, granted repentance
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: ‘election,’ the key term for this doctrine, has been almost totally captured by its political-voting sense in contemporary English; Acts 9:15’s ‘vessel of election’ softens but does not remove this false-friend risk. Acts 11:18’s ‘God has granted repentance’ additionally raises the live grace/works synergism-vs.-monergism denominational contest already flagged under the baseline grace entry — if repentance itself is a divine gift, this bears directly on free-will debates that this curriculum should name rather than assume settled.
Justification apart from the Law
English name: justification apart from the law
Key terms: justification, law, circumcision, grace, yoke, apostolic decree
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Acts 13:39’s ‘everyone who believes is justified… a justification the law of Moses could never give’ is Acts’ single clearest narrative statement of this doctrine, and ‘justification’ remains the single most severely false-friend-prone word in this entire curriculum (ordinary English ‘to justify’ means to give a reason or excuse for an action already taken). The Jerusalem Council’s resolution of the circumcision controversy (ch.15) is the New Testament’s central narrative test case; ‘circumcision’ itself has been almost entirely captured by a religiously-neutral modern medical sense, requiring the ancient controversy’s stakes to be explicitly reconstructed.
Lordship of Christ
English name: lordship of Christ
Key terms: Lord, Messiah, Jesus
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: ‘Lord’ has nearly disappeared from ordinary spoken English outside this specific religious usage; Acts 2:36’s climactic declaration that God has made Jesus ‘both Lord and Messiah’ is this curriculum’s parallel confession-verse to Romans 10:9 and risks landing with almost no emotional or volitional force unless this curriculum actively restores its weight of total, exclusive, personal allegiance.
Resurrection of Christ
English name: resurrection of Christ
Key terms: resurrection, ascension, Sadducee
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: contemporary post-Christian Western culture broadly treats the resurrection as metaphor or myth; Acts itself narrates vivid ancient precedent for this exact skepticism (the Athenian mockery of 17:32 and the Sadducees’ outright denial of 23:6-8), which should be named explicitly as encouragement that such skepticism is neither new nor a reason to soften the historical, bodily claim. The ascension (1:9-11) carries a parallel risk of being read as pre-modern cosmology rather than historical claim.
Providence and God’s Sovereign Plan
English name: providence and God’s sovereign plan
Key terms: providence, the whole counsel of God
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: ‘providence’ is a rare, archaic-sounding word in ordinary English, easily displaced by the popular secular substitute ‘everything happens for a reason,’ which implies an impersonal cosmic balancing mechanism rather than the personal, purposive God of Acts. Acts 2:23’s ‘predetermined plan and foreknowledge’ holds together God’s sovereign decree and human culpability (‘you…killed him’) without contradiction — a live compatibilism/human-responsibility tension that should be named explicitly, not smoothed over.
Universal Human Accountability and the Call to Repent
English name: universal human accountability and the call to repent
Key terms: sin, repentance, times of ignorance, forgiveness of sins
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: contemporary therapeutic culture and a strong norm of non-judgmentalism are broadly resistant to guilt-based moral language of any kind, and ‘repent’ itself survives mainly as fire-and-brimstone street-preacher caricature or is reduced to mere ‘regret/apologize.’ Acts 17:30’s universal command — ‘now he commands everyone everywhere to repent’ — must not be softened into moral relativism regarding the preceding ‘times of ignorance,’ which describes a now-ended season of divine forbearance, not tacit approval of other beliefs.
High Risk Doctrines
Apostolic Authority and Miracles
English name: apostolic authority and miracles
Key terms: apostle, signs and wonders, power of God, sorcery, gift of God
Review routing: Human theologian
Post-Enlightenment secular skepticism defaults to legend, exaggeration, or psychosomatic explanations for any reported miracle, and Acts’ own sharp contrast between genuine apostolic power and occult ‘sorcery’ (Simon Magus, Elymas) can be flattened by modern entertainment-coded ‘magic’ (stage illusion, fantasy fiction) into harmless spectacle rather than a serious contest between true divine power and real spiritual counterfeit. The historical claim should be stated plainly, not hedged as metaphor.
Persecution and Bold Witness
English name: persecution and bold witness
Key terms: witness, boldness, stoning, the Sanhedrin, the Way
Review routing: Human theologian
Contemporary English flattens ‘witness’ to a neutral courtroom-procedural or true-crime-media ‘eyewitness account’ sense, stripping out the costly, Spirit-empowered, often life-risking testimony that gives English the word ‘martyr.’ ‘Boldness’ risks being read as a natural personality trait rather than a Spirit-given gift granted specifically under threat. This organizing term of the whole book (Acts 1:8) must be actively restored to its full weight.
The Great Commission Fulfilled
English name: the Great Commission fulfilled
Key terms: mission, witness, kingdom of God, preaching the kingdom unhindered, the word of God grew
Review routing: Human theologian
Contemporary English speakers most often encounter ‘mission’ in corporate branding (‘our mission statement’), a secularized strategic-goal sense quite different from Acts’ specific sense of gospel proclamation to the unreached, extending from Jerusalem to Rome. Acts’ own literary bracket (1:8…28:31) frames this doctrine as the book’s overarching structural thesis and should be rendered with matching weight and consistency to Romans 1:16-17’s role in that curriculum.
Deity of Christ
English name: deity of Christ
Key terms: Son of Man, the Holy and Righteous One, Lord, glory
Review routing: Human theologian
Popular post-Christian ‘historical Jesus’ narratives widely present Jesus as merely a wise moral teacher, quietly denying his deity even while retaining reverent language about him. Acts 7:56’s ‘Son of Man’ title, drawn from Daniel 7’s divine-authority/judge figure, is easily misread by contemporary readers as simply emphasizing Jesus’ humanity, the opposite of its intended force; this common secular reduction and this specific misreading should both be directly named and addressed.
Inspiration of Scripture and Fulfillment of Prophecy
English name: inspiration of Scripture and fulfillment of prophecy
Key terms: prophet, prophecy, signs and wonders
Review routing: Human theologian
Contemporary secular and academic culture widely treats the Bible as a purely human, historically-conditioned literary artifact, and the secular idiom ‘a self-fulfilling prophecy’ is unrelated to, and could be confused alongside, the God-inspired predictive prophecy Agabus (21:10-11) exemplifies with unusual narrative specificity and verified fulfillment. This live debate should be engaged directly, not assumed settled.
Civil and Religious Authority
English name: civil and religious authority
Key terms: we must obey God rather than men, the Sanhedrin, Pharisee, Sadducee
Review routing: Human theologian
Acts 5:29’s precedent-setting statement must be read carefully alongside Romans 13:1-7’s general call to submit to governing authorities to avoid a simplistic ‘always resist authority’ misreading; the principle is narrow (obey God when authorities command what God forbids), not a blanket civil-disobedience license. ‘Pharisee’ also carries a strong contemporary pejorative connotation (a synonym for legalistic hypocrisy) that obscures the historically important, partly correct convictions — including bodily resurrection — that Paul himself, a former Pharisee, continued to affirm.
Sainthood (Called to be Holy)
English name: sainthood
Key terms: saints, holy
Review routing: Human theologian
Real denominational contest: Catholic and Orthodox usage reserves ‘saint’ for a formally canonized figure, while Acts uses it consistently and corporately for every ordinary believer; this should be stated explicitly given the word’s split usage across the wider English-speaking Christian world, extending the identical baseline sainthood doctrine into Acts’ narrative usage.
Medium Risk Doctrines
Sonship of Christ
English name: sonship of Christ
Key terms: Son of God
Review routing: Native speaker review
Comparatively stable phrase, though present at fewer structurally central moments in Acts than in Romans; the eternal, unique, divine sense must still be actively taught rather than assumed retained by cultural familiarity with the phrase.
Davidic Covenant
English name: Davidic covenant
Key terms: David, seed of David, covenant
Review routing: Native speaker review
Most readers’ independent knowledge of David likely comes from the David-and-Goliath narrative alone; the specific covenant promise behind Peter’s (2:25-31) and Paul’s (13:22-23) sermons should be supplied, not assumed known. ‘Covenant’ itself is dominated in ordinary English by a real-estate/contract-law sense (‘restrictive covenant’), crowding out the relational, promissory sense intended here.
Messianic Promise
English name: messianic promise
Key terms: Messiah, a light to the Gentiles
Review routing: Native speaker review
‘A messiah complex’ is a common mild pop-psychology pejorative for grandiosity; Acts 2:36’s climactic ‘both Lord and Messiah’ confession and 13:47’s ‘light to the Gentiles’ should restate the term’s specific, positive, Jewish-messianic-fulfillment sense rather than assume it unaffected by this negative pop-culture association.
Idolatry and the Living God
English name: idolatry and the living God
Key terms: idols, the living God, an unknown god
Review routing: Native speaker review
Strong false-friend drift: the dominant contemporary English sense of ‘idol’ is a celebrity or greatly admired public figure (‘a pop idol,’ a television talent-show franchise), carrying no worship content at all; the biblical sense of an object or being wrongly given the worship due to God alone must be actively restored. Paul’s Athens approach (17:23) also risks being over-generalized into an endorsement of pluralistic natural theology contrary to the passage’s own call to exclusive repentance.
Unity of Jews and Gentiles
English name: unity of Jews and Gentiles
Key terms: Gentiles, Israel, God shows no partiality, Hellenist
Review routing: Native speaker review
Contemporary post-Holocaust theological caution about supersessionism means this doctrine should be presented with care and precision, consistent with the book’s own insistence on God’s continuing engagement with Israel even as the gospel opens fully to the Gentiles. ‘God shows no partiality’ resonates positively with contemporary equality discourse (a genuine asset) but risks being read as generic modern egalitarianism divorced from its specific covenantal, Christ-centered basis.
Angelic Ministry
English name: angelic ministry
Key terms: angel
Review routing: Native speaker review
Contemporary ‘spiritual but not religious’ and greeting-card/pop-culture ‘guardian angel’ imagery (cute cherubs, deceased loved ones ‘becoming angels,’ angel-card divination) significantly dilutes the biblical sense of a real, powerful, obedient created spiritual being sent on a specific divine errand; this should be actively restored rather than assumed retained by loose cultural familiarity.
Occult Power versus Divine Power
English name: occult power versus divine power
Key terms: sorcery, spirit of divination, gift of God
Review routing: Native speaker review
Contemporary secular culture treats ‘magic,’ fortune-telling, and divination as either harmless entertainment (stage illusion, fantasy fiction) or a benign alternative-spirituality consumer product (astrology, tarot, psychic hotlines); Acts’ serious framing of these as real, oppressive occult power requiring exposure and deliverance, contrasted sharply with the freely given, non-transactional power of God, should be actively restored rather than flattened into entertainment.
Christian Fellowship
English name: Christian fellowship
Key terms: fellowship, breaking of bread, holding all things in common
Review routing: Native speaker review
In contemporary English, ‘a fellowship’ is more likely encountered as an academic or professional grant/appointment than as shared Christian communal life; Acts 2:42-47 gives this doctrine its most concrete narrative content anywhere in the New Testament, and ‘breaking of bread’ additionally carries live denominational contest over whether a formal sacrament or an ordinary shared meal is meant.
Kingdom Mission
English name: kingdom mission
Key terms: kingdom of God, preaching the kingdom unhindered
Review routing: Native speaker review
For readers whose primary cultural exposure to ‘kingdoms’ is fantasy fiction, film, and games, ‘kingdom’ may evoke an imagined fictional realm rather than God’s actual present-and-coming sovereign reign; Acts’ literary bracket (1:3, 6…28:23, 31) frames the whole book around this doctrine’s real, historical, ongoing nature.
Prayer and Intercession
English name: prayer and intercession
Key terms: intercession, fear (of God)
Review routing: Native speaker review
‘Intercession’ is a relatively rare, formal word in ordinary contemporary speech (obsolescence risk); the Jerusalem church’s corporate, persistent prayer for Peter’s release (12:5, 12) is Acts’ clearest intercession narrative and a mild asset for this doctrine since the surviving idiom ‘intercessory prayer’ has no strong competing secular meaning.
Low Risk Doctrines
Thanksgiving
English name: thanksgiving
Key terms: thanksgiving
Review routing: Automated review
Minor risk, as in the baseline: the capitalized national holiday ‘Thanksgiving’ could crowd out the general theological sense of giving thanks to God; context in these travel-narrative passages usually disambiguates.
Mutual Edification
English name: mutual edification
Key terms: exhort
Review routing: Automated review
‘Exhort/exhortation’ is rare and slightly archaic in ordinary speech (obsolescence risk) but has no significant competing meaning; frequently used in Acts of apostolic encouragement to persevere amid persecution, sharpening the baseline’s general sense with Acts’ specific suffering-context.
Referenced passages