Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Acts (English → english)
This glossary catalogs every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, spanning Acts 1-28. Per the baseline Romans Language Package’s structural note, English is both source and destination language; “rendering risk” below documents drift within English itself — false-friend drift, denominational contest, or post-Christian obsolescence/erosion — not cross-language translation loss.
Reuse rule: any term already defined in the baseline translation_memory.json/bible_term_registry.json is marked [BASELINE REUSE] and its recorded rendering, risk tier, and core notes are carried over unchanged; only Acts-specific contextual notes are added.
Section 1 — Baseline Terms Reused from the Romans Language Package
| Term | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Risk (baseline) | Acts Occurrences / Doctrine Link | Acts-Specific Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| grace | χάρις | charis | Critical | Acts 4:33; 11:23; 13:43; 14:3, 26; 15:11, 40; 18:27; 20:24, 32 — Justification apart from the Law | 15:11 (“saved through grace”) is Acts’ clearest thesis-parallel to Romans; 4:33’s “great grace” also carries a general-favor sense (v.47) requiring disambiguation. |
| faith | πίστις | pistis | High | Acts 3:16; 6:5, 7; 11:24; 13:8; 14:9, 22, 27; 15:9; 16:5; 20:21; 26:18 — Justification apart from the Law; Conversion of Paul | Consistently paired with repentance in Acts’ summary formula (“repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus,” 20:21). |
| righteousness | δικαιοσύνη | dikaiosynē | Critical | Acts 3:14 (“the Righteous One”); 13:10; 17:31; 24:25 — Justification apart from the Law | Also used as a Christological title (“the Holy and Righteous One,” 3:14), a compound usage not present in Romans; see ch.3 analysis. |
| justification | δικαίωσις / δικαιοῦται | dikaiōsis / dikaioutai | Critical | Acts 13:39 — Justification apart from the Law | Acts’ single clearest narrative statement of this Critical baseline doctrine (“everyone who believes is justified”); cross-reference Romans 3:20-28 for full-curriculum consistency. |
| salvation | σωτηρία / σῴζω | sōtēria / sōzō | Critical | Acts 2:21, 40, 47; 4:12; 11:14; 13:26, 47; 15:11; 16:17, 30-31 — pervasive | Acts 4:12’s “no other name” makes salvation’s exclusivity explicit in a way Romans assumes but does not state as bluntly. |
| apostle | ἀπόστολος | apostolos | Medium | Acts 1:2, 25-26; 2:42-43; 4:33, 36; 5:12, 18; 8:1, 14; 9:27; 11:1; 14:4, 14; 15:2, 4, 6, 22-23; 16:4 — Apostolic Authority and Miracles | Acts 1:21-22 defines the office’s non-repeatable qualification (eyewitness of the risen Christ) more explicitly than any other New Testament text. |
| called / calling | κλητός / κλῆσις | klētos / klēsis | High | Acts 2:39 — Divine Calling; Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | Acts 2:39 extends calling explicitly to Gentiles (“all who are far off”), anticipating the Cornelius narrative. |
| holy | ἅγιος | hagios | Medium/High | Acts 3:14, 21; 6:13; 7:33; 21:28 — Sanctification | Frequently paired with righteous as a compound Christological title in Acts, an emphasis not present in Romans. |
| saints | ἅγιοι | hagioi | High | Acts 9:13, 32, 41; 26:10 — Sainthood | Consistently corporate/plural in Acts, reinforcing the baseline’s caution against a “canonized elite” misreading. |
| sanctification / set apart | ἁγιασμός / ἀφορίζω | hagiasmos / aphorizō | Medium | Acts 13:2; 20:32 — Sanctification | Acts 13:2’s commissioning “set apart” language extends the concept to vocational commissioning, not only moral purification. |
| resurrection | ἀνάστασις | anastasis | Critical | Acts 1:22; 2:24-32; 4:2, 33; 17:18, 31-32; 23:6, 8; 24:15, 21; 26:23 — Resurrection of Christ; pervasive apologetic theme | Resurrection-mockery (17:32) and Sadducee denial (23:8) give Acts vivid ancient precedents for the exact modern skepticism the baseline flags. |
| lord | Κύριος | Kyrios | Critical | Acts 2:21, 34-36; 9:5; 10:36; 11:17; 16:31; 22:8 — Lordship of Christ | Acts 2:36 is this curriculum’s parallel confession-verse to Romans 10:9. |
| son of God | υἱὸς θεοῦ | huios theou | Medium | Acts 9:20; 13:33 — Sonship of Christ | Less prominent than in Romans but present at key turning points (Saul’s first preaching, 9:20). |
| incarnation | (theological category; cf. flesh, seed of David) | — | Medium | Acts 2:30; 13:23 — Incarnation | Applied through David-covenant language rather than an explicit incarnation formula. |
| peace | εἰρήνη | eirēnē | Medium | Acts 9:31; 10:36; 15:33 — Peace with God | 10:36’s “preaching peace through Jesus Christ” directly parallels Romans 5:1’s judicial peace sense. |
| spiritual gifts | χαρίσματα (implied; cf. πνευματικά) | charismata | Medium | Acts 2:4, 17-18; 19:6 — Spiritual Gifts; Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Acts emphasizes prophecy and tongues specifically as the Spirit’s gifts poured out, more concretely narrated than Romans 12’s list. |
| thanksgiving | εὐχαριστία | eucharistia | Low | Acts 27:35; 28:15 — Thanksgiving | Minor but present in travel-narrative contexts; low risk as in baseline. |
| fellowship | κοινωνία | koinōnia | Medium | Acts 2:42 — Christian Fellowship | Acts 2:42-47 gives this term its most concrete, communal-practice content anywhere in the New Testament. |
| church | ἐκκλησία | ekklēsia | Critical | Acts 2:47; 5:11; 8:1, 3; 9:31; 11:22, 26; 12:1, 5; 13:1; 14:23, 27; 15:3-4, 22, 41; 16:5; 20:17, 28 — Church as God’s People | Acts narrates the church’s actual historical founding and growth, making it the primary narrative anchor for this Critical baseline doctrine. |
| kingdom of God | βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ | basileia tou theou | Medium | Acts 1:3, 6; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31 — Kingdom Mission | Frames both the book’s opening (1:3, 6) and closing (28:31) verses — a deliberate literary bracket. |
| law | νόμος | nomos | High | Acts 13:39; 15:5, 24; 21:20-24; 22:3, 12; 23:29; 25:8 — Justification apart from the Law | The Jerusalem Council (ch.15) is the New Testament’s central narrative treatment of law’s relationship to Gentile salvation. |
| sin | ἁμαρτία | hamartia | High | Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18 — Universal Human Accountability | Consistently paired with forgiveness and repentance in Acts’ evangelistic summaries. |
| Gentiles | ἔθνη | ethnē | Medium | Acts 9:15; 10:45; 11:1, 18; 13:46-48; 14:27; 15:3, 7, 12, 14, 19; 18:6; 21:19, 25; 22:21; 26:17, 20, 23; 28:28 — Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | The single most structurally important term in Acts 10-15; the book’s central narrative arc traces the gospel’s movement from “Jews only” to explicit Gentile inclusion. |
| glory | δόξα | doxa | Medium | Acts 7:2, 55; 12:23; 22:11 — Deity of Christ | Herod’s death “because he did not give God the glory” (12:23) is a vivid narrative warning largely absent from Romans’ more discursive treatment. |
| obedience of faith | (conceptually; cf. 26:19 “not disobedient”) | — | High | Acts 5:29; 26:19 — Conversion of Paul | Reframed narratively rather than as a fixed phrase; see ch.26 analysis. |
| power of God | δύναμις θεοῦ | dynamis theou | Medium | Acts 1:8; 3:12; 4:7, 33; 6:8; 8:10, 13, 19; 10:38 — Apostolic Authority and Miracles | Consistently distinguished in Acts from occult “power” (Simon Magus, Elymas), sharpening the baseline’s power-vs.-abuse-of-power contrast into an explicit true-power-vs.-occult-power contrast. |
| messiah / christ | Χριστός | Christos | Medium | Acts 2:31, 36; 3:18, 20; 5:42; 8:5; 9:22; 17:3; 18:5, 28; 26:23 — Messianic Promise | Acts 2:36’s “both Lord and Messiah” is the book’s climactic titular confession. |
| prophet | προφήτης | prophētēs | Low | Acts 2:16, 30; 3:18, 21-25; 7:37, 42, 48, 52; 13:1, 20, 40; 15:32; 21:10; 28:23 — Inspiration of Scripture | Also used of the ongoing New Testament prophetic gift (13:1; 15:32; 21:10), broadening the baseline’s mainly Old-Testament-prophet frame. |
| prophecy | προφητεία | prophēteia | Low | Acts 2:17-18; 19:6; 21:9-11 — Fulfillment of Prophecy; Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Agabus (21:10-11) provides Acts’ clearest example of specific, fulfilled predictive prophecy. |
| covenant | διαθήκη | diathēkē | High | Acts 3:25; 7:8 — Davidic/Abrahamic Covenant | Less prominent than in Romans but foundational to Peter’s and Stephen’s speeches’ Old Testament argument. |
| election | ἐκλογή (cf. σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς, 9:15) | eklogē | Critical | Acts 9:15 — Effectual Calling; Conversion of Paul | Rendered as “chosen instrument/vessel” in Acts 9:15, which somewhat mitigates but does not eliminate the political-vote false-friend risk documented in the baseline. |
| intercession | (conceptually; cf. prayer, 12:5) | — | Medium | Acts 12:5, 12 — Prayer and Intercession | The Jerusalem church’s corporate prayer for Peter’s release is Acts’ clearest intercession narrative. |
| providence | (conceptually; cf. βουλή, 2:23; 20:27) | boulē | Critical | Acts 2:23; 4:28; 13:36; 20:27; 27:22-25 — Providence | The “predetermined plan and foreknowledge” phrase (2:23) is Acts’ most explicit providence statement, directly relevant to the cross’s meaning. |
| mission | ἀποστολή / πέμπω / ἀποστέλλω | apostolē / pempō / apostellō | Medium | Acts 1:8; 13:2-4; 22:21 — Mission to the Nations; Great Commission Fulfilled | Acts is the New Testament’s primary narrative of mission-in-action, giving this term its fullest illustrative content. |
| David | Δαυίδ | Dauid | Low | Acts 1:16; 2:25-31, 34; 4:25; 7:45; 13:22, 34, 36; 15:16 — Davidic Covenant | Frequently cited in apostolic sermons as prophetic warrant for the resurrection and messianic claims. |
| Israel | Ἰσραήλ | Israēl | Medium | Acts 1:6; 2:36; 3:12; 4:10, 27; 5:21, 31; 7:23, 37, 42; 9:15; 10:36; 13:17, 23-24; 21:28; 28:20 — Unity of Jews and Gentiles | Acts 1:6’s opening question about restoring Israel’s kingdom is redirected by Jesus toward global witness — a key corrective against nationalist misreadings. |
| Jesus | Ἰησοῦς | Iēsous | Critical | Pervasive throughout Acts | No new risk beyond baseline; “in the name of Jesus” formula recurs as the distinguishing mark of apostolic authority throughout. |
| God | θεός | theos | Critical | Pervasive throughout Acts | No new risk beyond baseline. |
| Holy Spirit | πνεῦμα ἅγιον | pneuma hagion | Critical | Pervasive; especially Acts 1:8; 2:1-4, 17-18, 33, 38; 4:8, 31; 5:3, 9, 32; 6:3, 5; 7:55; 8:15-19, 29, 39; 9:17, 31; 10:19, 38, 44-47; 11:12, 15-16, 24, 28; 13:2, 4, 9, 52; 15:8, 28; 16:6-7; 19:1-6; 20:23, 28; 21:11 — Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Acts is by far the single most Spirit-saturated book in the New Testament; see the extensive Critical/High entries under “filled with the Spirit,” “baptism of/in the Spirit,” and “tongues” in Section 2 below, which extend rather than duplicate this baseline entry. |
| Father | πατήρ | patēr | Medium | Acts 1:4, 7; 2:33 — Adoption into God’s Family | Less developed than in Romans 8; primarily used of the Father’s role in sending/promising the Spirit. |
| Abba | (not occurring in Acts) | — | — | Not present in Acts | No Acts-specific note required; retained here only to confirm the baseline entry is not contradicted by its absence. |
| exhort | παρακαλέω | parakaleō | Low | Acts 2:40; 11:23; 14:22; 15:32; 16:40; 20:1-2 — Mutual Edification | Frequently used of apostolic encouragement to persevere amid persecution, sharpening the baseline’s general sense with Acts’ specific suffering-context. |
| seed of David | σπέρμα Δαυίδ (cf. 13:23, “from this man’s descendants”) | sperma Dauid | Medium | Acts 2:30; 13:23 — Davidic Covenant | Reuses baseline entry exactly; also cross-references Romans 1:3. |
| imputed righteousness | ἐλογίσθη…εἰς δικαιοσύνην (conceptually; cf. 13:39) | — | Critical | Acts 13:39 — Justification apart from the Law | Acts itself does not use the Genesis 15:6/Romans 4 “credited” language directly, but 13:39’s justification statement rests on the identical doctrine; cross-reference required for full-curriculum coherence. |
Section 2 — New Terms Introduced in Acts
| Term | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Literal Meaning | Doctrinal Category | Risk Tier | Primary Passages | Rendering Risk Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pentecost | πεντηκοστή | pentēkostē | ”fiftieth [day]“ | Holy Spirit and Pentecost | High | Acts 2:1 | Denominational capture by the modern “Pentecostal” movement name risks narrowing the term to one tradition’s brand rather than the original Jewish Feast of Weeks Luke assumes as background. |
| filled with the Holy Spirit | ἐπλήσθησαν πνεύματος ἁγίου | eplēsthēsan pneumatos hagiou | ”were filled with the Holy Spirit” | Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Critical | Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17; 13:9 | Center of the Pentecostal/charismatic “subsequent distinct experience” vs. Reformed/covenantal “repeated empowerment of the already-indwelt” denominational contest; this curriculum must state its own reading. |
| tongues (languages / glossolalia) | γλῶσσαι | glōssai | ”tongues” | Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Critical | Acts 2:4-11; 10:46; 19:6 | The most denominationally contested term in Acts: cessationist vs. continuationist disagreement, plus popular-media prejudicial associations; Acts 2 itself specifies known human languages, which should be stated plainly before any 1 Corinthians cross-reference is introduced. |
| baptism / baptize | βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω | baptisma / baptizō | ”immersion, dipping” | Repentance and Baptism | Critical | Acts 2:38, 41; 8:12, 36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 19:1-5 | The single most denominationally contested practice-term in this curriculum: mode, subjects (individual vs. household), and theological effect (symbolic ordinance vs. means of grace) are all genuinely disputed across English-speaking Christian traditions; state this curriculum’s reading and note the range of views transparently. |
| repentance / repent | μετάνοια / μετανοέω | metanoia / metanoeō | ”change of mind/direction” | Repentance and Baptism | High | Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 11:18; 17:30; 20:21; 26:20 | Obsolescence combined with dilution: survives mainly as street-preacher caricature or is reduced to mere “regret/apologize” in casual usage; the full sense of Spirit-enabled reorientation of mind, will, and behavior must be actively restored. |
| witness(es) | μάρτυς / μαρτυρέω | martys / martyreō | ”witness, testifier” | Persecution and Bold Witness; Great Commission Fulfilled | High | Acts 1:8, 22; 2:32; 3:15; 4:33; 5:32; 10:39, 41; 13:31; 22:15; 26:16 | Contemporary English flattens this to neutral courtroom-procedural or true-crime “eyewitness” sense, losing the New Testament’s costly, Spirit-empowered, often life-risking testimony sense (the root of English “martyr”). |
| boldness | παρρησία | parrēsia | ”frankness/freedom of speech” | Persecution and Bold Witness | Medium | Acts 4:13, 29, 31; 9:27-28; 13:46; 14:3; 18:26; 19:8; 28:31 | Risk of being read as a natural personality trait rather than a Spirit-given gift granted specifically in response to prayer under threat. |
| signs and wonders / miracles | σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα / δυνάμεις | sēmeia kai terata / dynameis | ”signs and portents / powers” | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | Medium-High | Acts 2:19, 22, 43; 4:16, 22, 30; 5:12; 6:8; 8:6, 13; 14:3; 15:12; 19:11 | Post-Enlightenment secular skepticism defaults to legend/exaggeration explanations for reported miracles; state the historical claim plainly. |
| the Council / Sanhedrin | συνέδριον | synedrion | ”assembly, council” | Persecution and Bold Witness; Apostolic Authority | Low | Acts 4:15; 5:21, 27, 34, 41; 6:12, 15; 22:30; 23:1, 6, 15, 20, 28; 24:20 | Proper institutional noun; risk is a cultural-literacy gap (its combined religious-civil authority), not a false-friend. |
| no other name | οὐδὲ…ἐν ἄλλῳ οὐδενί | oude…en allō oudeni | — | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles; Justification apart from the Law | High | Acts 4:12 | Live flashpoint with contemporary religious pluralism; must be preserved plainly, not softened into “one path among many.” |
| fear (of God/reverential awe) | φόβος | phobos | ”fear, awe” | The Church as Community | Medium | Acts 5:5, 11; 9:31; 19:17 | Therapeutic culture treats “fear” almost exclusively negatively, obscuring the positive sense of reverential awe before a holy God. |
| breaking of bread | κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου | klasis tou artou | ”breaking of the loaf” | The Church as Community | High | Acts 2:42, 46; 20:7, 11 | Significant denominational contest over whether this names a formal sacrament (Eucharist/Mass) or ordinary shared meals; note the range of readings. |
| holding all things in common | ἅπαντα κοινά | hapanta koina | ”all things common” | The Church as Community | Medium | Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35 | Risk of anachronistic modern political-economic (socialist/communist) framing onto a voluntary, temporary, localized practice. |
| the Holy and Righteous One | τὸν ἅγιον καὶ δίκαιον | ton hagion kai dikaion | ”the holy and righteous one” | Deity of Christ; Justification apart from the Law | Medium | Acts 3:14 | Compound title combining the risk profiles of baseline holy and righteousness entries; restore the positive sense against “self-righteous”-style negative drift. |
| Author/Prince of life | ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς | archēgos tēs zōēs | ”originator/pioneer of life” | Resurrection of Christ | Medium | Acts 3:15 | Obsolescence; no strong competing meaning but requires active supply since ordinary readers rarely encounter “author”/“prince” as Christological titles today. |
| deacon / servant (the Seven) | διάκονος / διακονία | diakonos / diakonia | ”servant, table-attendant” | The Church as Community; Apostolic Authority | High | Acts 6:1-6 | Denominational contest over whether this establishes a formal ordained office or an ad hoc practical arrangement; state a reading and note the range of views. |
| laying on of hands | ἐπίθεσις τῶν χειρῶν | epithesis tōn cheirōn | ”placing on of hands” | Apostolic Authority and Miracles; Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Medium | Acts 6:6; 8:17-19; 9:17; 13:3; 19:6 | Risk of either magical-touch overinvestment or empty-formality dismissal; the gesture accompanies, but is not itself the source of, spiritual power. |
| Hellenist | Ἑλληνιστής | Hellēnistēs | ”Greek-speaker” | The Church as Community; Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | Low | Acts 6:1; 9:29; 11:20 | Refers to Greek-speaking Jews, not Gentiles; should not be conflated with Gentiles. |
| stoning | λιθοβολέω | lithoboleō | ”to stone” | Persecution and Bold Witness | Low | Acts 7:58-59; 14:19 | Minor unintended comic dissonance risk from unrelated modern slang (“stoned”=intoxicated) in oral teaching settings. |
| Son of Man | υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου | huios tou anthrōpou | ”son of man” | Deity of Christ | Medium | Acts 7:56 | Risk of reading as a humanity-only title, missing its Danielic divine-authority/judge background. |
| sorcery / magic | μαγεία | mageia | ”magic, sorcery” | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | Medium | Acts 8:9-24; 13:6-11; 19:19 | Modern entertainment-coded “magic” (stage illusion, fantasy fiction) drains the text’s serious concern with real occult power abuse. |
| gift of God | δωρεὰ τοῦ θεοῦ | dōrea tou theou | ”the gift of God” | Justification apart from the Law; Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Critical | Acts 2:38; 8:20; 10:45; 11:17 | Reuses baseline grace unmerited-gift principle; here specifically against a monetary/transactional misunderstanding (Simon’s attempted purchase). |
| eunuch | εὐνοῦχος | eunouchos | ”eunuch, court official” | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | Low-Medium | Acts 8:27-39 | Largely unfamiliar historical office/status (obsolescence); minor discomfort risk from unrelated crude colloquial usage in oral teaching. |
| the Way | ἡ ὁδός | hē hodos | ”the road/way” | The Church as Community; Persecution and Bold Witness | Medium | Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22 | False-friend risk from the unrelated modern group “The Way International” and from generic wellness-culture “find your own way” language; both must be explicitly set aside. |
| Why do you persecute me | τί με διώκεις | ti me diōkeis | — | Conversion of Paul; Persecution and Bold Witness | Medium | Acts 9:4; 22:7; 26:14 | Risk of reading as a rebuke of Saul’s specific actions only, missing Christ’s general, ongoing solidarity with his persecuted people. |
| disciple | μαθητής | mathētēs | ”learner, follower” | The Church as Community | Medium | Pervasive, e.g. Acts 6:1-2, 7; 9:1, 10, 25-26, 36; 11:26; 14:20, 22, 28; 15:10; 16:1; 18:23, 27; 19:1, 9, 30; 20:1, 30; 21:4, 16 | Secular “disciple of a philosophy/guru” usage retains loose followership sense but strips out Christ-centered, whole-life, covenant-community content; folk-etymology confusion with “discipline” also possible. |
| chosen instrument / vessel of election | σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς | skeuos eklogēs | ”vessel of election/choosing” | Conversion of Paul; Effectual Calling | Critical | Acts 9:15 | Reuses baseline election risk profile exactly; the “instrument/vessel” phrasing somewhat mitigates but does not eliminate the political-vote false-friend risk. |
| unclean / common | κοινός / ἀκάθαρτος | koinos / akathartos | ”common/shared” / “unclean” | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | Medium | Acts 10:14-15, 28; 11:8-9 | Unfamiliar Levitical dietary background applied metaphorically to Gentile people; a background-knowledge gap more than a false-friend risk. |
| God-fearer | φοβούμενος τὸν θεόν | phoboumenos ton theon | ”one fearing God” | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | Low-Medium | Acts 10:2, 22, 35; 13:16, 26 | Obscure technical social category; should be distinguished from the general reverential-awe fear entry above. |
| God shows no partiality | οὐκ ἔστιν προσωπολήπτης | ouk estin prosōpolēptēs | ”is not a face-receiver” | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles; Unity of Jews and Gentiles | Low | Acts 10:34 | Positive resonance with contemporary equality discourse; minor risk of generic-egalitarianism reading divorced from its Christ-centered covenantal basis. |
| granted repentance | τὴν μετάνοιαν ἔδωκεν | tēn metanoian edōken | ”gave repentance” | Justification apart from the Law; Effectual Calling | Medium | Acts 11:18 | Intersects the grace/works synergism-vs.-monergism denominational contest; if repentance itself is a divine gift, this bears on free-will debates. |
| Christian | Χριστιανός | Christianos | ”Christ-one” | The Church as Community; Great Commission Fulfilled | Medium | Acts 11:26; 26:28 | Significant post-Christian erosion: now often a loose cultural/political/inherited-family identity marker rather than committed discipleship; restore the costly, minority, Antioch-original sense. |
| angel | ἄγγελος | angelos | ”messenger” | Apostolic Authority and Miracles (recurring motif) | Medium | Acts 5:19; 8:26; 10:3; 12:7-11, 23; 27:23 | Contemporary “guardian angel”/greeting-card imagery dilutes the biblical sense of a real, powerful, obedient created spiritual being on a specific errand. |
| the word of God grew/multiplied | ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ ηὔξανεν | ho logos tou theou ēuxanen | ”the word of God was growing” | Great Commission Fulfilled | Low | Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20 | Risk of reading as mere institutional/statistical growth rather than the organic, living-word image intended. |
| set apart (commissioning) | ἀφορίσατε | aphorisate | ”separate, mark off” | Apostolic Authority and Miracles; Great Commission Fulfilled | Medium | Acts 13:2 | Contemporary egalitarian culture may hear “set apart” as elitist rather than purpose-specific missional commissioning. |
| a light to the Gentiles | φῶς ἐθνῶν | phōs ethnōn | ”light of the nations” | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles; Great Commission Fulfilled | Medium | Acts 13:47 | Should not be confused with generic self-help “finding the light”/enlightenment idiom; retains specific Isaianic, covenantal content. |
| elders / overseers / shepherd(s) | πρεσβύτεροι / ἐπίσκοποι / ποιμένες | presbyteroi / episkopoi / poimenes | ”elders” / “overseers” / “shepherds” | The Church as Community; Apostolic Authority | Critical | Acts 14:23; 15:2, 4, 6, 22-23; 20:17, 28 | The clearest New Testament text using these English-derived terms (elder, bishop, pastor) interchangeably of one office; state plainly and note the range of later denominational governance developments (episcopal, presbyterian, congregational) transparently. |
| idols / false gods | εἴδωλα | eidōla | ”images, likenesses” | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | Medium | Acts 14:15; 15:20, 29; 17:16, 23; 19:26; 21:25 | Strong false-friend drift: dominant contemporary sense is a celebrity/admired public figure (“pop idol,” television talent-show franchise), carrying no worship content; restore the false-god/wrongly-worshiped-object sense. |
| circumcision | περιτομή | peritomē | ”cutting around” | Justification apart from the Law | High | Acts 15:1, 5, 24; 16:3; 21:21 | Dominant modern sense is a religiously-neutral medical/hygiene procedure; the covenantal-sign, works-of-the-law significance of the first-century controversy must be explicitly reconstructed. |
| yoke | ζυγός | zygos | ”yoke” | Justification apart from the Law | Low-Medium | Acts 15:10 | Agricultural-implement obsolescence for urban/suburban readers; the burden-metaphor itself is intuitively graspable. |
| apostolic decree | (letter, 15:23-29) | — | — | Justification apart from the Law; The Church as Community | Medium | Acts 15:19-29 | Risk of over-extending into a permanent universal moral code, or under-reading as arbitrary cultural accommodation; the text’s own stated purpose (unity) should guide application. |
| household (baptism) | οἶκος | oikos | ”house, household” | Repentance and Baptism | Critical | Acts 16:15, 31-34 | Directly feeds the Critical baptism denominational contest; paedobaptist and credobaptist traditions read “household” quite differently — state a reading and note the range of views. |
| spirit of divination | πνεῦμα πύθωνος | pneuma pythōnos | ”python spirit” | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | Medium | Acts 16:16-18 | Contemporary secular culture treats divination/fortune-telling as harmless entertainment; restore the text’s serious framing of real spiritual bondage. |
| an unknown god | ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ | agnōstō theō | ”to an unknown god” | Great Commission Fulfilled | Low-Medium | Acts 17:23 | Positive apologetic model; minor risk of over-generalizing into pluralistic natural theology, contrary to the passage’s own call to exclusive repentance. |
| times of ignorance | χρόνοι τῆς ἀγνοίας | chronoi tēs agnoias | ”times of ignorance” | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles; Great Commission Fulfilled | Medium | Acts 17:30 | Risk of misreading divine forbearance as moral relativism regarding other religions; the universal repentance command that follows should not be softened. |
| baptism of John | τὸ Ἰωάννου βάπτισμα | to Iōannou baptisma | ”the baptism of John” | Repentance and Baptism | Critical | Acts 18:25; 19:1-5 | Shows Luke himself distinguishing two theologically non-equivalent baptisms; reinforces and intensifies the core-passage Critical baptism entry. |
| burned the scrolls | τὰς βίβλους κατέκαιον | tas biblous katekaion | ”were burning the scrolls” | Repentance and Baptism | Low | Acts 19:19 | Minor risk of generalizing into an argument for book-burning broadly rather than the specific point about renouncing one’s own former occult practice. |
| purchased with his own blood | περιεποιήσατο διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου | periepoiēsato dia tou haimatos tou idiou | ”acquired through his own blood” | The Church as Community; Justification apart from the Law | Medium | Acts 20:28 | Risk of a purely commercial-transactional reading; should be read with the richer sacrificial/covenantal atonement sense in view. |
| the whole counsel/purpose of God | πᾶσα ἡ βουλὴ τοῦ θεοῦ | pasa hē boulē tou theou | ”the whole plan of God” | Providence; Great Commission Fulfilled | Critical | Acts 20:27 | Reuses baseline providence risk profile; here applied to the content of preaching rather than the plan behind the cross — distinguish the two applications. |
| Pharisee | Φαρισαῖος | Pharisaios | ”separated one” | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles; Conversion of Paul | High | Acts 15:5; 23:6-9; 26:5 | Contemporary English uses “Pharisee/pharisaical” almost exclusively as a pejorative for hypocrisy, obscuring the historically important, partly correct convictions (including bodily resurrection) Paul himself, a former Pharisee, continued to affirm. |
| Sadducee | Σαδδουκαῖος | Saddoukaios | ”Sadducee” | Resurrection of Christ | Low | Acts 23:6-8 | Obscure historical proper term; primarily requires background supply. |
| not disobedient to the heavenly vision | οὐκ ἐγενόμην ἀπειθὴς τῇ ὀπτασίᾳ | ouk egenomēn apeithēs tē optasia | — | Conversion of Paul | High | Acts 26:19 | Reuses baseline obedience_of_faith risk profile exactly. |
| turn from darkness to light / power of Satan | ἐπιστρέψαι ἀπὸ σκότους εἰς φῶς…τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ Σατανᾶ | epistrepsai apo skotous eis phōs…tēs exousias tou Satana | — | Conversion of Paul | Medium-High | Acts 26:18 | Post-Christian culture reduces “Satan” to a cartoonish folkloric figure; restore the real, personal spiritual-bondage-and-deliverance claim, parallel to the baseline’s resurrection-historicity correction. |
| preaching the kingdom unhindered | κηρύσσων τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ…ἀκωλύτως | kēryssōn tēn basileian tou theou…akōlytōs | ”proclaiming the kingdom…without hindrance” | Great Commission Fulfilled | Medium | Acts 28:31 | Reuses baseline kingdom_of_god entry; paired with boldness as Acts’ deliberate closing thesis-statement — render with matching weight to Acts 1:8 and 2:38-39. |
Risk Tier Summary (Acts-Specific New Terms)
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing (per baseline framework) |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 8 (filled with the Holy Spirit; tongues; baptism/baptize; gift of God; chosen instrument/vessel of election; elders/overseers/shepherds; household baptism; baptism of John; the whole counsel of God) | Human theologian review required |
| High | 7 (Pentecost; repentance/repent; witness(es); no other name; breaking of bread; deacon/servant; circumcision; Pharisee; not disobedient to the heavenly vision) | Human theologian review required |
| Medium-High | 2 (signs and wonders/miracles; turn from darkness to light/power of Satan) | Human theologian review required |
| Medium | ~20 (boldness; fear; holding all things in common; the Holy and Righteous One; Author/Prince of life; laying on of hands; sorcery/magic; the Way; disciple; unclean/common; granted repentance; Christian; angel; set apart; a light to the Gentiles; idols/false gods; apostolic decree; spirit of divination; times of ignorance; purchased with his own blood; preaching the kingdom unhindered) | Native speaker (general audience) review recommended |
| Low-Medium | 4 (eunuch; yoke; an unknown god; God-fearer) | Native speaker review recommended |
| Low | 8 (the Council/Sanhedrin; Hellenist; stoning; Son of Man; God shows no partiality; the word of God grew; burned the scrolls; Sadducee) | Automated review sufficient |
Note: this table extends, and does not duplicate, the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json risk_summary — Acts-specific terms should be added to a future combined registry for full-curriculum (Romans + Acts) Phase 2 routing.
Critical Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: grace
Transliteration: grace
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: elegance/poise (the dominant secular sense), a grace period (the dominant legal/financial sense)
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL FALSE-FRIEND DRIFT and DENOMINATIONAL CONTEST as documented in the baseline. Acts context: 15:11 (‘saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus’) is Acts’ clearest one-sentence restatement of this doctrine and must be rendered with identical clarifying language to the baseline; 2:47’s ‘favor of all the people’ uses the same root in a general, non-theological sense that must not be conflated with the theological sense within the same short passage.
Justification
Approved rendering: justification
Transliteration: justification
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: justifying your answer / justifying an action (the near-universal everyday sense)
Original: δικαίωσις / δικαιοῦται
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. The single most confidently misread theological term in English Bible study. Acts context: Acts 13:39 (‘everyone who believes is justified… a justification the law of Moses could never give’) is Acts’ single clearest narrative statement of this doctrine; cross-reference Romans 3:20-28 and render with identical clarifying language for full-curriculum consistency.
Salvation
Approved rendering: salvation
Transliteration: salvation
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: being saved (contested denominational shorthand), rescue (too generic a gloss on its own)
Original: σωτηρία / σῴζω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL DENOMINATIONAL CONTEST between event and process readings of ‘being saved.’ Acts context: Acts 4:12’s ‘no other name’ makes salvation’s exclusivity explicit in a way Romans assumes but does not state as bluntly; Acts pairs event-language (‘be saved,’ 2:21, 40; 16:31) with process-language (‘those being saved,’ 2:47) within the same short narrative, illustrating the event/process tension concretely.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: resurrection
Transliteration: resurrection
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Easter (the commercialized cultural holiday sense)
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package. Must be stated as historical, bodily fact, not myth or metaphor. Acts context: narrates vivid ancient precedent for modern resurrection-skepticism (Athenian mockery, 17:32; Sadducee denial, 23:6-8), a parallel worth naming explicitly as encouragement that such skepticism is neither new nor a reason to soften the claim.
Lord
Approved rendering: Lord
Transliteration: Lord
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: boss / master, a British Lord (the aristocratic title sense)
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. ‘Lord’ has nearly disappeared from ordinary spoken English outside this religious usage. Acts context: Acts 2:36’s climactic ‘both Lord and Messiah’ is this curriculum’s parallel confession-verse to Romans 10:9 and requires the identical ‘actively restore total, exclusive, personal allegiance’ treatment.
Church
Approved rendering: church
Transliteration: church
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL post-Christian institutional-decline/scandal association. Acts context: Acts narrates the church’s actual historical founding and growth (2:47; 5:11; 8:1,3; 9:31; 11:22,26; 12:1,5; 13:1; 14:23,27; 15:3-4,22,41; 16:5; 20:17,28), making it the primary narrative anchor for this doctrine across the whole curriculum.
Election
Approved rendering: election
Transliteration: election
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: an election (the near-total dominant contemporary political-vote sense)
Original: ἐκλογή
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Requires more active reframing than almost any other term. Acts context: rendered ‘chosen instrument/vessel of election’ at Acts 9:15 (skeuos eklogēs), which somewhat mitigates but does not eliminate the political-vote false-friend risk; see the new chosen_instrument entry.
Providence
Approved rendering: providence
Transliteration: providence
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: everything happens for a reason (secular folk-spiritual idiom), Providence (the proper noun, Rhode Island)
Original: πρόνοια (cf. βουλή, Acts 2:23; 4:28; 20:27)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: Acts 2:23’s ‘predetermined plan and foreknowledge’ is Acts’ most explicit providence statement and holds God’s sovereign decree and human culpability together without contradiction (‘you…killed him’) — a compatibilism tension that should be named explicitly, not smoothed over; Acts 20:27’s ‘the whole counsel of God’ applies the same underlying vocabulary gap to the content of preaching rather than the plan behind the cross — see the new whole_counsel_of_god entry.
Filled With The Spirit
Approved rendering: filled with the Holy Spirit
Transliteration: eplēsthēsan pneumatos hagiou
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Rejected alternatives: baptized in the Spirit (denominationally loaded synonym, not used interchangeably by this curriculum without qualification)
Original: ἐπλήσθησαν πνεύματος ἁγίου
Category: Holy Spirit
New Acts term. CRITICAL DENOMINATIONAL CONTEST: center of the Pentecostal/charismatic ‘subsequent, distinct experience’ reading versus the Reformed/covenantal ‘repeated empowerment of the already-indwelt believer’ reading. This curriculum states the latter as its working reading (repeatable empowerment for bold proclamation, distinct from once-for-all conversion-indwelling) while transparently noting the alternative. Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17; 13:9.
Tongues
Approved rendering: tongues
Transliteration: glōssai
Doctrine: Tongues and Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: speaking in tongues as private ecstatic/unintelligible prayer language (a distinct, later, debated phenomenon not to be silently equated with Acts 2’s referent)
Original: γλῶσσαι
Category: Holy Spirit
New Acts term. CRITICAL: the most denominationally contested phenomenon in this curriculum (cessationist vs. continuationist), compounded by popular-media televised-revival caricature. Must state plainly that Acts 2:4-11’s tongues were understood, known human languages (v.6, 8, 11) before any 1 Corinthians 12-14 cross-reference is introduced; do not adjudicate that later debate.
Baptism
Approved rendering: baptism
Transliteration: baptisma / baptizō
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Rejected alternatives: a merely cultural christening rite (the secularized modern default association)
Original: βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New Acts term. CRITICAL: the single most denominationally contested practice-term in this curriculum — mode (immersion vs. sprinkling/pouring), subjects (believers only vs. households/infants), and theological effect (symbolic ordinance vs. means of grace conferring regeneration). This curriculum states its reading of Acts 2:38’s baptism-forgiveness link as: baptism is the necessary, expected, outward confession accompanying repentance and faith, through which forgiveness already secured by grace is publicly sealed — while transparently noting that sacramental traditions read the causal relationship more strongly (baptism itself conferring forgiveness) and some traditions read baptism as purely symbolic of a forgiveness granted at the moment of faith alone. Occurrences: Acts 2:38, 41; 8:12, 36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 19:1-5; 22:16.
Gift Of God
Approved rendering: gift of God
Transliteration: dōrea tou theou
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Rejected alternatives: a purchasable spiritual commodity (the explicitly rejected error Simon Magus commits)
Original: δωρεὰ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Holy Spirit
New Acts term. Reuses the baseline grace unmerited-gift principle, sharpened against a specifically monetary/transactional misunderstanding — spiritual power and standing before God cannot be bought, with live contemporary parallels in prosperity-gospel movements. Acts 2:38; 8:20; 10:45; 11:17.
Chosen Instrument
Approved rendering: chosen instrument
Transliteration: skeuos eklogēs
Doctrine: Effectual Calling and Election
Rejected alternatives: vessel of election (an acceptable literal alternate rendering)
Original: σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς
Category: Conversion of Paul
New Acts term. Reuses the baseline election false-friend risk profile exactly — ‘election’ in ordinary English means a political vote. The ‘instrument/vessel’ phrasing mitigates but does not eliminate this association; the underlying sovereign-choice doctrine and its risk profile remain unchanged. Acts 9:15.
Household Baptism
Approved rendering: household (baptism)
Transliteration: ho oikos
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Original: ὁ οἶκος
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New Acts term. CRITICAL: directly feeds the baptism denominational contest — paedobaptist traditions (covenantal continuity with Old Testament household circumcision) and credobaptist traditions (baptism only upon each individual’s own profession) read ‘household’ quite differently. This curriculum’s working reading follows 16:34’s own qualifier (‘he and his whole household…having believed’) as describing everyone in the household who came to personal faith, while transparently noting the paedobaptist household-inclusion reading exists. Acts 16:15, 31-34.
Baptism Of John
Approved rendering: baptism of John
Transliteration: to Iōannou baptisma
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Original: τὸ Ἰωάννου βάπτισμα
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New Acts term. CRITICAL: reuses and intensifies the baptism entry — Luke himself distinguishes two theologically non-equivalent baptisms, a nuance easily lost if readers assume ‘baptism’ is always a single undifferentiated rite. Acts 18:25; 19:1-5.
Elders Overseers Shepherds
Approved rendering: elders / overseers / shepherds
Transliteration: presbyteroi / episkopoi / poimenes
Doctrine: Church Governance and Leadership
Rejected alternatives: adopting only one modern denominational term (bishop, elder, or pastor) as though it alone were ‘biblical’ (explicitly rejected)
Original: πρεσβύτεροι / ἐπίσκοποι / ποιμένες
Category: Church
New Acts term. CRITICAL: Acts 20:17, 28 uses these three English-derived terms (source of ‘bishop,’ ‘elder,’ and ‘pastor’) interchangeably of one office, yet English-speaking traditions have built mutually exclusive governance structures (episcopal vs. presbyterian/congregational) on this same text. State plainly that Acts 20 uses these terms of one office and note the range of later denominational developments transparently, without adjudicating which later development is correct. Acts 14:23; 15:2, 4, 6, 22-23; 20:17, 28.
Whole Counsel Of God
Approved rendering: the whole counsel of God
Transliteration: pasa hē boulē tou theou
Doctrine: Providence and God’s Sovereign Plan
Original: πᾶσα ἡ βουλὴ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Providence
New Acts term. Reuses the baseline providence risk profile; here applied to the content of apostolic preaching (proclaiming the entire message without omission) rather than the plan behind the cross (Acts 2:23) — distinguish the two applications explicitly. Acts 20:27.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: faith
Transliteration: faith
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: faith in humanity / a leap of faith (secularized idioms meaning generic optimism or an unsupported gamble)
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Contemporary English detaches ‘faith’ from any specific object; the object of faith must be recoverable from context every time. Acts context: consistently paired with ‘repentance’ in Acts’ evangelistic summary formula (e.g. 20:21); the object (Christ) must be kept explicit.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: righteousness
Transliteration: righteousness
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: self-righteous / holier-than-thou (the dominant casual connotation)
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. ‘Righteous/self-righteous’ now carries a smug, negative connotation in casual usage. Acts context: also used as a Christological title, ‘the Holy and Righteous One’ (3:14) and ‘righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come’ (24:25) — a compound Christological and forensic-ethical double use not present in Romans; the positive, sinless-character sense must be actively restated in the title usage.
Called
Approved rendering: called
Transliteration: called
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Original: κλητός
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Context-sensitive across at least three senses (apostleship, sainthood, salvation). Acts context: Acts 2:39 extends this calling explicitly to Gentiles (‘all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God calls’), anticipating the Cornelius narrative.
Calling
Approved rendering: calling
Transliteration: calling
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: finding your calling (the dominant contemporary secular career-vocation sense)
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Direction of agency (God calls; the person does not self-select) must be stated explicitly. Acts context: reinforced by Acts 2:39’s extension of calling to Gentiles.
Saints
Approved rendering: saints
Transliteration: saints
Doctrine: Sainthood
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Real denominational contest: Catholic/Orthodox usage reserves ‘saint’ for a canonized figure; Acts uses it corporately and plurally (9:13, 32, 41; 26:10), reinforcing the baseline’s caution against a canonized-elite misreading.
Sin
Approved rendering: sin
Transliteration: sin
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: sinfully delicious / my one sin (trivialized marketing usage)
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: consistently paired with ‘forgiveness’ and ‘repentance’ in Acts’ evangelistic summaries (2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18); guard against both trivializing and guilt-averse cultural currents at once.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: obedience of faith
Transliteration: obedience of faith
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: blind obedience / just following orders (negative contemporary idioms)
Original: ὑπακοὴ πίστεως (conceptually; cf. Acts 5:29, 26:19)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: reframed narratively at 5:29 (‘we must obey God rather than men’) and 26:19 (‘not disobedient to the heavenly vision’); 5:29 must be read carefully alongside Romans 13’s treatment of civil authority to avoid a simplistic ‘always resist authority’ misreading — the principle is narrow, not blanket civil disobedience license.
Covenant
Approved rendering: covenant
Transliteration: covenant
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: a restrictive covenant (the dominant contemporary legal sense)
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: less prominent than in Romans but foundational to Peter’s (3:25) and Stephen’s (7:8) speeches’ Old Testament argument.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: imputed righteousness
Transliteration: imputed righteousness
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: earned righteousness / good-person status
Original: ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην (conceptually; cf. Acts 13:39)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: Acts itself does not use the Genesis 15:6/Romans 4 ‘credited’ language directly, but Acts 13:39’s justification statement rests on the identical doctrine; cross-reference required for full-curriculum coherence.
Pentecost
Approved rendering: Pentecost
Transliteration: Pentecost
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Rejected alternatives: Pentecostal (the modern denominational movement’s brand name, must not silently substitute for the original festival)
Original: πεντηκοστή
Category: Holy Spirit
New Acts term. DENOMINATIONAL CAPTURE risk: the modern ‘Pentecostal’ movement has annexed this word as a brand name for one specific stream of Christianity. Must be anchored explicitly to the Old Testament Feast of Weeks/Shavuot (Acts 2:1) before any denominational application is introduced.
Repentance
Approved rendering: repentance
Transliteration: metanoia / metanoeō
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Rejected alternatives: regret / apologize (the trivialized casual sense), the fire-and-brimstone street-preacher caricature
Original: μετάνοια / μετανοέω
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New Acts term. Obsolescence combined with dilution. Must convey a total, Spirit-enabled reorientation of mind, will, and behavior, with ongoing fruit, not mere emotional remorse. Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 11:18; 17:30; 20:21; 26:20.
Witness
Approved rendering: witness
Transliteration: martys / martyreō
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Rejected alternatives: a neutral courtroom-procedural witness, a true-crime-media eyewitness account
Original: μάρτυς / μαρτυρέω
Category: Persecution and Witness
New Acts term. Contemporary English flattens ‘witness’ to a neutral factual-reporting sense, losing the costly, Spirit-empowered, often life-risking testimony that gives English the word ‘martyr.’ Organizes the whole book (Acts 1:8); occurs at 1:8, 22; 2:32; 3:15; 4:33; 5:32; 10:39, 41; 13:31; 22:15; 26:16.
Signs And Wonders
Approved rendering: signs and wonders
Transliteration: sēmeia kai terata
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Rejected alternatives: legend/exaggeration (the default post-Enlightenment secular explanation)
Original: σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα
Category: Miracles
New Acts term. Post-Enlightenment secular skepticism defaults to legend, exaggeration, or psychosomatic explanation for reported miracles; state the historical claim plainly, consistent with the baseline’s resurrection-historicity rule. Acts 2:19, 22, 43; 4:16, 22, 30; 5:12; 6:8; 8:6, 13; 14:3; 15:12; 19:11.
No Other Name
Approved rendering: no other name
Transliteration: oude…en allō oudeni
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: one path among many (a softened pluralistic gloss, explicitly rejected)
Original: οὐδὲ…ἐν ἄλλῳ οὐδενί
Category: Salvation
New Acts term. Direct live flashpoint with contemporary religious pluralism and ‘many paths to God’ spirituality; must be preserved plainly per the baseline’s doctrinal-universality rule. Acts 4:12.
Breaking Of Bread
Approved rendering: breaking of bread
Transliteration: klasis tou artou
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Original: κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου
Category: Church
New Acts term. Significant denominational contest: whether this names a formal sacrament (Eucharist/Mass, with real-presence or memorial debates) or simply ordinary shared meals with spiritual significance; note the range of readings rather than assuming one settled view. Acts 2:42, 46; 20:7, 11.
Deacon
Approved rendering: deacon
Transliteration: diakonos / diakonia
Doctrine: Church Governance and Leadership
Rejected alternatives: those appointed to serve (a paraphrase preferred over the loaded later office-title where precision matters)
Original: διάκονος / διακονία
Category: Church
New Acts term. Significant denominational contest over whether Acts 6:1-6 establishes a formal ordained office or describes an ad hoc practical arrangement. Acts 6 itself does not use ‘deacon’ as a fixed title (diakonia = ‘service/serving’); state a reading and note the range of later denominational developments (Catholic/Orthodox permanent deacons, Protestant deacon boards, congregational practice) transparently.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: circumcision
Transliteration: peritomē
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Rejected alternatives: a religiously-neutral modern medical/hygiene procedure (the dominant contemporary sense, must be explicitly set aside)
Original: περιτομή
Category: Justification apart from the Law
New Acts term. Dominant modern sense is a religiously-neutral medical/hygiene procedure, which can fully strip out the covenantal-sign, works-of-the-law significance of the first-century controversy; must be explicitly reconstructed, not assumed understood by analogy. Acts 15:1, 5, 24; 16:3; 21:21.
Pharisee
Approved rendering: Pharisee
Transliteration: Pharisaios
Doctrine: Civil and Religious Authority
Rejected alternatives: a pure synonym for legalistic hypocrisy (the dominant contemporary pejorative sense, must not be the only sense conveyed)
Original: Φαρισαῖος
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New Acts term. Contemporary English uses ‘Pharisee/pharisaical’ almost exclusively as a pejorative, obscuring the historically important, partly correct convictions (including bodily resurrection) that Paul himself, a former Pharisee, continued to affirm. Acts 15:5; 23:6-9; 26:5.
Not Disobedient To Heavenly Vision
Approved rendering: not disobedient to the heavenly vision
Transliteration: ouk egenomēn apeithēs tē optasia
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Original: οὐκ ἐγενόμην ἀπειθὴς τῇ…ὀπτασίᾳ
Category: Conversion of Paul
New Acts term. Reuses the baseline obedience_of_faith risk profile exactly: contemporary Western culture’s suspicion of ‘obedience’ as servility must be distinguished from Paul’s obedience flowing freely from a specific personal divine encounter. Acts 26:19.
Turn From Darkness To Light
Approved rendering: turn from darkness to light
Transliteration: epistrepsai apo skotous eis phōs…tēs exousias tou Satana
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Rejected alternatives: a cartoonish, folkloric, Halloween-costume devil-figure (the dominant post-Christian secular reduction, explicitly rejected)
Original: ἐπιστρέψαι ἀπὸ σκότους εἰς φῶς…τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ Σατανᾶ
Category: Conversion of Paul
New Acts term. Post-Christian culture reduces Satan to a folkloric caricature rather than a real personal spiritual power holding people in bondage; this drift parallels the baseline’s resurrection-as-myth correction and should be corrected with equal directness. Acts 26:18.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: gospel
Transliteration: gospel
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: good news (acceptable as an explanatory gloss, but should not fully replace ‘gospel’ since it loses the term’s proclamatory weight)
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Comparatively stable: the idiom ‘gospel truth’ reinforces rather than undermines the word’s authoritative connotation; main risk is confusing ‘the Gospels’ (the four books) with ‘the gospel’ (the message). Acts context: pervasive throughout (e.g. 15:7; 20:24); no new Acts-specific risk beyond the baseline entry.
Apostle
Approved rendering: apostle
Transliteration: apostle
Doctrine: Apostleship
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Main risk is treating ‘apostle’ as a loose job title (‘an apostle of free trade’) rather than a specific, non-repeatable New Testament office. Acts context: Acts 1:21-22 defines the office’s non-repeatable qualification (eyewitness of the risen Christ) more explicitly than any other New Testament text.
Holy
Approved rendering: holy
Transliteration: holy
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: holier-than-thou, holy cow / holy moly (content-free exclamations)
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Survives mainly in negative idiom or exclamation, draining the ‘set apart for God’ meaning. Acts context: applied to Christ, Moses, and the Temple (3:14; 6:13; 7:33; 21:28), broadening the term’s Acts-specific range beyond Romans’ primarily believer-focused usage.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: sanctification
Transliteration: sanctification
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἁγιασμός / ἀφορίζω
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. OBSOLESCENCE RISK rather than false-friend risk. Acts context: Acts 13:2’s ‘set apart’ commissioning language extends this concept to vocational commissioning for mission, not only moral purification; see the new set_apart_commissioning entry below.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Son of God
Transliteration: Son of God
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. ‘Historical Jesus’ narratives quietly strip theological content even while retaining the phrase. Acts context: present at key turning points (9:20, Saul’s first preaching; 13:33) though less structurally central than in Romans.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: incarnation
Transliteration: incarnation
Doctrine: Incarnation
Original: ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Minor risk: loose secular metaphorical usage (‘the incarnation of evil’) dilutes the doctrine’s uniqueness. Acts context: applied through David-covenant language (‘seed of David,’ 2:30; 13:23) rather than an explicit incarnation formula, paralleling Romans 1:3.
Peace
Approved rendering: peace
Transliteration: peace
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: world peace / inner peace (the dominant secular senses)
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: 10:36’s ‘preaching peace through Jesus Christ’ directly parallels Romans 5:1’s judicial peace sense.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: spiritual gifts
Transliteration: spiritual gifts
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: gifted (the dominant secular sense: innate talent or academic aptitude)
Original: χαρίσματα (implied; cf. πνευματικά)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: prophecy and tongues are narrated specifically and concretely as Spirit-given gifts (2:4, 17-18; 19:6), more vividly narrated than Romans 12’s list; see the new tongues entry for the associated Critical denominational contest.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: fellowship
Transliteration: fellowship
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: a fellowship (the dominant contemporary secular academic/professional grant sense)
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: Acts 2:42-47 gives this term its most concrete, communal-practice content anywhere in the New Testament (paired with breaking of bread and holding all things in common).
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: kingdom of God
Transliteration: kingdom of God
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: a fantasy kingdom (contemporary media associations)
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: frames both the book’s opening (1:3, 6) and closing (28:23, 31) verses — a deliberate literary bracket; 1:6’s nationalist-tinged question is redirected by Jesus toward global Spirit-empowered witness.
Law
Approved rendering: law
Transliteration: law
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: the Jerusalem Council (ch.15) is the New Testament’s central narrative treatment of the law’s relationship to Gentile salvation, directly reinforcing Romans 3-4’s discursive argument; avoid a simplistic ‘legalism is always bad’ caricature.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: Gentiles
Transliteration: Gentiles
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: non-believers (a common but incorrect modern gloss)
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: Gentile inclusion is Acts’ central narrative arc (chs.10-15), tracing the gospel’s movement from ‘Jews only’ to explicit, law-free Gentile inclusion; low-frequency, near-archaic word requiring the specific covenantal stakes to be supplied, not assumed known.
Glory
Approved rendering: glory
Transliteration: glory
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: glory days (nostalgic usage), a glory hound (pejorative usage)
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: Herod’s death ‘because he did not give God the glory’ (12:23) is a vivid narrative warning largely absent from Romans’ more discursive treatment.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: power of God
Transliteration: power of God
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: consistently and explicitly distinguished from occult ‘power’ (Simon Magus, ch.8; Elymas, ch.13), sharpening the baseline’s abuse-of-power contrast into an explicit true-power-vs.-occult-power contrast.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Messiah
Transliteration: Messiah
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: a messiah complex (a pop-psychology pejorative term)
Original: Χριστός / מָשִׁיחַ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: Acts 2:36’s ‘both Lord and Messiah’ is the book’s climactic titular confession, and Acts 2:38’s baptism ‘in the name of Jesus Christ’ makes explicit that ‘Christ’ is a covenantal title, not a surname.
Prophet
Approved rendering: prophet
Transliteration: prophet
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: a tech prophet / prophet of doom (secular usage)
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: also used of the ongoing New Testament prophetic gift (13:1; 15:32; 21:10), broadening the baseline’s mainly Old-Testament-prophet frame.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: prophecy
Transliteration: prophecy
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: a self-fulfilling prophecy (secular psychological idiom)
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: Agabus’s specific, accurate, symbolic-action prophecy (21:10-11) provides Acts’ clearest example of genuine predictive prophecy, distinct from the secular ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ idiom.
Intercession
Approved rendering: intercession
Transliteration: intercession
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: (conceptually; cf. προσευχή, Acts 12:5)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: the Jerusalem church’s corporate, persistent prayer for Peter’s release (12:5, 12) is Acts’ clearest intercession narrative.
Mission
Approved rendering: mission
Transliteration: mission
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: a mission statement (the dominant contemporary corporate sense)
Original: ἀποστολή / πέμπω / ἀποστέλλω
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: Acts is the New Testament’s primary narrative of mission-in-action, giving this term its fullest illustrative content (1:8; 13:2-4; 22:21); be sensitive to colonial/political connotations ‘mission’ may carry for some readers.
Israel
Approved rendering: Israel
Transliteration: Israel
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: Acts 1:6’s opening question about restoring Israel’s kingdom is redirected by Jesus toward global witness — a corrective against both ancient nationalist and modern geopolitical misreadings.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Jesus
Transliteration: Jesus
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Jesus (as a casual interjection/expletive)
Original: Ἰησοῦς / יֵשׁוּעַ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: the formula ‘in the name of Jesus’ recurs throughout Acts as the distinguishing mark of apostolic authority and healing (e.g. 3:6, 16; 4:10, 30; 16:18; 19:13).
God
Approved rendering: God
Transliteration: God
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: a higher power, the universe
Original: θεός / אֱלֹהִים / יהוה
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: Acts 14:15 and 17:24-29 explicitly contrast the personal, living God with lifeless idols and philosophical abstraction, a structural parallel to modern ‘higher power’/‘the universe’ substitutes.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Holy Spirit
Transliteration: Holy Spirit
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: good vibes / positive energy
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Note: this doctrine_risk value (Medium) is the baseline’s rating for the bare term; Acts’ own doctrine registry rates ‘The Holy Spirit and Pentecost’ as Critical overall once combined with filled_with_the_spirit and tongues (see those entries below) — the elevated Acts-specific risk sits in those compound phrases, not the bare noun. Acts context: the Ananias and Sapphira account (5:3, 9) confirms the Spirit’s full personhood and deity by treating deception directed at him as deception directed at God himself; Acts is by far the most Spirit-saturated book in the New Testament.
Father
Approved rendering: Father
Transliteration: Father
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: less developed than in Romans 8; primarily used of the Father’s role in sending/promising the Spirit (1:4, 7; 2:33).
Abba
Approved rendering: Abba
Transliteration: Abba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: ABBA (the Swedish pop group)
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: not present in Acts; retained here only to confirm the baseline entry is not contradicted by its absence, per full-book coverage requirement.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: seed of David
Transliteration: seed of David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: descendant of David (an acceptable modern-register gloss)
Original: σπέρμα Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: Acts 2:30 and 13:23 directly connect to the covenant promise Romans 1:3 also invokes; render consistently across both curricula.
Boldness
Approved rendering: boldness
Transliteration: parrēsia
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Rejected alternatives: natural confidence/assertiveness (a personality-trait misreading)
Original: παρρησία
Category: Persecution and Witness
New Acts term. Risk of being read as an innate personality trait rather than a Spirit-given gift granted specifically in answer to prayer under threat (4:23-31). Acts 4:13, 29, 31; 9:27-28; 13:46; 14:3; 18:26; 19:8; 28:31.
Fear Of God
Approved rendering: fear (of God)
Transliteration: phobos
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: anxiety/unhealthy fear (the dominant negative therapeutic-culture sense)
Original: φόβος
Category: Church
New Acts term. Contemporary therapeutic culture treats ‘fear’ almost exclusively as a negative emotion to be managed away, obscuring the positive biblical sense of reverential awe before a holy God. Acts 5:5, 11; 9:31; 19:17.
Holding All Things In Common
Approved rendering: holding all things in common
Transliteration: hapanta koina
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: communism/socialism (an anachronistic modern political-economic misreading)
Original: ἅπαντα κοινά
Category: Church
New Acts term. Risk of anachronistic modern political-economic framing onto a voluntary, Spirit-motivated, localized, temporary practice (contrast Ananias and Sapphira’s still-voluntary giving, ch.5). Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35.
Holy And Righteous One
Approved rendering: the Holy and Righteous One
Transliteration: ton hagion kai dikaion
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: τὸν ἅγιον καὶ δίκαιον
Category: Christology
New Acts term. Compound Christological title combining the baseline holy and righteousness entries’ individual risks; restate the positive sense (Christ’s actual sinless character) against ‘self-righteous’-style negative casual drift. Acts 3:14.
Author Of Life
Approved rendering: Author of life
Transliteration: archēgos tēs zōēs
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Prince of life (an acceptable alternate traditional rendering)
Original: ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Christology
New Acts term. Obsolescence: ‘Author’/‘Prince’ as titles for Christ survive mainly in older hymnody, not ordinary speech; carries no competing false-friend risk but requires active supply. Acts 3:15.
Laying On Of Hands
Approved rendering: laying on of hands
Transliteration: epithesis tōn cheirōn
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Rejected alternatives: a magical-touch mechanism (explicitly rejected overinvestment), an empty formality (explicitly rejected dismissal)
Original: ἐπίθεσις τῶν χειρῶν
Category: Apostleship
New Acts term. The gesture accompanies, but is not itself the source of, spiritual power; avoid both extremes. Acts 6:6; 8:17-19; 9:17; 13:3; 19:6.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: Son of Man
Transliteration: huios tou anthrōpou
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: a mere humanity-marker (the common but incomplete modern misreading)
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
New Acts term. Contemporary readers may hear this as simply emphasizing Jesus’ humanity, missing the title’s specific Danielic (Daniel 7) divine-authority/end-time-judge background. Acts 7:56 — the only occurrence of this title outside the Gospels in the New Testament’s narrative portions.
Sorcery
Approved rendering: sorcery
Transliteration: mageia
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Rejected alternatives: stage illusion / fantasy-genre ‘magic systems’ (entertainment-coded modern senses)
Original: μαγεία
Category: Miracles
New Acts term. Modern secular entertainment-coded association with ‘magic’ drains the text’s serious concern with real occult power abuse. Acts 8:9-24 (Simon); 13:6-11 (Elymas); 19:19.
The Way
Approved rendering: the Way
Transliteration: hē hodos
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: The Way International (an unrelated modern new religious movement of the same name, must be explicitly set aside), generic ‘find your own way’ wellness-culture spirituality
Original: ἡ ὁδός
Category: Church
New Acts term. False-friend risk from an actual unrelated modern group’s identical name and from generic wellness-culture language; both must be explicitly set aside so readers understand Luke’s own historical name for the earliest, doctrinally orthodox Christian movement. Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22.
Why Do You Persecute Me
Approved rendering: Why do you persecute me?
Transliteration: ti me diōkeis
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Original: τί με διώκεις
Category: Conversion of Paul
New Acts term. Risk of reading merely as a rebuke of Saul’s specific actions rather than a general claim about Christ’s ongoing solidarity with his persecuted people everywhere. Acts 9:4; 22:7; 26:14.
Disciple
Approved rendering: disciple
Transliteration: mathētēs
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: a disciple of a philosophy/guru (loose secular followership sense)
Original: μαθητής
Category: Church
New Acts term. Secular usage retains loose devoted-followership sense but strips out the Christ-centered, whole-life, covenant-community dimension; folk-etymology confusion with the unrelated word ‘discipline’ also possible. Pervasive, e.g. 6:1-2, 7; 9:1, 10, 25-26, 36; 11:26; 18:23; 19:1, 9, 30.
Unclean Common
Approved rendering: unclean / common
Transliteration: koinos / akathartos
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: κοινός / ἀκάθαρτος
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New Acts term. Unfamiliar Levitical dietary background applied metaphorically to Gentile people; a background-knowledge gap more than a false-friend risk. Acts 10:14-15, 28; 11:8-9.
Granted Repentance
Approved rendering: granted repentance
Transliteration: tēn metanoian edōken
Doctrine: Effectual Calling and Election
Original: τὴν μετάνοιαν ἔδωκεν
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New Acts term. Intersects the grace/works synergism-vs.-monergism denominational contest flagged under the baseline grace entry; if repentance itself is a divine gift, this bears directly on free-will debates. Acts 11:18.
Christian
Approved rendering: Christian
Transliteration: Christianos
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: a loose cultural/political/inherited-family identity marker (the dominant contemporary secularized sense)
Original: Χριστιανός
Category: Church
New Acts term. Significant post-Christian erosion; the original, costly, minority-identity sense at Antioch should be actively restored. Acts 11:26; 26:28.
Angel
Approved rendering: angel
Transliteration: angelos
Doctrine: Angelic Ministry
Rejected alternatives: guardian-angel greeting-card imagery, ‘became an angel’ bereavement language
Original: ἄγγελος
Category: Miracles
New Acts term. Contemporary pop-culture imagery dilutes the biblical sense of a real, powerful, obedient created spiritual being sent on a specific divine errand. Acts 5:19; 8:26; 10:3; 12:7-11, 23; 27:23.
Set Apart Commissioning
Approved rendering: set apart
Transliteration: aphorisate
Doctrine: Church Governance and Leadership
Rejected alternatives: elitist exclusion (a risk of misreading, not a rejected rendering)
Original: ἀφορίσατε
Category: Sanctification
New Acts term. Contemporary egalitarian culture may hear ‘set apart’ as elitist rather than purpose-specific missional commissioning. Acts 13:2-3.
Light To The Gentiles
Approved rendering: a light to the Gentiles
Transliteration: phōs ethnōn
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: generic self-help ‘finding the light’/enlightenment idiom
Original: φῶς ἐθνῶν
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New Acts term. Should not be confused with wellness-culture enlightenment language; retains specific Isaianic (Isaiah 49:6), covenantal content. Acts 13:47.
Apostolic Decree
Approved rendering: apostolic decree
Transliteration: (letter, Acts 15:23-29)
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: a permanent universal moral code (over-extension), arbitrary cultural accommodation (under-reading)
Original: (letter, Acts 15:23-29)
Category: Church
New Acts term. The text’s own stated purpose (preserving unity, removing needless offense) should guide application, avoiding both over-extension and under-reading. Acts 15:19-29.
Spirit Of Divination
Approved rendering: a spirit of divination
Transliteration: pneuma pythōnos
Doctrine: Occult Power versus Divine Power
Rejected alternatives: harmless entertainment fortune-telling (astrology, tarot, psychic hotlines — the dominant modern trivializing sense)
Original: πνεῦμα πύθωνος
Category: Miracles
New Acts term. Contemporary secular culture treats divination as harmless entertainment or benign consumer spirituality; the text’s serious framing of real, oppressive evil-spiritual bondage requiring deliverance should be actively restored. Acts 16:16-18.
Times Of Ignorance
Approved rendering: times of ignorance
Transliteration: chronoi tēs agnoias
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability and the Call to Repent
Rejected alternatives: tacit approval / moral relativism regarding other religions (an explicitly rejected misreading)
Original: χρόνοι τῆς ἀγνοίας
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New Acts term. Risk of misreading divine forbearance as moral relativism; the universal repentance command that immediately follows (17:30) should not be softened. Acts 17:30.
Purchased With His Blood
Approved rendering: purchased with his own blood
Transliteration: periepoiēsato dia tou haimatos tou idiou
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: a purely commercial-transactional debt payment (a risk of flattening, not a rejected rendering)
Original: περιεποιήσατο διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου
Category: Church
New Acts term. ‘Bought/purchased’ language is stable but risks a purely commercial reading rather than the richer sacrificial/covenantal sense; read alongside the baseline’s imputed_righteousness/atonement-adjacent notes. Acts 20:28. NOTE: the New World Translation inserts a bracketed ‘[Son]’ here (‘the blood of his own [Son]’) to avoid the plain sense that God himself shed blood; this curriculum must render ‘his own blood’ per mainstream consensus and should name this sectarian alteration when teaching this verse.
Preaching Kingdom Unhindered
Approved rendering: preaching the kingdom unhindered
Transliteration: kēryssōn tēn basileian tou theou…akōlytōs
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Original: κηρύσσων τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ…ἀκωλύτως
Category: Great Commission Fulfilled
New Acts term. Reuses the baseline kingdom_of_god entry; paired with ‘boldness’ (parrēsia, Acts 4) as Acts’ closing thesis-statement, which should be rendered with the same weight given to Acts 1:8 and Acts 2:38-39. Acts 28:31.
Ascension
Approved rendering: ascension
Transliteration: anelēmphthē
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: pre-modern cosmology / symbolic vision (the dominant post-Christian secular reduction, explicitly rejected)
Original: ἀνελήμφθη
Category: Resurrection of Christ
New Acts term. Should be stated as historical claim, not merely symbolic vision, consistent with the baseline’s resurrection-historicity rule. Acts 1:9-11.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: thanksgiving
Transliteration: thanksgiving
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: present in travel-narrative contexts (27:35; 28:15) as well as doxological ones; low risk as in the baseline.
David
Approved rendering: David
Transliteration: David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: frequently cited in apostolic sermons (1:16; 2:25-31, 34; 4:25; 7:45; 13:22, 34, 36; 15:16) as prophetic warrant for the resurrection and messianic claims; most readers’ independent David-knowledge is limited to David-and-Goliath and should be supplemented.
Exhort
Approved rendering: exhort
Transliteration: exhort
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Acts context: frequently used of apostolic encouragement to persevere amid persecution (11:23; 14:22; 15:32; 16:40; 20:1-2), sharpening the baseline’s general sense with Acts’ specific suffering-context.
Sanhedrin
Approved rendering: the Sanhedrin
Transliteration: synedrion
Doctrine: Civil and Religious Authority
Rejected alternatives: a generic ‘the council’ paraphrase (loses the institution’s specific identity)
Original: συνέδριον
Category: Authority
New Acts term. Proper institutional noun with no competing false-friend meaning; main risk is a cultural-literacy gap regarding its combined religious-and-civil authority. Acts 4:15; 5:21, 27, 34, 41; 6:12, 15; 22:30; 23:1, 6, 15, 20, 28; 24:20.
Hellenist
Approved rendering: Hellenist
Transliteration: Hellēnistēs
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: Gentile (an incorrect conflation — Hellenists are Greek-speaking Jews, not non-Jews)
Original: Ἑλληνιστής
Category: Church
New Acts term. Minor risk of conflating with ‘Gentile’; refers to Greek-speaking (often diaspora-born) Jews, distinguished from Aramaic/Hebrew-speaking ‘Hebrews.’ Acts 6:1; 9:29; 11:20.
Stoning
Approved rendering: stoning
Transliteration: lithoboleō
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Original: λιθοβολέω
Category: Persecution and Witness
New Acts term. Historically stable term; minor risk of unintended comic dissonance in spoken teaching from unrelated modern slang (‘stoned’ = intoxicated), worth a light verbal note in oral contexts. Acts 7:58-59; 14:19.
Eunuch
Approved rendering: eunuch
Transliteration: eunouchos
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: εὐνοῦχος
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New Acts term. Largely unfamiliar historical office/status (obsolescence); minor discomfort risk from the word’s contemporary crude colloquial usage, worth handling with historical sensitivity. Acts 8:26-39.
God Fearer
Approved rendering: God-fearer
Transliteration: phoboumenos ton theon
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: φοβούμενος τὸν θεόν
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New Acts term. Obscure technical historical social category; should be distinguished from the general reverential-awe sense of fear_of_god elsewhere in this registry. Acts 10:2, 22, 35; 13:16, 26.
God Shows No Partiality
Approved rendering: God shows no partiality
Transliteration: ouk estin prosōpolēptēs
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: generic modern egalitarianism (a risk of over-generalization, not a rejected rendering)
Original: οὐκ ἔστιν προσωπολήπτης
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New Acts term. Resonates positively with contemporary equality/anti-discrimination discourse; minor risk of a generic-egalitarianism reading divorced from its specific covenantal, Christ-centered basis. Acts 10:34.
Word Of God Grew
Approved rendering: the word of God grew
Transliteration: ho logos tou theou ēuxanen
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Rejected alternatives: mere institutional/statistical growth (a risk of flattening, not a rejected rendering)
Original: ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ ηὔξανεν
Category: Great Commission Fulfilled
New Acts term. Stable organic metaphor; minor risk of being read as institutional membership growth rather than the specific living-word image intended. Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20.
Yoke
Approved rendering: yoke
Transliteration: zygos
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Original: ζυγός
Category: Justification apart from the Law
New Acts term. Agricultural-implement obsolescence for urban/suburban readers; the burden-metaphor itself is intuitively graspable without a strong competing false meaning. Acts 15:10.
Unknown God
Approved rendering: an unknown god
Transliteration: agnōstō theō
Doctrine: Idolatry and the Living God
Rejected alternatives: an endorsement of pluralistic natural theology (an over-generalization risk, not a rejected rendering)
Original: ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ
Category: Great Commission Fulfilled
New Acts term. Mostly a positive apologetic-method model; minor risk of over-generalizing Paul’s Athens approach into pluralism, contrary to the passage’s own call to exclusive repentance that follows. Acts 17:23.
Burned Scrolls
Approved rendering: burned the scrolls
Transliteration: tas biblous katekaion
Doctrine: Occult Power versus Divine Power
Rejected alternatives: an argument for book-burning generally (an explicitly rejected over-generalization)
Original: τὰς βίβλους κατέκαιον
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New Acts term. Vivid historical episode with minimal competing modern meaning; risk is generalizing into an argument for book-burning broadly rather than the specific point about renouncing one’s own former occult practice. Acts 19:19.
Sadducee
Approved rendering: Sadducee
Transliteration: Saddoukaios
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: Σαδδουκαῖος
Category: Resurrection of Christ
New Acts term. Obscure historical proper term with no strong modern competing meaning; primarily requires background supply. Their denial of resurrection (23:8) sets up a direct doctrinal contrast with the book’s central message. Acts 23:6-8.
Casting Lots
Approved rendering: casting lots
Transliteration: klēron
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: a gambling/lottery idiom (the dominant modern secular sense of ‘drawing lots’)
Original: κλῆρον
Category: Apostleship
New Acts term. Minor obsolescence; context makes the ancient decision-making sense clear despite the modern gambling idiom. The last instance of lot-casting for a major decision in the New Testament; after Pentecost guidance shifts toward the Spirit’s direct leading. Acts 1:26.
Referenced passages