Doctrine Analysis
Doctrine Analysis — Acts (Full-Book Coverage)
This document is the full doctrine matrix for the Acts curriculum, covering every chapter (1–28) and every doctrine identified in assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json. It is fully consistent with that registry: same doctrine set, same risk tiers, same review routing. This document adds the chapter-level walk-through required by the PRD’s full-book-coverage mandate, showing precisely where each doctrine surfaces across the entire narrative, not only in the core passage (Acts 2:1–41).
Risk tier definitions follow the baseline exactly:
- Critical — Mistranslation alters or destroys essential doctrine. Human theologian review required for every occurrence.
- High — Mistranslation creates significant theological confusion or syncretism risk. Human theologian review required.
- Medium — Mistranslation reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning. Native speaker review recommended.
- Low — Mistranslation causes minor misunderstanding or imprecision. Automated review sufficient.
Part 1 — Full Doctrine Matrix
| # | Doctrine (EN) | Japanese Doctrine Name | Risk | Key Supporting Passages (Acts) | Translation Risk Summary | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | 聖霊とペンテコステ | Critical | 1:4-5,8; 2:1-4,17-18,33,38; 4:31; 8:15-17; 10:44-46; 15:28; 19:6 | 聖霊 must never stand as 霊 alone. Highest-frequency doctrinal term in the book; repetition raises the risk that readers process the Spirit as one entity among Japan’s animistic folk spirit-world (幽霊, 妖怪, ancestral spirits). “Filled with the Spirit” (2:4; 4:31) must be distinguished from folk possession vocabulary (霊が取り憑く). | Human theologian |
| 2 | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | ユダヤ人と異邦人への福音 | Critical | 2:39; 10:28,34-35,44-48; 11:18; 13:46-48; 15:7-11; 17:23; 28:28 | Peter’s vision (10:14-15,28) overturns κοινός (“common/unclean”) in a way that risks conflation with Shinto kegare (穢れ) ritual-pollution categories. 10:34’s unqualified divine impartiality must resist uchi-soto framing. 17:23’s “unknown god” bridge to yaoyorozu no kami is apt but requires 唯一のまことの神 qualification per baseline. | Human theologian |
| 3 | Repentance and Baptism | 悔い改めとバプテスマ | Critical | 2:38; 3:19; 8:36-38; 9:18; 16:31-33; 19:3-5; 22:16 | 悔い改め risks collapsing into 反省 (secular self-reflective regret) or 懺悔 (Buddhist ritual confession). バプテスマ risks conflation with Shinto misogi/harae ritual water-purification (addresses kegare, not moral guilt). 2:38’s “for the forgiveness of sins” risks an implicit works-righteousness reading if baptism is heard as the meritorious cause rather than the response of forgiveness. | Human theologian |
| 4 | The Church as Community | 共同体としての教会 | Medium | 2:42-47; 4:32-35; 6:1-7; 11:26; 20:28 | 交わり (fellowship) risks collapse into 仲間意識 (generic wa-culture in-group harmony). 持ち物を共有していた (“holding all things common,” 2:44-45; 4:32-35) risks a collectivist misreading; must be taught as voluntary, Spirit-motivated. 家族 (household, ch.10,16,18) risks an ie-tradition misreading of automatic corporate salvation transmitted through a household head. | Native speaker review |
| 5 | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | 使徒の権威と奇跡 | High | 2:43; 3:6-16; 4:29-33; 5:12-16; 8:6-24; 9:32-42; 13:9-11; 14:3,8-10; 19:11-19; 20:27-28 | イエスの名によって risks conflation with folk-magic name-invocation formulas (陰陽師 traditions) or pop-culture “power word” tropes. 手を置く (laying on of hands) risks conflation with Buddhist esoteric kaji (加持) power-transmission rites. 魔術 (Simon Magus ch.8; Ephesian magic books ch.19) must condemn manipulative purchasable spiritual power generally, without singling out Japan’s own occult heritage as the sole target. | Human theologian |
| 6 | Persecution and Bold Witness | 迫害と大胆な証し | High | 4:13,29,31; 5:17-42; 7:54-60; 8:1-3; 12:1-5; 14:19; 16:22-24; 21:27-36; 22–26 | 大胆に risks being read as socially inappropriate self-assertion given Japan’s conformity culture (“the nail that sticks out gets hammered down”) rather than Spirit-empowered courage. 証人 risks a merely legal-courtroom sense; Japanese formally separates witness (証人) from martyr (殉教者) where Greek uses one word family — requires explicit teaching, especially at Stephen’s death (ch.7). 5:29 “obey God rather than men” is counter-cultural against hierarchical-obedience norms. | Human theologian |
| 7 | Conversion of Paul | パウロの回心 | Critical | 9:1-19; 22:3-16; 26:9-18 | 回心 (kaishin) is also ordinary secular vocabulary for any decisive change of opinion, risking a merely psychological reading of a Spirit-wrought, God-initiated reorientation told three times in the book. 選びの器 (9:15) must resist Japan’s competitive exam-selection framing (受験, 選抜) — Paul is chosen despite active persecution of the church, not because of merit. | Human theologian |
| 8 | Justification apart from the Law | 律法によらない義認 | Critical | 13:38-39; 15:1-11; 15:28-29 | 義と認められること must retain its forensic sense against collapse into 悟りを開く when paired with 律法 in this justification-not-law context. 義 (also 24:25) requires the baseline’s mandatory Bushido-virtue distinguishing note. The Jerusalem Council (ch.15) is the narrative capstone resolving whether Gentile believers must keep Mosaic law. | Human theologian |
| 9 | The Great Commission Fulfilled | 大宣教命令の実現 | High | 1:8; 8:4-40; 10:1-48; 13:47; 28:23,28,30-31 | 地の果てまで (1:8) must be read as literal global scope structuring the Jerusalem-to-Rome narrative arc, not poetic hyperbole. 神の国 bookends the book (1:6; 28:31) and requires mandatory doctrinal anchoring against pre-1945 State Shinto ultranationalist resonance (神国日本) at both structural bookends. | Human theologian |
| 10 | Lordship of Christ (Acts) | キリストの主権（使徒の働き） | Critical | 2:33-36; 9:5; 10:36; 16:31 | Acts 2:34-35’s Psalm 110 citation places YHWH and Messiah side by side, both rendered identically as 主 without English’s LORD/Lord distinction — requires a translator’s note. Acts 9:5’s Saul addressing the risen Jesus as κύριε functions initially as generic respectful address (“sir”) before resolving into full confession — an important distinction from the exclusive-Lordship confession sense of Romans 10:9 / Acts 2:36. | Human theologian |
| 11 | Deity and Sonship of Christ (Acts) | キリストの神性と子としての身分（使徒の働き） | Critical | 2:33-36; 9:20; 13:33 | Acts 2:36’s “God made him both Lord and Christ” requires an explanatory note guarding against an adoptionist misreading — resurrection/exaltation publicly vindicates and installs, but does not originate, Christ’s eternal divine Sonship. Must never be softened toward the pre-1946 arahitogami hereditary semi-divine-office framework. | Human theologian |
| 12 | Resurrection of Christ (Acts) | キリストの復活（使徒の働き） | High | 2:24-32; 4:33; 13:30-37; 17:18,31-32; 23:6; 24:15,21; 26:23 | NEVER 輪廻転生. Acts uniquely dramatizes 復活 as a recurring flashpoint of controversy before both pagan (Athens, ch.17) and Jewish (trial speeches, chs.23-26) audiences, making the baseline’s pop-culture “comeback” dilution risk more acute here than in Romans due to repeated narrative emphasis on unbelief and mockery. | Human theologian |
| 13 | Grace (Acts) | 恵み（使徒の働き） | Critical | 4:33; 8:18-24; 11:23; 13:43; 14:3,26; 15:11,40; 18:27; 20:24,32 | Japan’s on-giri reciprocity risk (恩・義理) applies as in Romans, but Simon Magus’s attempt to purchase the Spirit’s power (8:18-19) sharpens this into a vivid narrative proof that grace and Spirit-gifting are never transactional or purchasable. | Human theologian |
| 14 | Election and Effectual Calling (Acts) | 選びと有効召命（使徒の働き） | High | 1:24; 9:15; 13:48; 15:7 | 選び and 選びの器 (9:15) must resist Japan’s competitive exam-selection culture (受験, 選抜) especially strongly: Paul is chosen while actively persecuting the church, directly overturning any merit-based reading. | Human theologian |
| 15 | Fulfillment of Prophecy and Messianic Promise (Acts) | 預言の成就とメシアの約束（使徒の働き） | Critical | 2:16-21,25-31; 3:18,22-24; 8:32-35; 13:27,32-37; 15:15-18; 26:22-23; 28:23 | キリスト requires heavy explanatory teaching, since most secular readers know the term only as a foreign cultural brand (commercialized Christmas, wedding-chapel aesthetics), with no connection to the Jewish messianic-fulfillment content Acts repeatedly develops through OT citation. 預言者/預言 require verification of the 預 kanji (not 予) at every recurrence. | Human theologian |
| 16 | Davidic Covenant (Acts) | ダビデ契約（使徒の働き） | High | 2:25-31,34-35; 13:22-23,34-37; 15:16 | 契約 defaults to the everyday commercial-contract sense. Peter’s argument from David’s occupied tomb (2:29-31) and Paul’s citation of the Davidic promise (13:34) both require active restoration of the relational, unconditional covenant sense plus OT background explanation. | Human theologian |
| 17 | Universal Human Accountability (Acts) | 全人類の神への責任（使徒の働き） | High | 2:37; 17:30-31; 24:25 | 2:37’s “pierced to the heart” must be taught as guilt before a holy God, not public loss of face (恥) or causing 迷惑, reinforcing the Romans baseline’s shame/guilt caution with the book’s most visceral example. 17:30 extends accountability explicitly beyond ethnic Israel to a pagan Athenian audience with no OT background. | Human theologian |
| 18 | Kingdom Mission (Acts) | 神の国の使命（使徒の働き） | High | 1:3,6-8; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23,31 | 神の国 recurs at both the opening (1:6, correcting a nationalistic-restoration expectation) and closing (28:31, the book’s final theological statement) of Acts, requiring mandatory doctrinal anchoring against pre-1945 State Shinto ultranationalist resonance (神国日本) at both structural bookends. | Human theologian |
| 19 | Unity of Jews and Gentiles (Acts) | ユダヤ人と異邦人の一致（使徒の働き） | High | 10:28,34-35; 11:1-18; 15:1-29 | Peter’s vision (ch.10) and the Jerusalem Council (ch.15) directly challenge any lingering uchi-soto framing; must be translated with full theological clarity, resisting softened diplomatic language that would blunt the narrative’s deliberate confrontation of ethnic boundary-keeping. | Human theologian |
| 20 | Providence and God’s Sovereign Plan (Acts) | 神の摂理と主権的計画（使徒の働き） | High | 2:23; 4:28; 20:27; 27:1-44 | 2:23’s pairing of 摂理-adjacent vocabulary with “foreknowledge” risks sounding fortune-telling-clairvoyant (占い-adjacent) unless anchored to purposive personal governance, not impersonal fate (運命, 宿命). The shipwreck narrative (ch.27) illustrates providence narratively rather than lexically, requiring explicit teaching notes to draw the doctrinal connection. | Human theologian |
Risk Summary (matches doctrine_risk_registry.json exactly): Critical: 9 · High: 10 · Medium: 1 · Low: 0. Total requiring human theologian review: 19. Total requiring native speaker review: 1. Total automated-only: 0.
Part 2 — Chapter-by-Chapter Coverage (Acts 1–28)
Every chapter is listed explicitly, per the full-book-coverage mandate. Chapters with lighter new doctrinal load are marked “continuity chapter” rather than silently omitted.
| Ch. | Narrative Summary | Doctrines Present (risk) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ascension; the apostles’ question about restoring the kingdom; the Great Commission mandate; casting lots for Matthias | Kingdom Mission (High); Great Commission Fulfilled (High); Election and Effectual Calling (High); Providence (High, implicit) | 1:6-8 and 1:24 are structurally load-bearing for the whole book; Ascension (glossary #23) and Casting Lots (glossary #26) support these without introducing new registry doctrines. |
| 2 | Core passage. Pentecost; Joel citation; Peter’s sermon; “Lord and Christ”; “pierced to the heart”; call to repent and be baptized; birth of the church | Holy Spirit and Pentecost (Critical); Fulfillment of Prophecy and Messianic Promise (Critical); Lordship of Christ (Critical); Deity and Sonship of Christ (Critical); Davidic Covenant (High); Resurrection of Christ (High); Repentance and Baptism (Critical); Universal Human Accountability (High); Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (Critical, 2:39); Church as Community (Medium, 2:42-47) | Highest doctrinal density of any chapter in the book; anchor point for nearly every Critical-tier doctrine. |
| 3 | Healing of the lame man; Peter’s temple sermon; call to repentance; Christ as fulfillment of prophecy | Apostolic Authority and Miracles (High); Fulfillment of Prophecy (Critical); Repentance and Baptism (Critical, 3:19) | Continuity/expansion of ch.2 themes in a new narrative setting. |
| 4 | Peter and John before the Sanhedrin; boldness under pressure; believers share possessions; prayer for boldness | Persecution and Bold Witness (High); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (High); Grace (Critical, 4:33); Providence (High, 4:28); Church as Community (Medium, 4:32-35) | 4:13,29,31 establish 大胆に as a key recurring term. |
| 5 | Ananias and Sapphira; further healings; arrest and flogging; “we must obey God rather than men” | Apostolic Authority and Miracles (High); Persecution and Bold Witness (High, 5:29 especially) | Sin/holiness themes present narratively (Ananias/Sapphira) but no new registry doctrine beyond those already tracked. |
| 6 | Appointment of the Seven; Stephen accused | Church as Community (Medium); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (High, laying on of hands 6:6) | Transitional chapter preparing for ch.7. |
| 7 | Stephen’s speech and martyrdom | Persecution and Bold Witness (High); Fulfillment of Prophecy (Critical, OT historical review) | First explicit martyrdom; anchors the witness/martyr terminological split (glossary #11-12). |
| 8 | Persecution scatters the church; Philip in Samaria; Simon Magus; the Ethiopian eunuch | Apostolic Authority and Miracles (High); Grace (Critical, 8:18-24); Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (Critical, Ethiopian eunuch); Persecution and Bold Witness (High, 8:1-3); Great Commission Fulfilled (High); Repentance and Baptism (Critical, 8:36-38) | Simon Magus narrative is the book’s sharpest grace-versus-transaction test case. |
| 9 | Saul’s conversion; “Lord, who are you?”; Paul’s baptism; healing ministries of Peter | Conversion of Paul (Critical); Lordship of Christ (Critical, 9:5); Election and Effectual Calling (High, 9:15); Repentance and Baptism (Critical, 9:18); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (High, 9:32-42) | The book’s paradigm conversion narrative, later retold at chs. 22 and 26. |
| 10 | Cornelius’s vision; Peter’s vision of the sheet; “God shows no partiality”; the Spirit falls on Gentiles | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (Critical); Unity of Jews and Gentiles (High); Holy Spirit and Pentecost (Critical, 10:44-46); Church as Community (Medium, household) | The doctrinal hinge chapter for Jew-Gentile unity in the whole book. |
| 11 | Peter reports to Jerusalem; the church at Antioch; believers first called “Christians” | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (Critical, 11:18); Grace (Critical, 11:23); Church as Community (Medium, 11:26) | 11:26 introduces the Christian(s) term (glossary #29). |
| 12 | Peter’s imprisonment and miraculous escape; James’s martyrdom; Herod’s death | Persecution and Bold Witness (High); Providence (High, implicit through intercessory prayer) | Continuity chapter; reinforces providence narratively without new vocabulary. |
| 13 | Paul and Barnabas commissioned; Elymas the sorcerer; Paul’s synagogue sermon at Antioch; justification apart from the law first stated | Fulfillment of Prophecy (Critical); Justification apart from the Law (Critical, 13:38-39); Davidic Covenant (High); Grace (Critical, 13:43); Election (High, 13:48); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (High, 13:9-11); Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (Critical, 13:46-48) | The first full statement of Justification apart from the Law in Acts; theological hinge chapter alongside ch.15. |
| 14 | Miracles at Lystra; Paul and Barnabas mistaken for gods; persecution and stoning | Apostolic Authority and Miracles (High); Kingdom Mission (High, 14:22); Persecution and Bold Witness (High, 14:19); Grace (Critical, 14:3,26) | 14:11-13 is a key collision point for the 神 qualification rule (Paul/Barnabas mistaken for deities). |
| 15 | The Jerusalem Council; justification and Gentile freedom from the law; the apostolic decree | Justification apart from the Law (Critical, core); Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (Critical); Unity of Jews and Gentiles (High, core); Grace (Critical, 15:11,40); Davidic Covenant (High, 15:16); Election (High, 15:7) | The narrative resolution chapter for the book’s central Jew-Gentile/Law controversy. |
| 16 | Timothy joins Paul; Lydia’s and the jailer’s conversions and baptisms; “believe… and you will be saved, you and your household” | Repentance and Baptism (Critical, 16:31-33); Church as Community (Medium, household); Persecution and Bold Witness (High, 16:22-24); Lordship of Christ (Critical, 16:31) | 16:31’s household-salvation language requires the individual-faith clarification noted in the glossary. |
| 17 | Paul in Athens; the Areopagus address; the “unknown god”; mixed pagan response to the resurrection | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (Critical, 17:23); Universal Human Accountability (High, 17:30-31); Resurrection of Christ (High, 17:18,31-32) | The book’s clearest cross-cultural (non-Jewish, non-OT-literate) doctrinal test case; directly parallels the target audience’s own biblical illiteracy. |
| 18 | Paul in Corinth; Apollos instructed more fully; continued mission travel | Grace (Critical, 18:27); Church as Community (Medium, household) | Continuity chapter; reinforces established doctrines without new vocabulary. |
| 19 | Ephesus; disciples of John the Baptist re-baptized; the Spirit given; magic books burned; riot over Artemis | Holy Spirit and Pentecost (Critical, 19:6); Repentance and Baptism (Critical, 19:3-5); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (High, 19:11-19); Kingdom Mission (High, 19:8) | 19’s Artemis riot (not separately tracked as a registry doctrine) is useful background for the “unknown god”/idol theme carried from ch.17. |
| 20 | Paul’s farewell at Miletus; Eutychus raised; “the whole counsel of God” | Providence (High, 20:27); Grace (Critical, 20:24,32); Church as Community (Medium, 20:28) | Ties directly back to baseline 摂理 (providence) vocabulary. |
| 21 | Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem; circumcision controversy continues in practice | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (Critical); Justification apart from the Law (Critical, circumcision background); Persecution and Bold Witness (High, 21:27-36) | Continuity chapter transitioning into the trial narratives (chs.22-26). |
| 22 | Paul’s defense before the crowd; his conversion retold | Conversion of Paul (Critical, 22:3-16); Persecution and Bold Witness (High) | Second of three conversion retellings. |
| 23 | Paul before the Sanhedrin; the Pharisee-Sadducee dispute over the resurrection | Persecution and Bold Witness (High); Resurrection of Christ (High, 23:6) | 23:6-8’s Pharisee/Sadducee resurrection dispute is a useful comparative-Judaism anchor (see comparative theology document). |
| 24 | Paul before Felix; “righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment” | Persecution and Bold Witness (High); Universal Human Accountability (High, 24:25); Resurrection of Christ (High, 24:15,21); Justification apart from the Law (Critical, 24:25’s 義 usage) | 24:25 requires the mandatory Bushido-virtue distinguishing note on 義. |
| 25 | Paul before Festus and Agrippa; appeal to Caesar | Persecution and Bold Witness (High) | Continuity/transitional chapter; no new doctrinal vocabulary. |
| 26 | Paul’s defense before Agrippa; conversion retold a third time; “opening eyes, turning from darkness to light” | Conversion of Paul (Critical, 26:9-18); Resurrection of Christ (High, 26:23); Fulfillment of Prophecy (Critical, 26:22-23); Persecution and Bold Witness (High); Great Commission Fulfilled (High, 26:18 inheritance among the sanctified) | Third and most theologically developed conversion retelling; closes the Paul-conversion narrative arc. |
| 27 | Shipwreck on the voyage to Rome | Providence and God’s Sovereign Plan (High, core narrative illustration) | No new doctrinal vocabulary; providence conveyed entirely through narrative action rather than direct terminology — requires explicit teaching notes to surface the doctrinal connection. |
| 28 | Arrival in Rome; Paul’s ministry under house arrest; the book’s closing statement on the kingdom of God | Great Commission Fulfilled (High, core); Kingdom Mission (High, 28:23,31); Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (Critical, 28:28) | The book’s final theological statement (28:31) requires the same 神の国 doctrinal anchoring mandated at 1:6, bookending the entire curriculum. |
This document is fully consistent with assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json (v1, generated 2026-07-09): identical doctrine set (20 doctrines), identical risk tiers, identical review routing. No doctrine, risk level, or routing decision in this document contradicts that registry.
Cross-reference: analysis/08_core_glossary.md for term-level detail; analysis/04_comparative_theology.md for interfaith/cross-tradition interpretive comparison.
Critical Risk Doctrines
The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Japanese name: 聖霊とペンテコステ
Key terms: holy spirit, filled with the holy spirit, tongues, gift of the holy spirit, pentecost
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: 聖霊 must never appear as 霊 alone. This doctrine is the central and most frequently recurring theological content of Acts, making the risk of the Spirit being processed as one entity among Japan’s vast folk spirit-world (幽霊, 妖怪, ancestral spirits honored at Obon) especially acute given repetition. Filling with the Spirit (2:4; 4:31) must also be distinguished from folk spirit-possession vocabulary (霊が取り憑く).
The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Japanese name: ユダヤ人と異邦人への福音
Key terms: gentiles, no partiality, common/unclean, unknown god, synagogue
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Peter’s vision overturning κοινός (‘common/unclean,’ Acts 10:14-15, 28) directly intersects Shinto’s kegare (穢れ, ritual pollution) purity system, risking conflation of an abolished OT ceremonial distinction with an ongoing indigenous purity category. Acts 10:34’s unqualified divine impartiality must resist Japan’s uchi-soto (insider/outsider) social framing. Acts 17:23’s ‘unknown god’ bridge to Japan’s yaoyorozu no kami tradition is uniquely apt but requires the baseline’s mandatory 唯一のまことの神 qualifying language to avoid presenting the true God as merely one more identified kami.
Repentance and Baptism
Japanese name: 悔い改めとバプテスマ
Key terms: repentance, baptism, forgiveness of sins
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: 悔い改め risks collapse into 反省 (secular self-reflection/regret common in Japanese apology culture) or 懺悔 (Buddhist ritual confession), both of which lack the necessary Godward whole-person reorientation. バプテスマ risks conflation with Shinto ritual water-purification (清め／禊), which addresses ceremonial pollution rather than forgiveness of sin before a holy, personal God. 罪の赦しのために (Acts 2:38) additionally risks an implicit works-righteousness reading in which baptism itself earns forgiveness rather than accompanying it as the God-ordained response of faith.
Conversion of Paul
Japanese name: パウロの回心
Key terms: conversion, chosen instrument, opening eyes/darkness to light, lord, who are you
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: 回心 (kaishin), the standard theological term, is also ordinary secular Japanese vocabulary for any decisive change of opinion or attitude (e.g., a political conversion), risking a merely psychological rather than Spirit-wrought reading of this paradigm conversion narrative, told three times in the book. 選びの器 (Acts 9:15) must resist Japan’s competitive exam-selection framing (受験, 選抜), since Paul is chosen despite active persecution of the church, not because of merit — a vivid illustration of grace and election together.
Justification apart from the Law
Japanese name: 律法によらない義認
Key terms: justification, law, circumcision, righteousness
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: 義と認められること must retain its forensic ‘declared righteous’ sense against any collapse into 悟りを開く (Buddhist enlightenment-through-practice) when paired with 律法 in this justification-by-faith-not-law context. 義 (righteousness, also at Acts 24:25) requires the baseline’s mandatory distinguishing note against the Bushido-virtue sense of moral courage/rectitude. The Jerusalem Council’s ruling (ch. 15) is the narrative capstone resolving whether Gentile believers must keep Mosaic law — a direct forerunner of the doctrine later systematized in Romans.
Lordship of Christ (Acts)
Japanese name: キリストの主権（使徒の働き）
Key terms: lord, jesus is lord, lord, who are you
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Acts 2:34-35’s citation of Psalm 110 places YHWH (‘the LORD’) and the Messiah (‘my Lord’) side by side, both rendered identically as 主 in Japanese without English’s LORD/Lord capitalization convention — requires a translator’s note distinguishing the two referents. Acts 9:5’s Saul addressing the risen Jesus as κύριε functions initially as generic respectful address (‘sir/master’) before resolving into full confession, an important teaching distinction from the exclusive-Lordship confession sense established in Romans 10:9 and echoed at Acts 2:36.
Deity and Sonship of Christ (Acts)
Japanese name: キリストの神性と子としての身分（使徒の働き）
Key terms: son of god, made him lord and christ, declared son
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Acts 2:36’s climactic ‘God made him both Lord and Christ’ requires an explanatory note guarding against an adoptionist misreading — the resurrection/exaltation publicly vindicates and installs, but does not originate, Christ’s eternal divine Sonship. Must never be softened toward the pre-1946 arahitogami (living-god emperor) framework of a hereditary semi-divine office conferred by installation, per the baseline’s mandatory caution.
Grace (Acts)
Japanese name: 恵み（使徒の働き）
Key terms: grace, gift of the holy spirit, magic/sorcery
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Japan’s on-giri reciprocal-obligation system (恩・義理) risk applies as in the Romans baseline, but Acts 8’s Simon Magus narrative sharpens this into a distinct new domain — his attempt to purchase the Spirit’s power (8:18-19) is directly condemned, making this the clearest possible narrative proof that grace and Spirit-gifting are never transactional or purchasable, reinforcing rather than merely repeating the baseline’s caution.
Fulfillment of Prophecy and Messianic Promise (Acts)
Japanese name: 預言の成就とメシアの約束（使徒の働き）
Key terms: messiah/christ, prophet, prophecy, seed of david
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: キリスト requires heavy explanatory teaching per baseline, since most secular Japanese readers know the term only as a foreign cultural brand (commercialized Christmas, wedding-chapel aesthetics) with no connection to the Jewish messianic-fulfillment content Acts repeatedly develops through OT citation (Joel, Psalms, Isaiah). 預言者/預言 require verification of the 預 kanji (not 予, the fortune-telling homophone) at every recurrence throughout the book.
High Risk Doctrines
Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Japanese name: 使徒の権威と奇跡
Key terms: signs and wonders, in the name of jesus, laying on of hands, magic/sorcery, whole counsel of god
Review routing: Human theologian
イエスの名によって (healing formula, 3:6; 4:10; 16:18) risks conflation with magical name-invocation formulas from Japanese folk-magic traditions (陰陽師) and pop-culture ‘power word’ tropes rather than authorized action under Christ’s Lordship. 手を置く (laying on of hands, 6:6; 8:17; 13:3; 19:6) risks conflation with Buddhist esoteric kaji (加持) hand-laying rites understood to transmit a practitioner’s own spiritual attainment. 魔術 (Simon Magus, ch. 8; Ephesian magic books, ch. 19) requires care to condemn manipulative purchasable spiritual power broadly, without singling out Japan’s own indigenous occult heritage as the sole referent of derision.
Persecution and Bold Witness
Japanese name: 迫害と大胆な証し
Key terms: boldness, witness, martyr, sanhedrin, obey god rather than men
Review routing: Human theologian
大胆に (boldness) risks being processed as socially inappropriate self-assertion given Japan’s strong conformity culture (‘the nail that sticks out gets hammered down’), rather than Spirit-empowered courage. 証人 (witness) risks a merely legal-courtroom reading; Japanese vocabulary formally separates witness (証人) from martyr (殉教者) where Greek uses a single word family, requiring explicit teaching of the conceptual link, especially dramatized at Stephen’s death (ch. 7). Acts 5:29’s ‘obey God rather than men’ is a genuinely counter-cultural claim given Japan’s hierarchical-obedience culture (already flagged in the Romans baseline’s Obedience of Faith entry) and requires careful, non-inflammatory framing.
The Great Commission Fulfilled
Japanese name: 大宣教命令の実現
Key terms: to the end(s) of the earth, kingdom of god, inheritance among the sanctified, mission
Review routing: Human theologian
地の果てまで (Acts 1:8) must be read as literal global scope, structuring the book’s Jerusalem-to-Rome narrative arc, not poetic hyperbole. 神の国 bookends the entire book (Acts 1:6; 28:31) and requires the baseline’s mandatory doctrinal anchoring against pre-1945 State Shinto ultranationalist resonance (神国日本) at both the opening (where the disciples’ nationalistic question is directly corrected) and the closing (the book’s final theological statement, disproportionately shaping the reader’s takeaway impression).
Resurrection of Christ (Acts)
Japanese name: キリストの復活（使徒の働き）
Key terms: resurrection, raised
Review routing: Human theologian
NEVER 輪廻転生. Acts uniquely dramatizes 復活 as a recurring flashpoint of controversy and mockery before both pagan (Athens, ch. 17) and Jewish (trial speeches, chs. 23-26) audiences, reinforcing the baseline’s warning that teaching must actively and repeatedly restore the term’s doctrinal weight against its secular pop-culture ‘comeback’ dilution — the repetition of unbelief across multiple chapters makes this dilution risk more acute in Acts than in Romans.
Election and Effectual Calling (Acts)
Japanese name: 選びと有効召命（使徒の働き）
Key terms: election, called, chosen instrument
Review routing: Human theologian
選び (election) and 選びの器 (chosen instrument, Acts 9:15) must resist Japan’s competitive-exam-selection culture (受験, 選抜) especially strongly here: Paul is chosen while actively persecuting the church, directly overturning any merit-based reading of ‘selection’ the Japanese vocabulary might otherwise suggest.
Davidic Covenant (Acts)
Japanese name: ダビデ契約（使徒の働き）
Key terms: david, covenant, seed of david
Review routing: Human theologian
契約 defaults to the everyday commercial-contract sense in modern Japanese; Peter’s argument from David’s occupied tomb (Acts 2:29-31) and Paul’s citation of the Davidic promise (13:34) both require active restoration of the relational, unconditional covenant sense, plus full OT background explanation for a biblically illiterate audience.
Universal Human Accountability (Acts)
Japanese name: 全人類の神への責任（使徒の働き）
Key terms: pierced to the heart, times of ignorance, repent
Review routing: Human theologian
Acts 2:37’s vivid ‘pierced to the heart’ image of conviction must be taught as guilt before a holy God, not public loss of face (恥) or having caused 迷惑 to the crowd, reinforcing the Romans baseline’s shame/guilt cultural caution with the book’s most visceral narrative example. Acts 17:30’s universal call to repentance, addressed to a pagan Athenian audience with no OT background at all, extends this accountability explicitly beyond ethnic Israel.
Kingdom Mission (Acts)
Japanese name: 神の国の使命（使徒の働き）
Key terms: kingdom of god, restoring the kingdom
Review routing: Human theologian
神の国 recurs at both the opening (1:6, where it directly corrects a nationalistic-restoration expectation) and the closing (28:31, the book’s final theological statement) of Acts, requiring the baseline’s mandatory doctrinal anchoring against pre-1945 State Shinto ultranationalist resonance (神国日本) at both structural bookends of the entire curriculum book.
Unity of Jews and Gentiles (Acts)
Japanese name: ユダヤ人と異邦人の一致（使徒の働き）
Key terms: no partiality, common/unclean, circumcision, gentiles
Review routing: Human theologian
Peter’s vision (ch. 10) and the Jerusalem Council’s ruling (ch. 15) directly challenge any lingering uchi-soto insider/outsider framing; must be translated with full theological clarity, resisting any softened diplomatic language that would blunt the narrative’s deliberate confrontation of ethnic boundary-keeping.
Providence and God’s Sovereign Plan (Acts)
Japanese name: 神の摂理と主権的計画（使徒の働き）
Key terms: determined plan and foreknowledge, whole counsel of god
Review routing: Human theologian
Acts 2:23’s pairing of 摂理-adjacent vocabulary with 予知 (‘foreknowledge’) risks sounding like fortune-telling clairvoyance (占い-adjacent) if not anchored to purposive personal governance rather than impersonal fate (運命, 宿命); the shipwreck narrative (ch. 27) illustrates providential care through narrative rather than direct vocabulary, requiring teaching notes to draw out the doctrinal connection explicitly.
Medium Risk Doctrines
The Church as Community
Japanese name: 共同体としての教会
Key terms: fellowship, breaking of bread, holding all things common, household, the way, christians
Review routing: Native speaker review
Fellowship (交わり) risks collapse into 仲間意識 (generic in-group harmony from Japan’s wa culture) rather than doctrinally-anchored gospel community. 持ち物を共有していた (‘holding all things common,’ 2:44-45; 4:32-35) risks a collectivist misreading given regional historical associations with state-imposed collectivism, and must be taught as voluntary, Spirit-motivated generosity. 家族 (household, ch. 10, 16, 18) risks a misreading via Japan’s ie household-continuity tradition implying automatic corporate salvation transferred through the household head.
Referenced passages