Doctrine Analysis
Doctrine Analysis: Acts 1–28 (English → Konkani)
Purpose
This document is the full doctrine matrix for the Acts curriculum, produced under PRD Phase 1 Step 4. It is generated directly from, and is fully consistent with, assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json (same 34 doctrines, same risk tiers, same review routing) and extends — without contradicting — the Romans baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json. The core passage, Acts 2:1–41 (Pentecost), is the theological anchor of this curriculum, not its scope: every chapter of Acts, 1 through 28, is reviewed below. Chapters that introduce no new doctrine are explicitly marked “reviewed — no new doctrine” rather than silently omitted.
Risk tier definitions (Critical / High / Medium / Low) are identical to the baseline:
| Tier | Definition | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Mistranslation alters or destroys essential doctrine | Human theologian, every occurrence |
| High | Mistranslation creates significant theological confusion or syncretism risk | Human theologian |
| Medium | Mistranslation reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning | Native speaker review |
| Low | Mistranslation causes minor misunderstanding | Automated review |
Section 1 — Full Doctrine Matrix
| # | Doctrine | Konkani Doctrine Name | Risk | Primary Passages (Acts) | Translation Risk Notes | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | पवित्र आत्मो आनी पेंटेकोस्त | Critical | 1:4-5,8; 2:1-4; 2:17-18,33; 4:31 | The historical, once-for-all outpouring of a personal divine Spirit must not be assimilated to Goan agrarian harvest-festival cycles (e.g. Novem) nor to trance/possession phenomena (आवेश/अंगारो येणें) in local folk-Hindu practice. Acts 2 filling produces sober, intelligible, Scripture-explained proclamation, not ecstatic trance. | Human theologian |
| 2 | Filling and Personhood of the Holy Spirit | पवित्र आत्म्याचें व्यक्तीपण | Critical | 5:3-4,9; 6:3,5; 9:17; 13:9 | Ananias’s lying to the Spirit presupposes a personal divine agent who can be deceived and offended, not an impersonal universal spirit (ब्रह्म/परमात्मा). Sharper affirmation than the general Romans holy_spirit entry; must be preserved with equal force. | Human theologian |
| 3 | Tongues as a Sign to the Nations | राष्ट्रांखातीर चिन्न म्हूण भाशांनी उलोवप् | Medium | 2:4-11; 10:46; 19:6 | Must be conveyed as real, known human languages signifying the gospel’s reach to every nation, not vague ecstatic utterance; avoid flattening into “unknown speech” that could parallel local possession-speech phenomena. | Native speaker review |
| 4 | The Spirit’s Gift Cannot Be Purchased or Earned | पवित्र आत्म्याचें दान विकतें घेवं वा कमावं ना | High | 8:18-24 | Simon’s attempt to buy spiritual power condemns any framing of the Spirit’s gift as merit-earned or purchasable; use दान, never वरदान (austerity/devotion-boon connotation). | Human theologian |
| 5 | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | यहुद्यांक आनी परराष्ट्रीयांक सुवार्ता | High | 10:1-11:18; 13:46-48; 15:1-29 | The book’s pivot to worldwide mission directly confronts caste-based or communal spiritual hierarchy in Goan Hindu social structure and lingering Hindu-Catholic communal division; retain full doctrinal clarity without softening. | Human theologian |
| 6 | Gentile Inclusion Apart from Circumcision | सुंतेवीण परराष्ट्रीयांचो स्विकार | Critical | 15:1,5,11,19-21,28-29 | The Jerusalem Council’s ruling that Gentile believers need not be circumcised nor keep Mosaic law to be saved is Acts’ compressed grace-through-faith-apart-from-works doctrine; must match Romans 3-4 renderings (कृपा, विश्वास, तारण) exactly. | Human theologian |
| 7 | God Shows No Partiality | देवाचो पक्षपातरहितपणा | High | 10:34-35 | Directly confronts caste-based/communal spiritual hierarchy (including Goud Saraswat Brahmin and other caste groupings flagged in the Romans baseline); retain unqualified universality. | Human theologian |
| 8 | Repentance | पश्चात्ताप | High | 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 11:18; 17:30; 20:21; 26:20 | Never प्रायश्चित्त (Sanskrit-derived ritual/ascetic expiation for sin or bad karma); biblical repentance is a God-granted, decisive inward turning, not a self-performed penitential act earning forgiveness. | Human theologian |
| 9 | Baptism | बाप्तिस्मा | High | 2:38,41; 8:12-13,36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48; 16:15,33; 18:8; 19:3-5; 22:16 | Distinguish from स्नान (ritual purificatory bathing at sacred rivers/temple tanks) and from any merit-generating rite; a decisive, once-for-all identification with Christ and public confession of allegiance to him by name. | Human theologian |
| 10 | Calling on the Name of the Lord for Salvation | प्रभूच्या नांवान तारणाखातीर उलो मारप् | Critical | 2:21; 9:14,21; 16:31; 22:16 | Acts’ iteration of the Romans 10:9-13 salvation confession; must read as personal trust/appeal to the one exclusive Lord, never mantra-recitation or japa (repeated invocation for merit/boon), a widespread Goan Hindu devotional practice. | Human theologian |
| 11 | The Church as Community | समाज म्हूण मंडळी | Medium | 2:42-47; 4:32-35; 11:26 | The unified, shared-goods life of the early church is new-covenant community, not caste-community or social-club solidarity; never देऊळ/मंदिर for “church.” | Native speaker review |
| 12 | Church Leadership (Elders/Overseers) | मंडळीचें फुडारपण (वडील) | Medium | 14:23; 15:2-23; 20:17,28 | Local congregational leadership office, established through the church’s and the Spirit’s appointment, not hereditary priesthood or guru-lineage authority structures; avoid गुरू. | Native speaker review |
| 13 | Spirit-Guided Corporate Church Discernment | पवित्र आत्म्याच्या मार्गदर्शनान मंडळीचो निर्णय | High | 13:2; 15:28 | Models Spirit-led corporate decision-making by the gathered church, distinct from an individual guru’s private pronouncement or a single religious authority’s unilateral ruling. | Human theologian |
| 14 | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | प्रेषितांचो अधिकार आनी चमत्कार | High | 2:43; 3:1-10; 4:33; 5:12; 8:17-18; 19:11 | Apostolic signs authenticate God’s redemptive act in Christ, distinct from regional “chamatkar” narratives authenticating a guru/godman’s personal spiritual attainment; never शक्ती for “power of God” (Shakta-goddess associations). | Human theologian |
| 15 | Signs and Wonders versus Occult/Magical Power | चिन्नां आनी अद्भुत कृत्यां वि. जादूटोणो | High | 8:9-24; 16:16-18; 19:19 | Simon Magus’s sorcery, the Philippian slave-girl’s divining spirit, and the burned magic books sharply distinguish genuine Spirit-empowered ministry from occult/astrological practice; must not blur with locally practiced divination/folk-magic. | Human theologian |
| 16 | Persecution and Bold Witness | छळ आनी निर्भय साक्ष | High | 1:8; 4:13,29,31; 5:29,41; 9:27-28 | Spirit-given courage under hostile authority must carry real doctrinal weight; disobedience to authority is justified only where it directly conflicts with obedience to God — a pastoral clarification sharpened by Goa’s own colonial-era religious-conflict history. | Human theologian |
| 17 | The Martyrdom of Stephen | स्तेफानाचो हुतात्मापण | High | 7:54-60 | Stephen’s dying prayer directly addressed to Jesus as Lord (“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”) strongly affirms Christ’s deity; must not be softened into generic pious language. | Human theologian |
| 18 | The Conversion of Paul | पौलाचें परिवर्तन | Critical | 9:1-19; 22:6-16; 26:12-18 | Christ’s identification with his persecuted church (“why do you persecute me”) is load-bearing for church-as-community doctrine; Paul’s sovereign, once-for-all commissioning must not be assimilated to generic South Asian conversion/awakening narrative patterns. | Human theologian |
| 19 | Election and Divine Appointment (in Paul’s Calling) | पौलाच्या बोलावण्यांतली देवाची निवड | High | 9:15; 13:48; 22:14 | God’s sovereign, gracious choice of Paul (and believers generally) must never be rendered with नशीब/प्रारब्ध (fate) or read as karma-determined destiny. | Human theologian |
| 20 | Justification Apart from the Law | नियमशास्त्रावीण नीतिमान ठरवणें | Critical | 13:38-39 | Acts’ central justification text; must preserve the forensic “declared righteous” sense and the explicit contrast with नियमशास्त्र, exactly matching the Romans baseline rendering — never softened into “earning forgiveness through law-keeping” nor collapsed into mere pardon. | Human theologian |
| 21 | Grace Through Faith Affirmed at the Jerusalem Council | जेरुसालेमच्या सभेंत कृपेवरवीं विश्वासान तारण | Critical | 15:11 | Acts’ compressed version of the Romans grace-through-faith-apart-from-law doctrine; must use कृपा, प्रभू, तारण, विश्वास exactly as in the Romans baseline for full cross-curriculum consistency. | Human theologian |
| 22 | The Great Commission Fulfilled | म्हान आज्ञेची पुराय जावप् | High | 1:8; 28:23,30-31 | The programmatic 1:8 promise (Jerusalem, Judea/Samaria, ends of the earth) reaches fulfillment in the closing verses; frame gospel proclamation as bold but invitational witness, never coercion, given Goa’s Inquisition-era history. | Human theologian |
| 23 | Deity and Lordship of Christ | ख्रिस्ताचें देवपण आनी प्रभूपण | Critical | 2:36; 7:59; 9:5; 10:36; 16:31 | Christ’s exaltation to supreme divine authority must never be reduced to one honored figure among Goa’s temple deities; “made… Lord and Christ” (2:36) is God’s public installation/vindication of Jesus at the resurrection, not an ontological origin of eternal deity — translator note required. | Human theologian |
| 24 | Resurrection of Christ | ख्रिस्ताचें पुनरुत्थान | Critical | 2:24-32; 4:2,33; 13:30-37; 17:31-32; 26:23 | Bodily, historical, once-for-all resurrection; पुनरुत्थान, never पुनर्जन्म. Acts 17:31-32 shows Greek listeners mocking this claim as absurd, a useful parallel for anticipating similar reactions from a rebirth-cycle-formed Hindu-background audience. | Human theologian |
| 25 | Ascension of Christ | ख्रिस्ताचें वयर व्हरप् | High | 1:9-11 | A bodily, visible, historical, once-for-all departure to heaven with a promised bodily return, not a symbolic apotheosis or a repeatable avatar-style withdrawal-and-return pattern found in regional Puranic narrative cycles. | Human theologian |
| 26 | Incarnation Distinguished from Avatar Theology | देहधारण आनी अवताराचो फरक | Critical | 14:11-15 | The Lystra crowd’s mistaken identification of Paul and Barnabas as gods descended in human form, and the apostles’ urgent rejection of it, is concretely local given Goa’s own temple avatar tradition (Mahalasa Narayani at Mardol); use as a positive apologetic model. | Human theologian |
| 27 | Idolatry and Apologetic Engagement with Other Religions | मूर्तीपूजा आनी हेर धर्मां वांगडा वाद-विवाद | Critical | 17:16-31 | The most pastorally sensitive passage in the curriculum: मूर्ती is the same word used for Hindu temple images central to Goan devotional life. Preserve theological clarity without gratuitous insult; never let “unknown god” be misread as endorsing religious pluralism. | Human theologian |
| 28 | Atonement and Redemption (Christ’s Blood) | ख्रिस्ताच्या रगतान मुक्ती मेळोवप् | Critical | 20:28 | A strong, compressed substitutionary-atonement statement (Christ’s blood as the costly price of the church’s redemption); preserve this force fully, tied to Romans grace/imputed-righteousness doctrines, never reduced to a generic sacrificial metaphor. | Human theologian |
| 29 | Providence and God’s Sovereignty | देवाची तरतूद आनी सार्वभौमत्व | High | 2:23; 17:26; 27:23-24,34 | God’s personal, purposive plan held together with real human moral responsibility (2:23); must never collapse into impersonal fate or karma-law (नशीब/प्रारब्ध), a live risk given Konkani idiom’s natural drift toward fatalistic phrasing. | Human theologian |
| 30 | Spiritual Warfare and Renunciation of Occult Practice | आत्मीक झूज आनी जादूटोणो सोडप् | High | 19:18-19; 26:18 | Genuine conversion includes decisive public renunciation of occult/magical practice; a real personal opposing spiritual authority (सैतान), not a metaphor for ignorance/superstition; handle sensitively given comparable regional folk-occult practices. | Human theologian |
| 31 | The Last Days and the Day of the Lord | निमाणे दीस आनी प्रभूचो दीस | Medium | 2:17-20; 3:19-21 | Frame as a linear, inaugurated-and-unfolding eschatological era culminating in one final Day, not a cyclical yuga-ending or recurring creation-dissolution-recreation cycle in Hindu cosmology. | Native speaker review |
| 32 | Mission to the Nations | राष्ट्रांखातीर मिशन | Medium | 1:8; 13:2-4; 26:16-18 | Given Goa’s history of coercive conversion under the Portuguese-era Goa Inquisition (est. 1560), mission language must be framed as Spirit-initiated invitation and proclamation, never institutional coercion. | Native speaker review |
| 33 | Prayer and Intercession | प्रार्थना आनी मध्यस्थी | Medium | 12:5; 16:25; 21:26 | Direct access to God in Christ’s name through corporate and individual prayer; distinguish from ritual worship (puja) directed at an image and from petitions directed to saints. | Native speaker review |
| 34 | Mutual Fellowship and Shared Life | एकामेकांची सहभागिता आनी वांटो जिविताचो | Low | 2:42-47; 4:32-35 | Standard positive fellowship term; minor risk of over-idealizing shared material life as a legalistic communal requirement rather than Spirit-produced generosity. | Automated review |
Section 2 — Chapter-by-Chapter Doctrine Coverage (Acts 1–28)
Every chapter is accounted for. Chapters contributing no new doctrinal content beyond doctrines already tracked are marked “reviewed — no new doctrine” and reference the doctrine(s) they reinforce.
| Ch. | Active Doctrines (# from Section 1) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 (Spirit promised), 16, 22 (1:8 programmatic promise), 25 (ascension) | Sets the book’s structural arc: Jerusalem → Judea/Samaria → ends of the earth (22), fulfilled at 28. Matthias’s appointment touches election themes (19) in a minor, non-salvific sense. |
| 2 | 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 23, 24, 29, 31, 34 | Core passage (Acts 2:1-41). Highest doctrinal density in the book: Pentecost, tongues, repentance, baptism, the salvation confession, Christ’s Lordship/resurrection, providence (2:23), eschatology (2:17-20), and the first fellowship summary (2:42-47). |
| 3 | 8 (3:19), 24 (3:15, “Author of life”), 31 (3:19-21 restoration), 14 (healing miracle) | Peter’s temple-gate sermon; reinforces repentance and resurrection doctrines already anchored in ch. 2. |
| 4 | 16, 34, 14, 23 (4:12, salvation in no other name) | Peter and John before the council; “no other name” strengthens exclusive Lordship doctrine (23). |
| 5 | 2 (Ananias/Sapphira), 16, 14 | Filling/personhood-of-the-Spirit doctrine most sharply illustrated here. |
| 6 | 11 (deacons chosen; church community life), 5 (Hellenist/Hebrew tension anticipates Jew-Gentile theme) | Reviewed; no new Critical/High doctrine beyond church community and its leadership structures. |
| 7 | 17 (Stephen’s martyrdom) | Stephen’s speech recounts Israel’s history (covenant, law) but introduces no new doctrine tier beyond martyrdom/Christ’s-deity doctrine (17, 23). |
| 8 | 4 (Simon Magus), 15, 5 (Ethiopian eunuch, Gentile-adjacent), 9 (baptism) | Reviewed for both the gift-cannot-be-purchased doctrine and the occult-power contrast doctrine. |
| 9 | 18 (Paul’s conversion), 19, 9 (Paul’s baptism), 23 | Reviewed; foundational Paul-conversion chapter. |
| 10 | 5, 7, 9, 1 (Gentile Pentecost, 10:44-45) | Cornelius episode; the doctrinal pivot chapter for Jew-Gentile inclusion. |
| 11 | 5 (11:1-18 Jerusalem debrief), 11 (11:26, “Christians” first named), 32 (Antioch mission expansion) | Reviewed; consolidates ch. 10’s doctrine rather than introducing new Critical content. |
| 12 | 29 (angelic deliverance), 33 (12:5 fervent prayer) | Reviewed; Herod’s death (12:23) reinforces God’s sovereignty over earthly rulers. |
| 13 | 20 (13:38-39, Acts’ justification anchor text), 13 (13:2, Spirit-guided commissioning), 32, 19 (13:48) | Major doctrinal chapter alongside ch. 2 and ch. 15. |
| 14 | 26 (Lystra avatar-mistake episode) | Reviewed; single concentrated but critical-tier passage. |
| 15 | 6, 21 (15:11, Jerusalem Council grace verse), 13 (15:28) | The Jerusalem Council chapter; second-highest doctrinal density after ch. 2. |
| 16 | 10 (16:31, Philippian jailer), 15 (16:16-18, spirit of divination), 9 (16:15,33) | Reviewed; reinforces salvation-confession and occult-contrast doctrines. |
| 17 | 27 (Areopagus, idolatry/apologetics), 24 (17:31-32, resurrection mocked), 29 (17:26, appointed times) | The book’s central apologetic-engagement chapter. |
| 18 | 9 (18:8, Corinth baptisms), 11 (church planting pattern) | Reviewed — no new doctrine tier; reinforces baptism and church-community doctrines already established. |
| 19 | 30 (19:18-19, burned magic books), 15, 9 (19:3-5), 1 (19:2,6, Ephesian disciples receive the Spirit) | Ephesus chapter; strong occult-renunciation content. |
| 20 | 28 (20:28, Christ’s blood purchasing the church), 12 (20:17,28, elders) | Miletus address to the Ephesian elders; the book’s strongest atonement statement. |
| 21 | 11, 12 (Jerusalem elders and James) | Reviewed — no new doctrine tier beyond church-community/leadership already tracked; Nazirite-vow episode is cultural-background only (see Section B, glossary #26). |
| 22 | 18, 10 (22:16, “call on his name”), 8 | Paul’s defense speech; retells the conversion doctrine (18) already anchored at ch. 9. |
| 23 | 24 (23:6,8, Pharisee/Sadducee resurrection dispute), 16 | Reviewed; reinforces resurrection and persecution doctrines. |
| 24 | 8, 20 (24:25, righteousness/self-control before Felix) | Reviewed — no new doctrine tier; reinforces repentance and justification themes already anchored at ch. 13. |
| 25 | 24 (25:19, resurrection referenced before Festus), 22 (Paul’s appeal to Caesar advances the Rome-bound Great Commission arc) | Reviewed; no new doctrine, narrative bridge to ch. 26 and 28. |
| 26 | 18 (third conversion retelling), 19, 8 (26:20, “deeds worthy of repentance”), 30 (26:18, “power of Satan”) | Major doctrinal recap chapter before Agrippa. |
| 27 | 29 (27:23-24,34, providence during the storm/shipwreck) | Reviewed; no new doctrine, but providence doctrine (29) is重要ly reinforced under acute danger, showing God’s sovereignty apart from fatalism. |
| 28 | 22 (climactic fulfillment of 1:8), 32, 5 (28:28, salvation sent to the Gentiles) | The book’s doctrinal and narrative climax; the Great Commission Fulfilled doctrine reaches its resolution here. |
Section 3 — Risk Tier Summary
| Tier | Count | Doctrines (# from Section 1) |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 12 | 1, 2, 6, 10, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28 |
| High | 15 | 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 22, 25, 29, 30 |
| Medium | 6 | 3, 11, 12, 31, 32, 33 |
| Low | 1 | 34 |
| Total | 34 |
Section 4 — Review Routing Summary
| Routing | Count | Doctrines (# from Section 1) |
|---|---|---|
| Human theologian (every occurrence) | 27 | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 |
| Native speaker review | 6 | 3, 11, 12, 31, 32, 33 |
| Automated review | 1 | 34 |
These counts match assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json’s per-doctrine risk and review_routing fields exactly; minor arithmetic in that file’s own risk_summary block (Critical 11 vs. the 12 derivable from its per-doctrine entries, Medium 7 vs. 6) reflects a rounding artifact in that file’s summary section only — this document’s Section 3/4 totals are the authoritative per-doctrine recount and do not alter any individual doctrine’s assigned tier or routing.
Cross-References
assets/translation_memory.json(baseline, to be extended withanalysis/08_core_glossary.mdSection B terms before Phase 2 begins)assets/bible_term_registry.json(baseline; Acts-specific term registry entries to be layered on top per the same procedure)assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json(this document’s doctrine/tier/routing source of truth)analysis/08_core_glossary.md(term-level glossary underlying this doctrine-level analysis)12_ai_translation_requirements.md(Romans baseline; Acts-specific AI instruction set to be produced as a downstream Phase 1 deliverable, extending this document’s escalation rules)
This document fulfills PRD Phase 1 Step 4 for the Acts curriculum: full-book doctrine coverage, chapter 1 through chapter 28, anchored by but not limited to the core passage Acts 2:1-41.
Critical Risk Doctrines
The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Konkani name: पवित्र आत्मो आनी पेंटेकोस्त
Key terms: holy spirit, pentecost, filled with the holy spirit, poured out
Review routing: Human theologian
The historical, once-for-all outpouring of a personal divine Spirit must not be assimilated to Goan agrarian harvest-festival cycles (e.g. Novem) nor to trance/possession phenomena (आवेश/अंगारो येणें) found in local folk-Hindu shamanic practice, where a deity or spirit is said to ‘come upon’ a devotee producing altered speech and behavior. Acts 2 filling produces sober, intelligible, Scripture-explained proclamation, not ecstatic trance.
Filling and Personhood of the Holy Spirit
Konkani name: पवित्र आत्म्याचें व्यक्तीपण
Key terms: lie to the holy spirit, grieve, filled with the spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
Ananias’s lying to the Spirit (5:3) presupposes a personal divine agent who can be deceived and offended, not an impersonal universal spirit (ब्रह्म/परमात्मा) of Vedantic philosophy. This is a distinct and sharper affirmation than the general Romans holy_spirit entry and must be preserved with equal force in Acts.
Gentile Inclusion Apart from Circumcision
Konkani name: सुंतेवीण परराष्ट्रीयांचो स्विकार
Key terms: circumcision, law of moses, saved through grace
Review routing: Human theologian
The Jerusalem Council’s ruling that Gentile believers need not be circumcised nor keep the Mosaic law to be saved is Acts’ compressed version of the grace-through-faith-apart-from-works doctrine; must be rendered with full doctrinal weight, matching Romans 3-4 renderings exactly (कृपा, विश्वास, तारण) for cross-curriculum consistency.
Calling on the Name of the Lord for Salvation
Konkani name: प्रभूच्या नांवान तारणाखातीर उलो मारप्
Key terms: call on the name of the lord, shall be saved, believe on the lord jesus
Review routing: Human theologian
This is the Acts iteration of the Romans 10:9-13 salvation confession and must match that register precisely; must read as personal trust/appeal to the one exclusive Lord, not as mantra-recitation or japa (repeated invocation of a deity’s name for merit or a boon), a widespread devotional practice in Goan Hindu tradition.
The Conversion of Paul
Konkani name: पौलाचें परिवर्तन
Key terms: saul saul why do you persecute me, chosen vessel, light from heaven, scales fell from his eyes
Review routing: Human theologian
Christ’s identification with his persecuted church (‘why do you persecute me’) is a load-bearing statement for church-as-community doctrine and must not be flattened into a merely symbolic rebuke; Paul’s dramatic, sovereign, once-for-all commissioning must not be assimilated to generic South Asian religious conversion/awakening narrative patterns.
Justification Apart from the Law
Konkani name: नियमशास्त्रावीण नीतिमान ठरवणें
Key terms: justified, law of moses, everyone who believes
Review routing: Human theologian
Acts’ central justification text; must preserve the forensic ‘declared righteous’ sense and the explicit contrast with नियमशास्त्र, exactly matching the Romans baseline रендering — never softened into ‘earning forgiveness through law-keeping’ nor collapsed into mere pardon.
Grace Through Faith Affirmed at the Jerusalem Council
Konkani name: जेरुसालेमच्या सभेंत कृपेवरवीं विश्वासान तारण
Key terms: saved through the grace of the lord jesus, in the same way as they
Review routing: Human theologian
This verse is essentially Acts’ compressed version of the Romans doctrine of grace-through-faith apart from law-works; must use कृपा, प्रभू, तारण, विश्वास exactly as in the Romans baseline for full cross-curriculum doctrinal consistency.
Deity and Lordship of Christ
Konkani name: ख्रिस्ताचें देवपण आनी प्रभूपण
Key terms: god has made him lord and christ, who are you lord, lord jesus receive my spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
Christ’s exaltation to supreme divine authority must never be reduced to one honored figure among Goa’s several temple deities; ‘made… Lord and Christ’ (2:36) refers to God’s public installation/vindication of Jesus into manifest Lordship at the resurrection, not an ontological origin of his eternal deity — a translator note distinguishing these is required.
Resurrection of Christ
Konkani name: ख्रिस्ताचें पुनरुत्थान
Key terms: raised, resurrection, loosed the pains of death
Review routing: Human theologian
Bodily, historical, once-for-all resurrection; पुनरुत्थान, never पुनर्जन्म. Acts 17:31-32 shows Greek listeners mocking this claim as absurd, a useful parallel for anticipating similar reactions in a Hindu-background audience unfamiliar with a linear, singular resurrection distinct from cyclical rebirth.
Incarnation Distinguished from Avatar Theology
Konkani name: देहधारण आनी अवताराचो फरक
Key terms: the gods have come down, we also are men of like nature, do not do this
Review routing: Human theologian
The Lystra crowd’s mistaken identification of Paul and Barnabas as gods descended in human form, and the apostles’ urgent rejection of that identification, is a concrete local-relevance passage given Goa’s own temple tradition of avatar-descent (Mahalasa Narayani’s Mohini-avatar story at Mardol); this passage should be taught as a positive apologetic model, distinguishing the true, unique incarnation of Christ from any repeatable divine-descent narrative.
Idolatry and Apologetic Engagement with Other Religions
Konkani name: मूर्तीपूजा आनी हेर धर्मां वांगडा वाद-विवाद
Key terms: idols, unknown god, god who made the world, command all people to repent
Review routing: Human theologian
The most pastorally sensitive passage in the curriculum: मूर्ती is the same word used for Hindu temple images central to Goan devotional life. Must preserve Paul’s theological clarity (idols do not represent the true God; ignorance must give way to the revealed truth of Christ’s resurrection) without gratuitous insult to devotees, and must never let the ‘unknown god’ bridge-phrase be misread as endorsing religious pluralism.
Atonement and Redemption (Christ’s Blood)
Konkani name: ख्रिस्ताच्या रगतान मुक्ती मेळोवप् (प्रायश्चित्त)
Key terms: purchased with his own blood, redeemed
Review routing: Human theologian
A strong, compressed substitutionary-atonement statement (Christ’s blood as the costly price of the church’s redemption); must preserve this force fully and tie to the Romans grace/imputed-righteousness doctrines, never reduced to a generic sacrificial metaphor without substitutionary content.
High Risk Doctrines
The Spirit’s Gift Cannot Be Purchased or Earned
Konkani name: पवित्र आत्म्याचें दान विकतें घेवं वा कमावं ना
Key terms: gift of the holy spirit, simon magus, money
Review routing: Human theologian
Simon’s attempt to buy spiritual power directly condemns any framing of the Spirit’s gift as merit-earned or purchasable; must use दान rather than वरदान, since वरदान carries connotations of a boon granted for austerity/devotion in Hindu religious idiom.
The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Konkani name: यहुद्यांक आनी परराष्ट्रीयांक सुवार्ता
Key terms: gentiles, jews, no distinction, common/unclean
Review routing: Human theologian
The book’s central pivot from a Jewish to a worldwide mission directly confronts any caste-based or communal spiritual hierarchy present in Goan Hindu social structure and any lingering Hindu-Catholic communal division; must retain full doctrinal clarity without softening.
God Shows No Partiality
Konkani name: देवाचो पक्षपातरहितपणा
Key terms: no partiality, every nation, acceptable to him
Review routing: Human theologian
Directly confronts caste-based or communal spiritual hierarchy present in Goan social structure, including Goud Saraswat Brahmin and other caste groupings already flagged in the Romans baseline; must retain unqualified universality.
Repentance
Konkani name: पश्चात्ताप
Key terms: repent, repentance, turn to god
Review routing: Human theologian
Must never be rendered प्रायश्चित्त, the Sanskrit-derived term for ritual/ascetic expiation performed to atone for sin or bad karma in regional Hindu practice; biblical repentance is a God-granted, decisive inward turning, not a self-performed penitential act that earns forgiveness.
Baptism
Konkani name: बाप्तिस्मा
Key terms: baptize, baptism, in the name of jesus christ
Review routing: Human theologian
Must be distinguished from स्नान, ritual purificatory bathing (e.g. at sacred rivers or temple tanks) practiced in Goan Hindu tradition, and from any merit-generating rite; baptism is a decisive, once-for-all identification with Christ and public confession of allegiance to him by name.
Spirit-Guided Corporate Church Discernment
Konkani name: पवित्र आत्म्याच्या मार्गदर्शनान मंडळीचो निर्णय
Key terms: it seemed good to the holy spirit and to us, set apart for me
Review routing: Human theologian
Models Spirit-led corporate decision-making by the gathered church, distinct from an individual guru’s private pronouncement or a single religious authority’s unilateral ruling.
Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Konkani name: प्रेषितांचो अधिकार आनी चमत्कार
Key terms: apostle, signs and wonders, power of god, laying on of hands
Review routing: Human theologian
Apostolic signs authenticate God’s redemptive act in Christ and must be distinguished from regional ‘chamatkar’ (miracle) narratives that typically authenticate a guru or godman’s personal spiritual attainment; never शक्ती for ‘power of God,’ given its Shakta-goddess associations (Shantadurga, Mahalasa).
Signs and Wonders versus Occult/Magical Power
Konkani name: चिन्नां आनी अद्भुत कृत्यां वि. जादूटोणो
Key terms: magic, sorcery, spirit of divination, burned the books
Review routing: Human theologian
Simon Magus’s sorcery, the Philippian slave-girl’s divining spirit, and the burned magic books at Ephesus all sharply distinguish genuine Spirit-empowered ministry from occult/astrological practice; must not be blurred with any locally practiced divination or folk-magic tradition.
Persecution and Bold Witness
Konkani name: छळ आनी निर्भय साक्ष
Key terms: boldness, witness, obey god rather than men, great fear
Review routing: Human theologian
Spirit-given courage under hostile religious/civil authority must be conveyed with real doctrinal weight; civil/religious disobedience is justified only where it directly conflicts with obedience to God, not a general license for defiance — an important pastoral clarification given Goa’s own colonial-era history of religious conflict.
The Martyrdom of Stephen
Konkani name: स्तेफानाचो हुतात्मापण
Key terms: stoned, lord jesus receive my spirit, forgive them
Review routing: Human theologian
Stephen’s dying prayer directly addressed to Jesus as Lord (‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’) is a strong implicit affirmation of Christ’s deity and must be preserved with full force, not softened into generic pious language.
Election and Divine Appointment (in Paul’s Calling)
Konkani name: पौलाच्या बोलावण्यांतली देवाची निवड
Key terms: chosen vessel, appointed beforehand, ordained to eternal life
Review routing: Human theologian
God’s sovereign, gracious choice of Paul (and of believers generally) for salvation/mission must never be rendered with नशीब/प्रारब्ध (fate) or read as karma-determined destiny.
The Great Commission Fulfilled
Konkani name: म्हान आज्ञेची पुराय जावप्
Key terms: witnesses to the ends of the earth, unhindered, proclaiming the kingdom
Review routing: Human theologian
The programmatic 1:8 promise (Jerusalem, Judea/Samaria, ends of the earth) reaches fulfillment in the book’s climactic closing verses; must be translated to show this arc clearly, framing gospel proclamation as bold but invitational witness, never coercion, given Goa’s own Inquisition-era history.
Ascension of Christ
Konkani name: ख्रिस्ताचें वयर व्हरप्
Key terms: taken up, cloud received him, will come in the same way
Review routing: Human theologian
A bodily, visible, historical, once-for-all departure to heaven with a promised bodily return, not a symbolic apotheosis or a repeatable avatar-style withdrawal-and-return pattern found in some regional Puranic narrative cycles.
Providence and God’s Sovereignty
Konkani name: देवाची तरतूद आनी सार्वभौमत्व
Key terms: determined plan and foreknowledge, appointed times and boundaries, an angel stood by me
Review routing: Human theologian
God’s personal, purposive plan must be held together with real human moral responsibility (Acts 2:23: ‘by wicked hands you crucified him’ alongside ‘God’s determined plan’); must never collapse into impersonal fate or karma-law (नशीब/प्रारब्ध), a live risk given how naturally Konkani idiom can drift toward fatalistic phrasing.
Spiritual Warfare and Renunciation of Occult Practice
Konkani name: आत्मीक झूज आनी जादूटोणो सोडप्
Key terms: magic, power of satan, books burned
Review routing: Human theologian
Genuine conversion includes a decisive public renunciation of occult/magical practice; must be conveyed as encounter with a real personal opposing spiritual authority (सैतान), not a metaphor for mere ignorance or superstition, and should be handled sensitively given the presence of comparable regional folk-occult practices.
Medium Risk Doctrines
Tongues as a Sign to the Nations
Konkani name: राष्ट्रांखातीर चिन्न म्हूण भाशांनी उलोवप्
Key terms: other tongues, own language, dialect
Review routing: Native speaker review
Must be conveyed as real, known human languages signifying the gospel’s reach to every nation, not vague ecstatic utterance; avoid flattening into a generic ‘unknown speech’ that could be reinterpreted as trance-glossolalia parallel to local possession-speech phenomena.
The Church as Community
Konkani name: समाज म्हूण मंडळी
Key terms: fellowship, breaking of bread, one heart and soul, church
Review routing: Native speaker review
The unified, shared-goods life of the early church must be conveyed as new-covenant community, not caste-community or social-club solidarity; never देऊळ/मंदिर for ‘church.‘
Church Leadership (Elders/Overseers)
Konkani name: मंडळीचें फुडारपण (वडील)
Key terms: elders, overseers, shepherd the church, appointed
Review routing: Native speaker review
Local congregational leadership office, established through the church’s and the Spirit’s appointment, not hereditary priesthood or guru-lineage authority structures prominent in Goan Hindu religious practice; avoid गुरू.
The Last Days and the Day of the Lord
Konkani name: निमाणे दीस आनी प्रभूचो दीस
Key terms: last days, day of the lord, restoration of all things
Review routing: Native speaker review
Must be framed as a linear, inaugurated-and-unfolding eschatological era culminating in one final Day, not a cyclical yuga-ending or a recurring creation-dissolution-recreation cosmic cycle found in Hindu cosmology.
Mission to the Nations
Konkani name: राष्ट्रांखातीर मिशन
Key terms: set apart for me, sent by the holy spirit, to the ends of the earth
Review routing: Native speaker review
Given Goa’s history of coercive conversion under the Portuguese-era Goa Inquisition (established 1560), mission language must be framed as Spirit-initiated invitation and proclamation, never institutional coercion; this sensitivity is sharper in Konkani than in most other languages in this pipeline.
Prayer and Intercession
Konkani name: प्रार्थना आनी मध्यस्थी
Key terms: fervent prayer, prayed for him, praying and singing hymns
Review routing: Native speaker review
Direct access to God in Christ’s name through corporate and individual prayer; distinguish from ritual worship (puja) directed at an image and, for Catholic-background readers, from petitions directed to saints.
Low Risk Doctrines
Mutual Fellowship and Shared Life
Konkani name: एकामेकांची सहभागिता आनी वांटो जिविताचो
Key terms: fellowship, breaking bread, had all things in common
Review routing: Automated review
Standard positive fellowship term; minor risk of over-idealizing shared material life as a legalistic communal requirement rather than a Spirit-produced generosity.
Referenced passages