Doctrine Analysis
Doctrine Analysis — Acts 1–28 (English → Persian)
Purpose and Method
This document is the full-book doctrine matrix required by PRD Phase 1 Step 4. It is generated from and fully consistent with assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json (Acts version): the same 27 doctrines, the same risk tiers, and the same review routing. No doctrine, risk level, or routing decision is altered here; this file adds (a) exhaustive supporting-passage coverage across every chapter of Acts, (b) a chapter-by-chapter coverage log confirming every chapter 1–28 has been reviewed, and (c) explicit translation-risk framing for Phase 2 planning.
The core passage, Acts 2:1–41 (Pentecost), is the theological anchor of the curriculum and carries the highest concentration of Critical-risk doctrine (Holy Spirit and Pentecost; Resurrection of Christ; Deity and Lordship of Christ; Sonship and Messiahship of Christ; Repentance and Baptism), but it is not the boundary of scope. Every chapter of Acts has been reviewed below.
Risk tier definitions (unchanged from baseline Romans package and the Acts registry):
| 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 or imprecision | Automated review |
Section 1: Full Doctrine Matrix
1.1 Critical-Risk Doctrines (12)
| Doctrine | Persian name | Supporting passages (Acts) | Translation risk | Review routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | روحالقدس و پنطیکاست | 1:5,8; 2:1-4,17-18,33,38; 4:8,31; 5:3,9,32; 8:15-19,29,39; 9:17,31; 10:38,44-47; 11:12,15-16,24,28; 13:2,4,9,52; 15:8,28; 16:6-7; 19:1-6,21; 20:23,28; 21:11 | Identical Quranic phrase (روحالقدس) is popularly identified with the angel Jibril in mainstream Iranian tafsir; Pentecost’s abundant “pouring out” risks being absorbed into the Illuminationist/Sadraean feyz-as-automatic-emanation lens rather than taught as a specific, personal, historical gift of a divine Person to the church. Must be reinforced as a Person, not a force. | Human theologian |
| Unity of Jews and Gentiles / Table Fellowship | اتحاد یهودیان و غیریهودیان در سفره مشترک | 10:1-16,28,34-35; 11:1-18; 15:19-20 | ”Unclean/common” maps with unusual precision onto the actively-practiced Twelver Shia najasat (نجس) purity system; God’s declarative cleansing of Peter’s vision must be preserved as a direct doctrinal confrontation of that purity code, not softened into a mere dietary footnote. | Human theologian |
| Repentance and Baptism | توبه و تعمید | 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 8:12-13,36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48; 11:18; 13:24; 16:15,33; 17:30; 18:8; 19:1-5; 20:21; 22:16; 26:20 | توبه is the exact Quranic root (ت-و-ب), embedded culturally in a deeds-and-mercy cycle and, in Shia piety, in recurring Karbala-mourning “turning” rather than a once-for-all faith-response; تعمید must be distinguished from ghusl/wudu ritual washing as a single, unrepeated union with Christ. | Human theologian |
| Persecution and Bold Witness | جفا و شهادت دلیرانه | 4:1-31; 5:17-42; 6:8-15; 7:54-8:3; 9:23-25,29; 12:1-19; 13:45,50; 14:2,5,19; 16:19-40; 17:5-9,13; 18:12-17; 19:23-41; 20:19,22-23; 21:27-36; 22:22-29; 23:1-35; 24:1-27; 25:1-27; 26:1-32 | شاهد/شهادت دادن collides directly with the Islamic creedal shahada and the Shia devotional shahid (martyr, especially Karbala’s Hussein) categories; must be taught as truthful eyewitness testimony to a historical event, never a creedal recitation or merit/intercession-generating act. | Human theologian |
| Martyrdom and Witness of Stephen | شهادت استیفان | 7:54-60 | سنگسار (stoning) is a live, double-resonant term in contemporary Iran as an actual shari’a-prescribed penalty; Stephen’s death must be taught with pastoral awareness of that resonance and clearly distinguished from Karbala/Hussein martyrdom-intercession piety, while affirming Stephen’s own real intercessory prayer for his killers. | Human theologian |
| Conversion of Paul | ایمان آوردن پولس | 9:1-31; 22:3-21; 26:9-23 | The historical, externally-corroborated nature of the risen Christ’s encounter with Saul (companions saw the light, 22:9) must be preserved as objective, historical event — not softened into a private mystical/Sufi-style vision familiar from Persian devotional literature, which would relocate its evidential weight from history to subjective piety. | Human theologian |
| Justification apart from the Law | عادل شمرده شدن بدون ناموس | 13:38-39; 15:1-29 | Acts 13:39 shares the identical verb-family with Romans’ عادل شمرده شدن and must be rendered with mandatory verbatim consistency with the baseline; this argument directly touches Iran’s own shari’a-based legal-religious system (hence the baseline’s ناموس, not شریعت), making Paul’s law-versus-grace point especially sensitive to teach without sounding like a challenge to state law. | Human theologian |
| Law, Grace, and the Jerusalem Council | شریعت، فیض، و شورای اورشلیم | 15:6-29 | Combines three baseline Critical terms (فیض, خداوند, نجات) in the single climactic statement of 15:11, and 15:28 asserts the Spirit’s own ongoing personal authority behind a binding church decision — must be taught as the Spirit’s direct governance of the apostolic church, not filtered through Sunni ijma or Shia Imamate-authority categories as a merely human deliberative outcome. | Human theologian |
| Resurrection of Christ | قیامت مسیح | 1:3,22; 2:23-32; 3:15; 4:2,10,33; 10:40-41; 13:30-37; 17:3,18,31-32; 23:6,8; 24:15,21; 26:23 | Acts 2:23-24’s crucifixion-then-resurrection sequence is the single most direct textual collision point with Quran 4:157’s crucifixion-denial; Paul’s occupied-tomb-versus-David’s-tomb argument (13:36) carries genuine apologetic force that must be preserved with full historical concreteness, never hedged. Shia Mahdi-centered eschatology must not subordinate Christ’s own unique resurrection and future judging role (17:31). | Human theologian |
| Deity and Lordship of Christ | الوهیت و خداوندی مسیح | 2:33-36,47; 4:29,33; 5:9,14,19; 7:59-60; 9:1,5,10-11,15,17,27; 10:36; 11:8,17,20-21; 13:2,10-12,44,47-49; 15:11,26,35-36; 16:14-15,31-32; 20:19,21,24,28,35; 21:13-14; 26:15 | خداوند is a native pre-Islamic word rather than a borrowed Quranic title, so the collision is squarely the tawhid objection to ascribing supreme, exclusive Lordship — and, in 20:28, the very purchase-price of the church itself (“with his own blood”) — to a human-born man. Must never be softened toward “a great and honored man.” | Human theologian |
| Sonship and Messiahship of Christ | پسر خدا بودن و مسیح بودن عیسی | 2:31,36,38; 3:6,14,18,20; 4:10,26; 5:42; 7:56; 8:5,37; 9:20,22,34; 10:36,48; 13:33; 15:26; 16:18,31; 17:3; 18:5,28; 19:4-5,17; 20:21; 22:14; 24:24; 26:23; 28:31 | پسر خدا must always use the literal, established form (never the Hezare No’s softened “God’s Chosen One”); مسیح carries the added Shia displacement risk of the Hidden Twelfth Imam’s primary messianic role; the Danielic “Son of Man” title (7:56) has no ready Islamic equivalent and requires full explanatory teaching. | Human theologian |
| Vows, Fasting, and Religious Practice | نذر، روزه، و اعمال دینی | 13:2-3; 14:23; 18:18; 21:23-26; 27:9 (implied fast) | نذر is a major, currently-practiced Shia devotional category (votive vows to Imams/Imamzadeh shrines); Paul’s own vow-keeping and purification must be taught as culturally-Jewish, transitional-era practice, never an endorsement of shrine-vow piety. روزه is the exact word for the obligatory Ramadan pillar and must be taught as this church’s free, occasional practice, not a merit-earning duty. | Human theologian |
1.2 High-Risk Doctrines (12)
| Doctrine | Persian name | Supporting passages (Acts) | Translation risk | Review routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tongues and Spirit-Empowered Speech | زبانها و سخن گفتن به قدرت روح | 2:3-4,6-11; 10:46; 19:6 | زبانههای آتش risks absorption into pre-Islamic Zoroastrian sacred-fire veneration (fire temples, Nowruz/Chaharshanbe Suri); “other tongues” must be taught as real, known human languages (per v.6,8,11’s dialektos), never conflated with generic ecstatic utterance. | Human theologian |
| The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | انجیل برای یهودیان و غیریهودیان | 1:8; 2:39; 8:26-40; 10:1-11:18; 13:46-48; 14:27; 15:1-29; 17:16-34; 28:28 | غیریهودیان avoids the loaded Ummah-root, but the doctrine’s outworking confronts fiqh-style purity/identity boundaries and must be taught as removing every barrier to gospel access, not as a historical footnote about first-century Judaism alone. | Human theologian |
| Forgiveness of Sins through Christ | بخشش گناهان بهواسطه مسیح | 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18 | Shared Islamic vocabulary of divine forgiveness (apart from any atonement) risks eclipsing the specifically Christ-secured, cross-grounded forgiveness in view; must always retain the explicit “in his name”/through-Christ anchor. | Human theologian |
| The Church as Community | کلیسا به عنوان جامعهای از مؤمنان | 2:42-47; 4:32-37; 6:1-7; 9:31; 11:19-26; 12:1,5,12; 14:23,27; 16:5,40; 18:1-11,22; 20:7,11,17-35 | Because Persian-language congregational worship for Muslim-background believers is heavily restricted in Iran, the lived referent of کلیسا is the underground house-church network; voluntary economic sharing (2:44-45; 4:32-37) must be taught as Spirit-motivated mutuality, not a universal economic mandate or endorsement of a political-economic ideology. | Human theologian |
| Apostolic Authority and Miracles | اقتدار رسولان و معجزات | 2:43; 3:1-10; 4:29-33; 5:12-16; 6:6; 8:6-13,17-19; 9:17,32-42; 12:6-11; 13:3; 14:3; 19:6,11-20; 20:9-12 | معجزه draws on the same semantic field as the Islamic doctrine of i’jaz (prophetic miraculous signs); Acts’ miracles must be taught as authenticating the specific apostolic gospel about the risen Christ, not as a generic marvel-category interchangeable with other prophetic sign-traditions. Resuscitations (9:36-42; 20:9-12) must be distinguished from Christ’s unique, permanent قیامت. | Human theologian |
| Signs and Wonders Confirming the Word | نشانهها و عجایب تصدیقکننده کلام | 2:19,22,43; 4:30; 5:12; 6:8; 8:13; 14:3; 15:12 | نشانهها must be kept distinct from آیات, the standard word for the verses of the Quran, preventing readers from importing a scripture-verse category into what is a historical, observable miracle-event category. | Human theologian |
| Divine Election and Calling of Paul | برگزیدگی و دعوت پولس | 9:15; 13:2,48; 22:14 | Shia Islam’s own robust doctrine of specific divine election — God appointing Ali and the Imamate’s line as infallible successors — can serve as a bridge concept but risks importing lineage-based, ongoing-office content onto Paul’s non-repeatable apostolic calling, and onto ordinary believers’ election to salvation in 13:48. | Human theologian |
| Circumcision and Gentile Inclusion | ختنه و پذیرش غیریهودیان | 7:8; 10:45; 11:2-3; 15:1-5,10,24; 16:3; 21:21 | The council’s question — whether an external identity-marking rite is required for full membership in God’s people — closely parallels a live pastoral question for Muslim-background believers about visible Islamic identity markers; ختنه is near-universal cultural practice for Iranian men and must not be presented as though the text opposes the physical practice itself, only its role as a salvation-requirement. | Human theologian |
| The Great Commission Fulfilled | تحقق فرمان بزرگ | 1:8; 8:4; 9:15; 13:47; 22:21; 25:11-12; 26:16-18; 28:23-31 | The closing word akōlytōs (“unhindered,” بدون مانع, 28:31) carries acute pastoral weight for Iranian house-church readers, for whom gospel proclamation is presently anything but unhindered; must be taught eschatologically/missiologically (the word of God cannot ultimately be bound) without implying a false, imminent expectation of legal freedom that could endanger readers who act on a misapplied expectation. | Human theologian |
| Fulfillment of Prophecy | تحقق نبوت | 2:16-21,30; 3:18-25; 7:2-53; 13:32-41; 15:15-18; 26:22-23; 28:23,25 | Naskh (abrogation) doctrine, shared across Sunni and Shia Islam, treats later revelation as superseding earlier revelation; Acts’ repeated argument-pattern (this fulfills, rather than replaces, what was written) must be taught deliberately against that default, exactly as flagged in the Romans baseline. | Human theologian |
| Spiritual Warfare and Occult Power | جنگ روحانی و قدرتهای شیطانی | 8:9-24; 13:6-12; 16:16-18; 19:11-20 | روح پلید is deliberately preferred over جن (jinn) to avoid collision with the still-living Iranian folk framework of jinn-possession and exorcism (rammal, do’a-nevisi); confrontations must be taught as demonstrating Christ’s unique, superior authority, not as one more entry in a shared exorcism marketplace. | Human theologian |
| Inheritance and Eternal Life | میراث و حیات جاودان | 13:48; 20:32; 26:18 | میراث draws on the same vocabulary as Islamic inheritance-law (fiqh al-mawarith); the spiritual, eschatological inheritance in view — secured by grace through faith, distributed among “those who are sanctified” — must not be read through that legal-partition framework, echoing the baseline caution attached to “adoption.” | Human theologian |
1.3 Medium-Risk Doctrines (3)
| Doctrine | Persian name | Supporting passages (Acts) | Translation risk | Review routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Church Leadership and Office | رهبری و مقامات کلیسا | 6:1-6; 11:30; 14:23; 15:2-23; 16:4; 20:17-28; 21:18 | مشایخ shares its root with the Islamic honorific “shaykh”; established Christian usage with contextual gloss is required so the office is not read as a clerical-jurist role analogous to Iran’s own religious-legal authorities. | Native speaker review |
| Kingdom of God and Mission | ملکوت خدا و ماموریت | 1:3,6; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23,31 | The disciples’ own initial political-restoration misunderstanding (1:6) is a built-in teaching opportunity to distinguish God’s spiritual reign from any political state — directly relevant given Iran’s own explicitly religious-political governing structure (Velayat-e Faqih). | Native speaker review |
| Divine Providence | تدبیر الهی | 2:23; 4:27-28; 5:38-39; 27:21-25 | تدبیر الهی leans toward wise, personal divine governance rather than fatalistic decree; must stay distinct from folk qadar-style fatalism even while affirming God’s sovereign control over hostile human actions, including the crucifixion itself. | Native speaker review |
Section 2: Chapter-by-Chapter Coverage Log (Acts 1–28)
Every chapter of Acts has been reviewed for load-bearing doctrinal content. Chapters are listed in order; each entry names the active doctrines from Section 1 or, where a chapter contributes primarily narrative/logistical detail without new doctrinal weight, states this explicitly.
| Ch. | Active doctrines (from Section 1) | Coverage note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Commission Fulfilled (1:8); Kingdom of God and Mission (1:3,6); Holy Spirit and Pentecost (1:5,8, promise); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (1:2, election of Matthias by lot, 1:15-26) | Reviewed. Sets up the Pentecost anchor and the Spirit-empowered witness mandate. |
| 2 | Holy Spirit and Pentecost; Tongues and Spirit-Empowered Speech; Fulfillment of Prophecy; Resurrection of Christ; Deity and Lordship of Christ; Sonship and Messiahship of Christ; Repentance and Baptism; Forgiveness of Sins through Christ; Gospel to Jews and Gentiles; Church as Community; Divine Providence (2:23) | Core passage (2:1-41). Highest doctrinal density in the book; anchors nearly every Critical-tier doctrine simultaneously. |
| 3 | Apostolic Authority and Miracles; Signs and Wonders; Resurrection of Christ (3:15); Sonship and Messiahship of Christ (3:14, “the Righteous One”); Fulfillment of Prophecy (3:18-25); Repentance and Baptism (3:19); Forgiveness of Sins (implied) | Reviewed. The healing at the temple gate extends Pentecost’s proclamation pattern into the next public scene. |
| 4 | Persecution and Bold Witness (4:1-31); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (4:29-33); Signs and Wonders (4:30); Divine Providence (4:27-28); Church as Community (4:32-37) | Reviewed. First Sanhedrin confrontation; introduces the boldness (deliri/jesarat-e ruhani) vocabulary. |
| 5 | Persecution and Bold Witness (5:17-42); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (5:12-16); Holy Spirit and Pentecost (5:3,9, sin against the Spirit); Divine Providence (5:38-39, Gamaliel) | Reviewed. Ananias and Sapphira episode raises the Spirit’s full personhood and authority. |
| 6 | Church Leadership and Office (6:1-6); Persecution and Bold Witness (6:8-15, Stephen accused) | Reviewed. Introduces deacon/service vocabulary; sets up ch. 7. |
| 7 | Martyrdom and Witness of Stephen (7:54-60); Fulfillment of Prophecy (7:2-53, Stephen’s speech); Sonship and Messiahship of Christ (7:56, “Son of Man”) | Reviewed. Single most acute persecution/stoning-resonance chapter in the book. |
| 8 | Apostolic Authority and Miracles (8:6-13); Spiritual Warfare and Occult Power (8:9-24, Simon the sorcerer); Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (8:26-40, Ethiopian eunuch); Great Commission Fulfilled (8:4) | Reviewed. First explicit expansion of the gospel beyond Jerusalem and beyond ethnic-Jewish hearers. |
| 9 | Conversion of Paul (9:1-31); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (9:32-42, Tabitha); Church as Community (9:31) | Reviewed. Foundational Christology/testimony chapter for the Conversion of Paul doctrine. |
| 10 | Unity of Jews and Gentiles / Table Fellowship (10:9-16,28,34-35); Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (10:1-48); Holy Spirit and Pentecost (10:44-47, “Gentile Pentecost”) | Reviewed. Peter/Cornelius narrative is the doctrinal hinge of the Gospel-to-Gentiles thread. |
| 11 | Unity of Jews and Gentiles / Table Fellowship (11:1-18); Church as Community (11:19-26, Antioch); Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | Reviewed. Jerusalem church’s ratification of Gentile inclusion; introduces “Christian” (11:26). |
| 12 | Persecution and Bold Witness (12:1-19); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (12:6-11,23, angelic deliverance and Herod’s judgment) | Reviewed. State-sponsored persecution narrative; church’s intercessory prayer (12:5,12). |
| 13 | Divine Election and Calling of Paul (13:2,48); Justification apart from the Law (13:38-39); Fulfillment of Prophecy (13:32-41); Vows, Fasting, and Religious Practice (13:2-3); Spiritual Warfare and Occult Power (13:6-12); Great Commission Fulfilled (13:47) | Reviewed. Contains the exact justification verb-family requiring verbatim consistency with Romans. |
| 14 | Church Leadership and Office (14:23); Vows, Fasting, and Religious Practice (14:23); Apostolic Authority and Miracles (14:3); Kingdom of God and Mission (14:22) | Reviewed. First missionary journey’s return and church-planting pattern. |
| 15 | Circumcision and Gentile Inclusion (15:1-5,10,24); Law, Grace, and the Jerusalem Council (15:6-29); Justification apart from the Law | Reviewed. Doctrinally dense council chapter; combines multiple Critical-tier terms in 15:11 and 15:28. |
| 16 | Persecution and Bold Witness (16:19-40); Spiritual Warfare and Occult Power (16:16-18); Repentance and Baptism (16:30-33); Circumcision and Gentile Inclusion (16:3, Timothy); Church as Community (16:5,40) | Reviewed. Philippian jailer conversion; classic baptism/repentance teaching passage. |
| 17 | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (17:16-34, Areopagus); Resurrection of Christ (17:31-32); Fulfillment of Prophecy | Reviewed. “Unknown god” bridge-illustration; direct resurrection apologetic before a Gentile philosophical audience. |
| 18 | Vows, Fasting, and Religious Practice (18:18, Paul’s vow); Church as Community (18:1-11); Justification apart from the Law / legal proceedings (18:13,15) | Reviewed. Corinth ministry; Gallio’s civil ruling touches the law/Way distinction. |
| 19 | Holy Spirit and Pentecost (19:1-6); Spiritual Warfare and Occult Power (19:11-20); Persecution and Bold Witness (19:23-41, Ephesian riot); Great Commission Fulfilled (19:8-10) | Reviewed. Ephesus ministry; magic scrolls burned scene is a key occult-power confrontation. |
| 20 | Church Leadership and Office (20:17-28); Deity and Lordship of Christ (20:28, “church of God purchased with his own blood”); Inheritance and Eternal Life (20:32); Church as Community (20:7-12, breaking of bread, Eutychus) | Reviewed. Miletus farewell address; contains the manuscript-variant deity-of-Christ statement requiring translator note. |
| 21 | Vows, Fasting, and Religious Practice (21:23-26); Circumcision and Gentile Inclusion (21:21); Persecution and Bold Witness (21:27-36) | Reviewed. Paul’s temple purification and arrest; sets up the trial chapters. |
| 22 | Conversion of Paul (22:3-21); Repentance and Baptism (22:16); Persecution and Bold Witness (22:22-29) | Reviewed. Paul’s own retelling of his conversion before the Jerusalem crowd. |
| 23 | Persecution and Bold Witness (23:1-35, Sanhedrin hearing and assassination plot) | Reviewed. Primarily narrative/legal-procedural; no new doctrine beyond persecution thread. |
| 24 | Persecution and Bold Witness (24:1-27); Justification apart from the Law (24:14, “the Way,” relation to the Law and the Prophets) | Reviewed. Felix hearing; “the Way” terminology reinforced. |
| 25 | Persecution and Bold Witness (25:1-27); Great Commission Fulfilled (25:11-12, appeal to Caesar, background) | Reviewed. Primarily legal-procedural narrative advancing Paul toward Rome. |
| 26 | Conversion of Paul (26:9-23); Divine Election and Calling of Paul (26:16-18); Resurrection of Christ (26:23); Fulfillment of Prophecy (26:22-23) | Reviewed. Paul’s defense before Agrippa; fullest single retelling of his commissioning. |
| 27 | Divine Providence (27:21-25) | Reviewed. Shipwreck narrative; God’s sovereign care over hostile circumstances, no new doctrinal term beyond providence thread. |
| 28 | Great Commission Fulfilled (28:23-31, “unhindered”); Kingdom of God and Mission (28:23,31); Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (28:28) | Reviewed. Closing chapter; carries the book’s thesis-level missiological statement. |
Coverage confirmation: All 28 chapters of Acts have been reviewed. Every chapter maps to at least one doctrine in Section 1; no chapter required silent omission. Chapters 23, 25, and 27 are narrative/legal-procedural in character and are noted as contributing primarily to the continuing Persecution and Bold Witness / Divine Providence / Great Commission threads rather than introducing new doctrinal categories.
Section 3: Risk Summary (must match doctrine_risk_registry.json exactly)
| Risk | Count | Review routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 12 | Human theologian, every occurrence |
| High | 12 | Human theologian |
| Medium | 3 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 0 | Automated review |
| Total requiring theologian review | 24 | — |
| Total requiring native speaker review | 3 | — |
| Total automated only | 0 | — |
This matrix is fully consistent with assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json (Acts, version 1). Any future update to that registry (new version) must be mirrored here before Phase 2 translation proceeds.
This document extends, and does not contradict, the baseline Romans Language Package. Where a doctrine or term is shared with Romans (e.g., Holy Spirit, Resurrection of Christ, Lordship of Christ, Justification, Grace, Law), the baseline translation_memory.json rendering is reused exactly; this analysis addresses Acts-specific supporting passages and Acts-specific collision points only.
See 08_core_glossary.md for the full term-level glossary and 12_ai_translation_requirements.md (forthcoming for Acts) for Phase 2 enforcement instructions.
Critical Risk Doctrines
The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Persian name: روحالقدس و پنطیکاست
Key terms: holy spirit, filled with the Spirit, poured out, gift of the Holy Spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
روحالقدس (baseline Critical term) becomes the thesis doctrine of the whole book; mainstream Iranian tafsir identifies the identical Quranic phrase with the angel Jibril, and Pentecost’s abundant outpouring risks being read through the Illuminationist/Sadraean feyz-as-automatic-emanation lens rather than as a specific, personal, historical gift of a divine Person.
Unity of Jews and Gentiles / Table Fellowship
Persian name: اتحاد یهودیان و غیریهودیان در سفره مشترک
Key terms: unclean, common, cleanse, God shows no partiality
Review routing: Human theologian
The ‘unclean/common’ category maps with unusual precision onto the elaborate Twelver Shia fiqh najasat (نجس) ritual-purity system still actively taught and practiced in Iran; God’s declarative cleansing directly confronts, rather than sidesteps, that purity-code framework and must be preserved with its full doctrinal force.
Repentance and Baptism
Persian name: توبه و تعمید
Key terms: repent, be baptized, forgiveness of sins, calling on the name
Review routing: Human theologian
توبه is the exact Quranic root (ت-و-ب) for repentance embedded in a deeds-and-mercy framework and, in Shia piety, associated with recurring devotional turning via Karbala mourning rather than a once-for-all faith-response; تعمید must likewise be distinguished from Islamic ritual washing (ghusl/wudu) as a one-time union with Christ, not repeatable purification.
Persecution and Bold Witness
Persian name: جفا و شهادت دلیرانه
Key terms: boldness, witness, testify, persecution
Review routing: Human theologian
شاهد/شهادت دادن collides directly with two live categories: the Islamic creedal shahada (confession of faith) and the Shia devotional category of shahid (martyr, especially Karbala’s Hussein); Christian witness must be taught as truthful eyewitness testimony to a historical event, not a creedal recitation nor an act that itself generates merit or intercessory benefit.
Martyrdom and Witness of Stephen
Persian name: شهادت استیفان
Key terms: stoned, Son of Man, Lord, do not hold this sin against them
Review routing: Human theologian
سنگسار (stoning) carries live, double resonance in contemporary Iran as an actual shari’a-prescribed penal method; Stephen’s martyrdom must be taught with pastoral awareness of this resonance, and his death must be clearly distinguished from the Karbala/Hussein martyrdom-intercession framework of popular Shia piety even while affirming its real historical horror and Stephen’s real intercessory prayer for his killers.
Conversion of Paul
Persian name: ایمان آوردن پولس
Key terms: light from heaven, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me, chosen instrument
Review routing: Human theologian
The historical, externally-corroborated (companions saw the light, 22:9) nature of this encounter with the risen, speaking Christ must be preserved as objective event, not softened into a private mystical/Sufi-style vision experience familiar from Persian devotional literature, which would relocate its evidential weight from history to subjective piety.
Justification apart from the Law
Persian name: عادل شمرده شدن بدون ناموس
Key terms: justified, by the grace of the Lord Jesus, not by the law of Moses
Review routing: Human theologian
Acts 13:39 uses the identical verb-family as Romans’ عادل شمرده شدن and must render it with mandatory verbatim consistency; this doctrine directly confronts Iran’s own shari’a-based legal-religious framework (hence baseline’s departure from شریعت to ناموس), making Paul’s law-versus-grace argument especially sensitive to teach without sounding like a challenge to the state’s legal system rather than a first-century Mosaic-covenant argument.
Law, Grace, and the Jerusalem Council
Persian name: شریعت، فیض، و شورای اورشلیم
Key terms: saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, yoke, it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us
Review routing: Human theologian
This passage combines three baseline Critical terms (فیض, خداوند, نجات) in a single climactic statement (15:11) and additionally asserts the Holy Spirit’s own personal, ongoing authority behind the church’s binding decision (15:28) — must be taught as the Spirit’s direct governance of the apostolic church, not read through Sunni ijma (consensus) or Shia Imamate-authority categories as merely a human deliberative outcome.
Resurrection of Christ
Persian name: قیامت مسیح
Key terms: God raised him up, he is not in Hades, empty tomb
Review routing: Human theologian
Acts 2:23-24’s crucifixion-then-resurrection sequence is the single most direct textual collision point in the book with Quran 4:157’s crucifixion-denial (‘it was made to appear so to them’), and Paul’s occupied-tomb-vs-empty-tomb argument (13:36) has genuine apologetic force against that denial that must be preserved with full historical concreteness, never hedged; Shia eschatology’s Mahdi-centered expectation must not be allowed to subordinate Christ’s own unique resurrection and future judging role (17:31).
Deity and Lordship of Christ
Persian name: الوهیت و خداوندی مسیح
Key terms: Lord and Christ, exalted to the right hand of God, church of God purchased with his own blood
Review routing: Human theologian
خداوند is a native pre-Islamic word rather than a borrowed Quranic title, so the collision here is squarely the tawhid objection to ascribing supreme, exclusive Lordship — and, in 20:28, the very purchase-price of the church — to a human-born man; must never be softened toward ‘a great and honored man’ or ‘God’s chosen messenger.‘
Sonship and Messiahship of Christ
Persian name: پسر خدا بودن و مسیح بودن عیسی
Key terms: Son of God, Messiah, Son of Man, the Righteous One
Review routing: Human theologian
پسر خدا must be used without the Hezare No’s softened alternative per baseline precedent; مسیح carries the added Shia displacement risk of the Hidden Twelfth Imam’s primary messianic role, and the Danielic ‘Son of Man’ title (7:56) has no ready Islamic equivalent category and requires full explanatory teaching rather than assumed background familiarity.
Vows, Fasting, and Religious Practice
Persian name: نذر، روزه، و اعمال دینی
Key terms: vow, fasting, purification rite
Review routing: Human theologian
نذر is a major, currently-practiced Shia devotional category (votive vows to Imams/Imamzadeh shrines); Paul’s own vow-keeping and purification must be taught as a culturally-Jewish practice suited to that transitional era, never as an endorsement of shrine-vow piety. روزه is the exact term for the obligatory Ramadan pillar and must be taught as this church’s free, occasional practice, not a merit-earning religious duty.
High Risk Doctrines
Tongues and Spirit-Empowered Speech
Persian name: زبانها و سخن گفتن به قدرت روح
Key terms: other tongues, tongues of fire, filled and spoke
Review routing: Human theologian
زبانههای آتش risks absorption into Persia’s deep pre-Islamic Zoroastrian sacred-fire veneration (fire temples, Nowruz/Chaharshanbe Suri); separately, ‘other tongues’ must be taught as real, known human languages (per v.6,8,11’s dialektos), not conflated with generic ecstatic utterance.
The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Persian name: انجیل برای یهودیان و غیریهودیان
Key terms: gentiles, all who are far off, no distinction, light for the gentiles
Review routing: Human theologian
غیریهودیان avoids the loaded Ummah-root, but the doctrine’s outworking confronts fiqh-style purity boundaries and must be taught as removing every barrier to gospel access, not merely as a historical footnote about first-century Judaism.
Forgiveness of Sins through Christ
Persian name: بخشش گناهان بهواسطه مسیح
Key terms: forgiveness of sins, wash away your sins, sins forgiven in his name
Review routing: Human theologian
Shared Islamic vocabulary of divine forgiveness (Allah al-Ghafur, considered apart from any atonement) risks eclipsing the specifically Christ-secured, cross-grounded forgiveness in view; must always retain the explicit ‘in his name’/through-Christ anchor.
The Church as Community
Persian name: کلیسا به عنوان جامعهای از مؤمنان
Key terms: fellowship, breaking of bread, all things in common, devoted themselves
Review routing: Human theologian
Because Persian-language congregational worship for Muslim-background believers is heavily restricted in Iran, the lived referent of کلیسا is the underground house-church network; the voluntary economic sharing of 2:44-45/4:32-37 must be taught as Spirit-motivated mutuality, not a universal economic mandate nor an endorsement of a contemporary political-economic ideology.
Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Persian name: اقتدار رسولان و معجزات
Key terms: apostle, power, miracle, signs and wonders
Review routing: Human theologian
معجزه draws on the same semantic field as the Islamic doctrine of i’jaz (prophetic miraculous signs); Acts’ miracles must be taught as authenticating the specific apostolic gospel message about the risen Christ, not as a generic marvel-category interchangeable with other prophetic sign-traditions.
Signs and Wonders Confirming the Word
Persian name: نشانهها و عجایب تصدیقکننده کلام
Key terms: signs and wonders, attested by God
Review routing: Human theologian
نشانهها must be kept distinct from آیات, the standard word for the verses of the Quran, preventing readers from unconsciously importing a scripture-verse category into what is in fact a historical, observable miracle-event category.
Divine Election and Calling of Paul
Persian name: برگزیدگی و دعوت پولس
Key terms: chosen instrument, set apart, appointed to eternal life
Review routing: Human theologian
As with baseline ‘election,’ Shia Islam’s own robust doctrine of specific divine election — God appointing Ali and the Imamate’s line as infallible successors — can serve as a bridge concept but risks importing lineage-based, ongoing-office content onto Paul’s specific, non-repeatable apostolic calling and onto ordinary believers’ election to salvation in 13:48.
Circumcision and Gentile Inclusion
Persian name: ختنه و پذیرش غیریهودیان
Key terms: circumcised, kept the whole law, yoke
Review routing: Human theologian
The council’s question — whether an external identity-marking rite is required for full membership in God’s people — closely parallels a live pastoral question for Muslim-background believers regarding visible Islamic identity markers; ختنه itself is a near-universal cultural practice for Iranian men and must not be presented as though the text opposes the physical practice, only its role as a salvation-requirement.
The Great Commission Fulfilled
Persian name: تحقق فرمان بزرگ
Key terms: witnesses to the end of the earth, unhindered, proclaiming the kingdom of God
Review routing: Human theologian
The book’s closing word akōlytōs (‘unhindered,’ بدون مانع) carries acute, painful pastoral weight for Iranian house-church readers, for whom gospel proclamation is in the present anything but unhindered; must be taught eschatologically/missiologically (the word of God cannot ultimately be bound) without implying a false, imminent expectation of legal freedom that could endanger readers who act on a misapplied expectation.
Fulfillment of Prophecy
Persian name: تحقق نبوت
Key terms: this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel, David… being a prophet, foresaw
Review routing: Human theologian
Naskh (abrogation) doctrine, shared across Sunni and Shia Islam, treats later revelation as superseding earlier revelation; Acts’ repeated argument-pattern (this fulfills, rather than replaces, what was written) must be taught deliberately against that default, exactly as flagged for Romans.
Spiritual Warfare and Occult Power
Persian name: جنگ روحانی و قدرتهای شیطانی
Key terms: sorcery, evil spirit, spirit of divination, magic scrolls burned
Review routing: Human theologian
روح پلید is deliberately preferred over جن (jinn) to avoid collision with the still-living Iranian folk framework of jinn-possession and exorcism (rammal, do’a-nevisi); the text’s confrontations must be taught as demonstrating Christ’s unique, superior authority over occult power, not as one more entry in a shared exorcism marketplace.
Inheritance and Eternal Life
Persian name: میراث و حیات جاودان
Key terms: inheritance, sanctified, appointed to eternal life
Review routing: Human theologian
میراث draws on the same vocabulary as Islamic inheritance-law (fiqh al-mawarith); the spiritual, eschatological inheritance in view — secured by grace through faith, distributed among ‘those who are sanctified’ — must not be read through that legal-partition framework, echoing the same caution baseline attaches to ‘adoption’ and inheritance rights.
Medium Risk Doctrines
Church Leadership and Office
Persian name: رهبری و مقامات کلیسا
Key terms: elders, overseer, deacon, laying on of hands
Review routing: Native speaker review
مشایخ shares its root with the Islamic honorific ‘shaykh’; established Christian usage with contextual gloss is required so the office is not read as a clerical-jurist role analogous to Iran’s own religious-legal authorities.
Kingdom of God and Mission
Persian name: ملکوت خدا و ماموریت
Key terms: kingdom of God, restore the kingdom to Israel
Review routing: Native speaker review
The disciples’ own initial political-restoration misunderstanding (1:6) is a built-in teaching opportunity to distinguish God’s spiritual reign from any political state — directly relevant given Iran’s own explicitly religious-political governing structure (Velayat-e Faqih), reusing baseline’s ملکوت خدا caution.
Divine Providence
Persian name: تدبیر الهی
Key terms: definite plan and foreknowledge of God, who was I to hinder God, not a hair of your head will perish
Review routing: Native speaker review
تدبیر الهی leans toward wise, personal divine governance rather than fatalistic decree; must stay distinct from folk qadar-style fatalism even while affirming God’s sovereign control over hostile human actions, including the crucifixion itself.
Referenced passages