Doctrine Analysis
Doctrine Analysis: Full Doctrine Matrix for Acts 1–28 (Polish)
This matrix is fully consistent with assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json: the same 45 doctrine entries, the same risk tiers, and the same review routing. It reorganizes those entries under the curriculum’s nine Bible Doctrines and adds a Translation Risk column stating the specific Polish-context hazard driving the tier. The core passage Acts 2:1–41 anchors the study but every chapter of Acts (1–28) is covered; a Full Chapter Coverage Confirmation table follows the doctrine matrix so no chapter is silently omitted.
Risk tier definitions (unchanged from baseline/registry):
- Critical — mistranslation destroys essential doctrine; human theologian review required for every occurrence.
- High — significant theological confusion/syncretism risk; human theologian review required.
- Medium — reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning; native speaker review recommended.
- Low — minor imprecision risk; automated review sufficient.
Curriculum Doctrine 1: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Acts) | Risk Level | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pentecost and the Outpouring of the Spirit | 2:1–4; 2:16–21; 20:16 | High | ”Pięćdziesiątnica” may register only as the existing church feast “Zesłanie Ducha Świętego” without its Sinai/Feast-of-Weeks covenant background, flattening the fulfillment argument. | Human theologian |
| Baptism in/with the Holy Spirit | 1:5; 2:4; 11:16; 19:1–6 | Critical | Risk of silent conflation with water baptism (single sacramental category in Polish catechesis) or silent alignment with the contested Charismatic Renewal (“Odnowa w Duchu Świętym”) doctrine of a distinct post-conversion experience. | Human theologian |
| Filling of the Holy Spirit | 2:4; 4:8; 4:31; 9:17; 13:9 | High | Popular association with the once-for-life sacrament of Confirmation (“bierzmowanie”) obscures Acts’ repeatable, non-sacramental empowering for bold proclamation. | Human theologian |
| Tongues as Known Human Languages (Xenolalia) | 2:4–11; 10:46; 19:6 | High | Poland’s widespread Catholic Charismatic Renewal practices ecstatic, unintelligible “mówienie językami”; Acts 2 explicitly describes known human languages (2:6,8,11) and must not be silently equated with that practice. | Human theologian |
| Signs and Wonders Confirming the Word | 2:19,22,43; 4:30; 5:12; 14:3 | Medium | Default association with shrine/apparition folk piety rather than apostolic, gospel-confirming signs. | Native speaker review |
| Inaugurated Last Days | 2:17–21 | Medium | Must be taught as an era beginning at Pentecost and continuing through the church age, not only a still-future end-time event. | Native speaker review |
| The Holy Spirit’s Personal Deity | 5:3–4; 5:9; 7:51 | Critical | Non-Trinitarian groups active in Poland (e.g. Jehovah’s Witnesses) deny the Spirit’s personhood; the Ananias/Sapphira and Stephen passages must retain full personal-deity force. | Human theologian |
| The Gift of the Spirit Cannot Be Purchased | 8:18–24 | High | Simon Magus’s attempted purchase is the text’s own negative case against commercializing spiritual blessing; relevant to commercialized folk-devotional practice around certain shrines. | Human theologian |
| Continuity of Prophetic Ministry in the Church | 11:27–28; 21:9–11 | Low | Standard terms; ensure these are read as contemporary church prophets, not exclusively OT figures. | Automated review |
Curriculum Doctrine 2: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Acts) | Risk Level | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universal Scope of the Gospel (Jew and Gentile) | 1:8; 2:39; 10:34–35; 13:47; 15:7–11; 28:28 | Critical | Must not be softened to imply the gospel belongs distinctively to a historically Catholic nation — direct parallel to the “Polak-katolik” national-religious fusion risk. | Human theologian |
| God Shows No Partiality | 10:34–35 | High | Peter’s conclusion must not be softened toward any residual ethnic/national religious preference. | Human theologian |
| Removal of the Jew/Gentile Purity Barrier | 10:9–16; 10:28; 11:1–18; 15:8–9 | High | Requires OT (Levitical) background most readers lack; risk of trivializing the symbolism by loose analogy to Catholic Lenten fasting rules. | Human theologian |
| Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One Church | 11:18; 15:1–29 | Medium | Poland’s complex Jewish-Christian history gives this particular pastoral weight; avoid any implied hierarchy of belonging. | Native speaker review |
| Idolatry Confronted by the Living God | 14:11–18; 17:22–31; 19:23–41 | Medium | The biblical critique of manufactured idols must not be extended by analogy to Catholic statues/icons used in veneration (e.g. the Black Madonna of Częstochowa), a live ecumenical sensitivity. | Native speaker review |
Curriculum Doctrine 3: Repentance and Baptism
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Acts) | Risk Level | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repentance as Personal Turning to God | 2:38; 3:19; 17:30; 26:20 | Critical | Must not default to “pokuta/pokutować,” tied in Polish Catholic usage to the sacrament of Penance requiring priestly absolution — a distinct liturgical act not described here. | Human theologian |
| Baptism Following Personal Faith | 2:38,41; 8:12–13,36–38; 16:14–15; 16:30–34; 18:8 | Critical | Poland’s dominant infant-baptism paradigm (administered prior to personal faith) risks silently overriding Acts’ consistent faith-then-baptism sequence. | Human theologian |
| Forgiveness of Sins Received by Faith | 2:38; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18 | High | ”Odpuszczenie grzechów” is also the standard Confession liturgical formula; must be clarified as God’s direct forgiveness through repentance/faith, not dependent on ongoing priestly absolution. | Human theologian |
| The Baptism of John Distinguished from Christian Baptism | 18:25; 19:1–5 | High | Catechized readers accustomed to a single sacramental category of baptism risk blurring the text’s own explicit two-baptism distinction. | Human theologian |
| Household Salvation Requires Personal Faith | 16:31–34 | High | Must not be read as salvation automatically conferred on family members apart from personal faith — parallel to the baseline caution against automatic, family/nationally-conferred “zbawienie.” | Human theologian |
Curriculum Doctrine 4: The Church as Community
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Acts) | Risk Level | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Church as a Spirit-Filled Community | 2:42–47; 4:32 | Medium | Distinguish the local, gathered, Spirit-filled congregation from the capitalized institutional “Kościół” central to Polish national/religious life. | Native speaker review |
| Voluntary Communal Generosity | 2:44–45; 4:32–37 | High | Forced collectivization under communist rule (PRL) left deeply negative associations with “wspólna własność”; must be framed as Spirit-motivated voluntary generosity, not an economic policy model. | Human theologian |
| Local Church Leadership (Elders/Overseers) | 14:23; 20:17; 20:28 | High | Acts 20 uses “elder”/“overseer” interchangeably for a plural local eldership; Poland’s developed three-tier hierarchy (biskup > prezbiter > diakon), reinforced by the Konferencja Episkopatu Polski, risks anachronistic imposition. | Human theologian |
| The Breaking of Bread | 2:42,46; 20:7,11 | High | Must distinguish the descriptive shared-meal practice from the fully developed Catholic Eucharistic/Mass theology; the text does not resolve later sacramental debate. | Human theologian |
| Mutual Exhortation and Encouragement | 11:23; 14:22; 15:32; 20:1–2 | Low | Standard term; no significant doctrinal risk. | Automated review |
| Thanksgiving | 27:35; 28:15 | Low | Standard term; minimal risk. | Automated review |
Curriculum Doctrine 5: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Acts) | Risk Level | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apostolic Authority Grounded in Eyewitness Testimony | 1:8; 1:22; 2:32; 10:39–41 | Critical | ”Świadek” must retain its primary forensic/eyewitness sense, not be anachronistically read as “martyr” (death), given Poland’s strong martyr-cult association (e.g. Maksymilian Kolbe). | Human theologian |
| Miracles Confirming Apostolic Preaching | 3:1–10; 5:12; 9:32–42; 14:3; 19:11–12 | Medium | Distinguish God’s gospel-confirming miracle-power from generic supernatural-power language or shrine-associated folk piety. | Native speaker review |
| Christ as the Servant of God (Isaianic Title) | 3:13,26; 4:27,30 | High | ”Służebnik Boży” is also the official Catholic canonization-process title for beatification candidates; must not be confused with Christ’s unique Isaianic Servant title. | Human theologian |
| Christ as the Righteous One | 3:14; 7:52; 22:14 | High | Must be rendered as a title for Christ, not a generic quality-description, or the Christological force parallel to “the Holy One” is lost. | Human theologian |
| Christ’s Public Installation as Lord and Messiah | 2:36 | Critical | Functional/public installation of the already-eternal Son, not Jesus becoming divine at this moment; must guard against adoptionist-adjacent readings held by non-Trinitarian groups active in Poland. | Human theologian |
| Resurrection of Christ (Bodily, Historical) | 2:24–32; 4:2,33; 13:34–37; 17:31; 26:23 | Critical | The Psalm 16 citation’s “Hades”/“corruption” language must be distinguished from popular “piekło” (final judgment); never soften bodily resurrection into a merely spiritual claim. | Human theologian |
| Messianic Fulfillment of Prophecy | 2:16–21; 2:25–31; 3:18–24; 13:32–37 | Critical | Requires explicit OT background many culturally Catholic but non-catechized readers lack; must preserve exclusivity of fulfillment in Jesus alone. | Human theologian |
| Human Responsibility for the Crucifixion (without collective ethnic blame) | 2:23; 2:36; 3:13–17; 4:27–28 | Critical | Must never support collective, trans-historical blame of the Jewish people, especially sensitive given Poland’s own historical reckoning with antisemitic violence; frame as corporate human/authority responsibility. | Human theologian |
| God’s Sovereign Plan and Foreknowledge | 2:23; 4:28; 27:24 | High | Must avoid fatalistic “los/przeznaczenie” framing while affirming genuine divine sovereignty. | Human theologian |
Curriculum Doctrine 6: Persecution and Bold Witness
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Acts) | Risk Level | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persecution as Opposition to Christ Himself | 8:1,3; 9:4–5; 22:7–8 | High | Poland’s strong historical memory of Nazi/communist persecution risks narrowing this to a purely national-historical narrative, losing Acts’ specific claim that persecuting the church is persecuting Christ. | Human theologian |
| Bold Witness Under Persecution | 4:13,29,31; 9:27–28; 28:31 | Medium | Teach as boldness specifically in proclaiming Christ, not generic courage; Poland’s history of costly public witness may serve as a pastoral bridge without eclipsing Christ-specific content. | Native speaker review |
| Martyrdom as the Culmination of Faithful Witness | 7:54–60; 12:1–2 | High | Stephen’s death is the narrative hinge where “świadek” (forensic witness) begins to acquire the later sense “martyr”; Poland’s strong martyr-saint cult requires this transition be taught explicitly, not assumed. | Human theologian |
Curriculum Doctrine 7: Conversion of Paul
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Acts) | Risk Level | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Sovereign, Gracious Call of Paul | 9:1–19; 22:6–16; 26:12–18 | Critical | Must not be moralized into a generic “change of heart” story, nor read exclusively through the vocational/priestly lens of Polish “powołanie,” though it is a genuine instance of divine calling. | Human theologian |
| Paul as God’s Chosen Instrument to the Gentiles | 9:15; 22:21; 26:17–18 | High | Reuses baseline “wybranie” caution: convey personal, purposive divine choice, not impersonal fate (“los”). | Human theologian |
Curriculum Doctrine 8: Justification apart from the Law
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Acts) | Risk Level | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justification Apart from the Law | 13:38–39 | Critical | Acts’ clearest justification statement; must retain the forensic “declared righteous” sense, resisting collapse into gradual sacramental transformation, bridging directly to the Romans baseline entry. | Human theologian |
| The Jerusalem Council’s Rejection of Circumcision as Necessary for Salvation | 15:1–29 | Critical | The definitive Acts statement of justification apart from the Law; same merit-cooperation tension the baseline flags for grace/justification applies here to a specific ritual work of the Law. | Human theologian |
| Salvation by Grace, Not Law-Keeping | 15:10–11 | Critical | Acts’ version of the Romans 3–4 grace/works argument; must preserve the contrast without softening toward merit-cooperation. | Human theologian |
Curriculum Doctrine 9: The Great Commission Fulfilled
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Acts) | Risk Level | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Great Commission’s Geographic Fulfillment | 1:8; 28:16–31 | Medium | Must be taught as literal global scope bracketing the whole book (Jerusalem to Rome), an ongoing mandate rather than a completed, closed program. | Native speaker review |
| The Kingdom of God Is Not a Nationalist Political Program | 1:6–8 | Medium | The disciples’ question about restoring the kingdom “to Israel” is a corrected misunderstanding, not a model; parallel to the baseline’s caution against conflating God’s kingdom with Polish Catholic national-political heritage. | Native speaker review |
| The Gospel’s Unhindered, Ongoing Advance | 28:30–31 (cf. 6:7; 12:24; 19:20) | Medium | Acts’ deliberately open-ended final word must be taught as ongoing mandate bracketing back to 1:8, not a triumphant, closed conclusion. | Native speaker review |
Full Chapter Coverage Confirmation (Acts 1–28)
Every chapter of Acts has been reviewed. Chapters with substantial new doctrinal or terminological content are cross-referenced to the doctrine matrix above; chapters whose content is narratively continuous but does not introduce a distinct top-level doctrine entry are noted explicitly below so no chapter is silently omitted.
| Chapter | Doctrines/Terms Engaged | Coverage Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kingdom Not Nationalistic; Great Commission Geographic Fulfillment; Apostolic Eyewitness Authority | Ascension, Great Commission mandate, apostolic replacement of Judas (eyewitness qualification, 1:21-22). |
| 2 | Pentecost/Outpouring; Spirit Baptism; Filling of the Spirit; Tongues as Known Languages; Signs and Wonders; Inaugurated Last Days; Universal Scope of the Gospel; Repentance; Believers’ Baptism; Forgiveness of Sins; Church as Spirit-Filled Community; Voluntary Communal Generosity; Breaking of Bread; Messianic Fulfillment; Crucifixion Responsibility; Sovereign Plan; Deity/Lordship Installation; Resurrection of Christ | Core passage (2:1–41). Highest doctrinal density in the book; every Critical-tier entry above except justification/circumcision and Paul’s conversion is anchored here. |
| 3 | Christ as Servant of God; Christ as the Righteous One; Messianic Fulfillment; Miracles Confirming Preaching; Crucifixion Responsibility; Repentance | Healing of the lame man and Peter’s temple sermon. |
| 4 | Apostolic Eyewitness Authority; Miracles Confirming Preaching; Signs and Wonders; Bold Witness; Voluntary Communal Generosity; Church as Spirit-Filled Community; Sovereign Plan; Christ as Servant of God | Peter and John before the Sanhedrin; believers’ prayer citing Psalm 2. |
| 5 | The Holy Spirit’s Personal Deity; Miracles Confirming Preaching; Signs and Wonders; Apostolic Eyewitness Authority | Ananias and Sapphira; apostolic signs multiply. |
| 6 | Reviewed — no distinct top-level registry doctrine, but introduces diakonia/service vocabulary (Core Glossary Doctrine 4) foundational to Local Church Leadership below; 6:7 (“the word of God grew”) feeds forward into Gospel’s Unhindered Advance. | Appointment of the Seven; growth of the Jerusalem church. |
| 7 | The Holy Spirit’s Personal Deity (resist the Spirit, 7:51); Christ as the Righteous One (7:52); Martyrdom as Culmination of Witness; anticipatory link to circumcision-of-the-heart language feeding Jerusalem Council doctrine | Stephen’s speech and martyrdom. |
| 8 | Gift of the Spirit Cannot Be Purchased; Persecution as Opposition to Christ; Believers’ Baptism; Universal Scope of the Gospel (Samaria) | Philip in Samaria; Simon Magus; the Ethiopian eunuch. |
| 9 | The Sovereign, Gracious Call of Paul; Paul as Chosen Instrument; Persecution as Opposition to Christ; Believers’ Baptism; Miracles Confirming Preaching (Dorcas, 9:36-42) | Saul’s Damascus-road conversion; Peter’s healing/raising ministry. |
| 10 | Removal of the Jew/Gentile Purity Barrier; God Shows No Partiality; Universal Scope of the Gospel; Tongues as Known Languages; Spirit Baptism (Gentile Pentecost) | Cornelius episode — deliberate narrative parallel to Acts 2. |
| 11 | Removal of the Purity Barrier; Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One Church; Mutual Exhortation; Continuity of Prophetic Ministry | Peter’s report to Jerusalem; Antioch church founded. |
| 12 | Reviewed — Martyrdom as Culmination of Witness (James’s death, 12:1-2, extending the Stephen pattern); Gospel’s Unhindered Advance (12:24) | Peter’s imprisonment and angelic deliverance; Herod’s death. |
| 13 | Paul as Chosen Instrument (set apart, 13:2); Messianic Fulfillment; Justification Apart from the Law; Resurrection of Christ; Bold Witness; Universal Scope of the Gospel | Antioch commissioning; Paul’s synagogue sermon at Pisidian Antioch; turn to the Gentiles. |
| 14 | Miracles Confirming Preaching; Idolatry Confronted by the Living God; Local Church Leadership (elders appointed, 14:23); Martyrdom/persecution continuity (stoning, 14:19) | Iconium and Lystra; healing and near-martyrdom of Paul. |
| 15 | Jerusalem Council’s Rejection of Circumcision; Salvation by Grace, Not Law-Keeping; Unity of Jews and Gentiles; Mutual Exhortation | The Jerusalem Council — doctrinal climax of Justification apart from the Law. |
| 16 | Believers’ Baptism; Household Salvation Requires Personal Faith; Bold Witness | Lydia and the Philippian jailer; Macedonian call. |
| 17 | Idolatry Confronted by the Living God; Messianic Fulfillment (reasoning from the Scriptures at Thessalonica/Berea) | Areopagus sermon; “offspring of God” creational language (see Core Glossary). |
| 18 | The Baptism of John Distinguished from Christian Baptism (18:25); Gospel’s Unhindered Advance | Corinth ministry; Apollos instructed further. |
| 19 | Baptism of John Distinguished; Spirit Baptism (19:1-6); Tongues as Known Languages; Idolatry Confronted by the Living God (Ephesian riot); Miracles Confirming Preaching; Gospel’s Unhindered Advance (19:20) | Ephesus ministry; disciples of John rebaptized/receive the Spirit; riot of the silversmiths. |
| 20 | Local Church Leadership (elders/overseers, 20:17,28); Breaking of Bread; Bold Witness; Mutual Exhortation | Paul’s farewell at Miletus; Eutychus raised at Troas. |
| 21 | Jerusalem Council/circumcision controversy continuation (21:21,24,28); Continuity of Prophetic Ministry (Agabus, 21:9-11); Apostolic Eyewitness Authority | Paul’s arrest in the temple; Jewish-Christian tensions over the Law. |
| 22 | The Sovereign, Gracious Call of Paul (retelling); Paul as Chosen Instrument; Apostolic Eyewitness Authority | Paul’s defense before the crowd, recounting his conversion. |
| 23 | Resurrection of Christ (Pharisee/Sadducee dispute, 23:6-9); Apostolic Authority (protection amid conspiracy) | Paul before the Sanhedrin; plot against his life. |
| 24 | Resurrection of Christ (24:15,21); Repentance/righteousness themes (Paul reasons with Felix, 24:25) | Paul before Felix. |
| 25 | God’s Sovereign Plan and Foreknowledge (providential legal mechanism); Great Commission Geographic Fulfillment (appeal to Caesar, 25:11) | Paul before Festus and Agrippa; appeal to Caesar. |
| 26 | The Sovereign, Gracious Call of Paul (third retelling); Paul as Chosen Instrument; Resurrection of Christ; Repentance | Paul’s defense before Agrippa. |
| 27 | God’s Sovereign Plan and Foreknowledge (27:24); Thanksgiving (27:35) | Shipwreck voyage to Rome; divine providence amid peril. |
| 28 | Great Commission Geographic Fulfillment; Gospel’s Unhindered Advance; Thanksgiving (28:15); Idolatry Confronted by the Living God (Malta, minor, reviewed — no separate risk entry needed beyond the general idolatry doctrine) | Arrival in Rome; the book’s deliberately open ending. |
This matrix must be loaded alongside assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json for Phase 2 review routing. Any deviation between this document and the registry must be resolved in favor of the registry, and this document corrected to match.
Critical Risk Doctrines
Baptism in/with the Holy Spirit
Polish name: chrzest w Duchu Świętym
Key terms: spirit_baptism, filled_with_holy_spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: risks conflation with water baptism (a single sacramental category dominates Polish catechesis) and with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal’s (‘Odnowa w Duchu Świętym’) contested teaching of a distinct post-conversion Spirit-baptism experience tied to ecstatic tongues. The curriculum must present the text’s own claims without silently adopting or silently rejecting the contested Charismatic reading.
The Holy Spirit’s Personal Deity
Polish name: osobowe bóstwo Ducha Świętego
Key terms: lying_to_holy_spirit, resist_the_spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Ananias’s and Sapphira’s sin is lying directly to God, and Stephen’s generation directly resists the Spirit — a strong affirmation of the Spirit’s full, personal deity, of particular relevance given non-Trinitarian groups (e.g. Jehovah’s Witnesses) active in Poland who deny the Spirit’s personhood.
Universal Scope of the Gospel (Jew and Gentile)
Polish name: powszechny zasięg Ewangelii dla Żyda i poganina
Key terms: calling, gods_impartiality, nations_ethne, gentiles
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: no ethnic or national barrier to the gospel; must not be softened to imply the gospel belongs distinctively to a historically Catholic nation, directly parallel to the baseline’s caution against the ‘Polak-katolik’ fusion of national and religious identity.
Repentance as Personal Turning to God
Polish name: nawrócenie jako osobiste zwrócenie się do Boga
Key terms: repentance, turn_to_god
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: must not be rendered primarily with ‘pokuta/pokutować’, which in Polish Catholic usage is strongly tied to the sacrament of Penance/Confession requiring priestly absolution — a distinct liturgical act these texts do not describe. This is a direct, personal turning to God.
Baptism Following Personal Faith
Polish name: chrzest następujący po osobistej wierze
Key terms: baptism
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Poland’s dominant Catholic (and much Protestant) tradition practices infant baptism administered prior to personal faith; Acts consistently narrates baptism FOLLOWING personal repentance/faith as its public confession. Must not default silently to the infant-sacramental paradigm.
Apostolic Authority Grounded in Eyewitness Testimony
Polish name: autorytet apostolski oparty na świadectwie naocznych świadków
Key terms: witness, apostle
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: ‘świadek’ must be understood in its primary forensic/eyewitness sense, not anachronistically read as ‘martyr’ (death) given Poland’s strong cultural association of Christian witness with the martyr-cult tradition (e.g. Maksymilian Kolbe); the apostles’ authority rests on observed fact, not private mystical insight.
Christ’s Public Installation as Lord and Messiah
Polish name: publiczne ustanowienie Chrystusa Panem i Mesjaszem
Key terms: installed_lord_and_messiah, lord, messiah
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: this is functional/public installation of the already-eternal Son as reigning Messiah-Lord, not Jesus becoming divine at this moment; given non-Trinitarian groups active in Poland teaching adoptionist-adjacent Christology, requires an explicit note distinguishing historical vindication from ontological becoming.
Resurrection of Christ (Bodily, Historical)
Polish name: zmartwychwstanie Chrystusa (cielesne, historyczne)
Key terms: resurrection, hades_realm_of_dead, corruption_of_body
Review routing: Human theologian
The Psalm 16 citation’s ‘Hades’/‘corruption’ language must be distinguished from Polish popular ‘piekło’ (final judgment/damnation); Acts 23:6-9’s Pharisee/Sadducee dispute shows resurrection hope was a genuinely contested first-century Jewish question, useful for teaching but never a warrant to soften bodily resurrection into a merely spiritual claim.
Messianic Fulfillment of Prophecy
Polish name: mesjańskie wypełnienie proroctwa
Key terms: messiah, prophet, prophecy
Review routing: Human theologian
Peter’s and Paul’s arguments that David and the prophets foretold the Messiah’s resurrection require explicit OT background many culturally Catholic but non-catechized Polish readers may lack; must preserve the exclusivity of fulfillment in Jesus alone.
Human Responsibility for the Crucifixion (without collective ethnic blame)
Polish name: ludzka odpowiedzialność za ukrzyżowanie (bez zbiorowej winy etnicznej)
Key terms: lawless_men, gods_plan_foreknowledge
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: must never be rendered or taught in a way that supports collective, trans-historical blame of the Jewish people. This is especially sensitive given Poland’s own historical record of antisemitic violence and ongoing national reckoning with Polish-Jewish history; requires explicit framing of corporate human/authority responsibility, not ethnic indictment.
The Sovereign, Gracious Call of Paul
Polish name: suwerenne, pełne łaski powołanie Pawła
Key terms: chosen_instrument, calling, zealous_for_god
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: God’s sovereign initiative in confronting and transforming a persecutor into an apostle must not be moralized into a generic ‘change of heart’ story or read through the specifically vocational/priestly lens of Polish ‘powołanie’, though it is a genuine instance of divine calling.
Justification Apart from the Law
Polish name: usprawiedliwienie niezależne od Prawa
Key terms: justification, law, circumcision
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Acts’ clearest statement that everyone who believes is justified from all that the Law of Moses could not justify from; directly bridges to the Romans baseline’s Critical justification entry and must retain its forensic ‘declared righteous’ sense, resisting collapse into gradual sacramental transformation.
The Jerusalem Council’s Rejection of Circumcision as Necessary for Salvation
Polish name: odrzucenie obrzezania jako warunku zbawienia przez Sobór Jerozolimski
Key terms: circumcision, yoke_of_the_law, law
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: the definitive Acts statement of justification apart from the Law, directly parallel to the Judaizing pressure Paul confronts in Galatians and echoes in Romans; the same merit-cooperation tension the baseline flags for grace/justification applies here to a specific ritual work of the Law.
Salvation by Grace, Not Law-Keeping
Polish name: zbawienie z łaski, a nie przez przestrzeganie Prawa
Key terms: grace, salvation, law
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: ‘we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus’ is Acts’ version of the Romans 3-4 grace-not-works argument; must preserve the grace/works contrast without softening toward merit-cooperation.
High Risk Doctrines
Pentecost and the Outpouring of the Spirit
Polish name: Pięćdziesiątnica i wylanie Ducha Świętego
Key terms: pentecost_feast, poured_out, last_days
Review routing: Human theologian
Must supply the OT Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) harvest/Sinai background so ‘Pięćdziesiątnica’ is not merely heard as the existing Church holiday ‘Zesłanie Ducha Świętego’ with no covenant content behind it.
Filling of the Holy Spirit
Polish name: napełnienie Duchem Świętym
Key terms: filled_with_holy_spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
Polish Catholic sacramental theology popularly ties reception of the Spirit’s fullness to Confirmation (‘bierzmowanie’), a once-for-life rite; Acts describes a repeatable, non-sacramental empowering tied to specific moments of bold proclamation.
Tongues as Known Human Languages (Xenolalia)
Polish name: mówienie językami jako znane języki ludzkie
Key terms: speaking_in_tongues, tongues_of_fire, own_language_dialect
Review routing: Human theologian
Poland’s widespread Catholic Charismatic Renewal commonly practices ‘mówienie językami’ as ecstatic, unintelligible speech; Acts 2 explicitly describes known human languages understood by multinational hearers (2:6,8,11) and must not be silently equated with the Charismatic phenomenon.
God Shows No Partiality
Polish name: Bóg nie ma względu na osobę
Key terms: no_partiality
Review routing: Human theologian
Peter’s climactic conclusion from the Cornelius episode must not be softened to imply any residual ethnic/national religious preference for a particular people group.
Removal of the Jew/Gentile Purity Barrier
Polish name: zniesienie bariery czystości między Żydem a poganinem
Key terms: clean_unclean_common, god_fearer
Review routing: Human theologian
Requires substantial OT (Levitical) background most Polish readers lack; risk of trivialization if analogized loosely to Catholic Lenten fasting rules, a weak parallel that would obscure the doctrinal weight of the symbolic argument.
Forgiveness of Sins Received by Faith
Polish name: odpuszczenie grzechów przyjęte przez wiarę
Key terms: forgiveness_of_sins, wash_away_sins
Review routing: Human theologian
The exact phrase ‘odpuszczenie grzechów’ is also the standard liturgical formula pronounced by a priest in the Sacrament of Confession; must be clarified as God’s own direct forgiveness received through repentance and faith, not dependent on a separate, repeatable priestly absolution.
The Baptism of John Distinguished from Christian Baptism
Polish name: chrzest Janowy odróżniony od chrztu chrześcijańskiego
Key terms: baptism_of_john, spirit_baptism
Review routing: Human theologian
The clearest place in the book where the text itself distinguishes two baptisms; catechized Catholic readers accustomed to a single sacramental category of baptism risk blurring this explicit textual distinction.
Household Salvation Requires Personal Faith
Polish name: zbawienie domu poprzez osobistą wiarę każdego jego członka
Key terms: salvation, baptism
Review routing: Human theologian
Must not be read as salvation automatically conferred on family members apart from their own personal faith; the narrative itself shows the household hearing the word and believing before baptism, directly parallel to the baseline’s caution against ‘zbawienie’ as an automatic status conferred by family or national-religious belonging.
Voluntary Communal Generosity
Polish name: dobrowolna wspólnotowa wielkoduszność
Key terms: all_things_common
Review routing: Human theologian
Poland-specific: forced collectivization under communist rule (PRL) left deep, largely negative cultural associations with ‘wspólna własność’; must be explicitly distinguished from state-imposed collectivism as a fruit of transformed hearts, not an economic policy model.
Local Church Leadership (Elders/Overseers)
Polish name: lokalne przywództwo kościelne (starsi/nadzorcy)
Key terms: elder, overseer_bishop, shepherd_flock
Review routing: Human theologian
Acts 20 uses ‘elder’ and ‘overseer/bishop’ interchangeably for a plural, local eldership; Poland’s developed three-tier Catholic hierarchy (biskup > prezbiter > diakon), reinforced by the nationally prominent Konferencja Episkopatu Polski, risks being anachronistically read back into this text.
The Breaking of Bread
Polish name: łamanie chleba
Key terms: breaking_of_bread
Review routing: Human theologian
Must distinguish the descriptive shared-meal practice narrated in Acts from the full, later-developed Catholic Eucharistic/Mass theology (transubstantiation, priestly consecration); the text does not resolve later sacramental debates.
Christ as the Servant of God (Isaianic Title)
Polish name: Chrystus jako Sługa Boży (tytuł izajaszowy)
Key terms: servant_of_god_title
Review routing: Human theologian
The exact Polish phrase ‘Służebnica Boża’/‘Służebnik Boży’ is the official title given to candidates for beatification in the Catholic canonization process; risks confusion between Christ’s unique Isaianic Servant title and this honorific used of sainthood candidates.
Christ as the Righteous One
Polish name: Chrystus jako Sprawiedliwy
Key terms: righteous_one_title
Review routing: Human theologian
Must be recognized and rendered as a title for Christ, not translated generically as ‘a righteous person’, or the Christological force parallel to ‘the Holy One’ and ‘the Author of Life’ is lost.
God’s Sovereign Plan and Foreknowledge
Polish name: Boży zamysł i uprzednia znajomość
Key terms: gods_plan_foreknowledge, providence
Review routing: Human theologian
Must avoid fatalistic ‘los/przeznaczenie’ framing while still affirming genuine divine sovereignty, per baseline’s providence/election caution.
Persecution as Opposition to Christ Himself
Polish name: prześladowanie jako sprzeciwianie się samemu Chrystusowi
Key terms: persecution
Review routing: Human theologian
Poland’s strong historical memory of persecution (Nazi occupation, communist suppression) risks narrowing this doctrine to a purely national-historical narrative and losing Acts’ specific claim that persecuting the church is persecuting Christ himself.
Martyrdom as the Culmination of Faithful Witness
Polish name: męczeństwo jako uwieńczenie wiernego świadectwa
Key terms: stone_to_death, witness
Review routing: Human theologian
Stephen’s death is the narrative hinge where ‘świadek’ (forensic witness) begins to acquire the later sense ‘martyr’; Poland’s strong cult of martyr-saints (e.g. Maksymilian Kolbe) makes explicit teaching of this transition necessary rather than assumed.
Paul as God’s Chosen Instrument to the Gentiles
Polish name: Paweł jako wybrane narzędzie Boga dla pogan
Key terms: chosen_instrument, election
Review routing: Human theologian
Reuses baseline ‘wybranie’ (election) caution: convey personal, purposive divine choice, not impersonal fate (‘los’).
The Gift of the Spirit Cannot Be Purchased
Polish name: dar Ducha Świętego nie jest na sprzedaż
Key terms: gift_of_the_spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
Simon Magus’s attempt to buy the Spirit’s gift with money is the text’s own negative test case; reinforces baseline ‘łaska’ doctrine and warns against any commercialization of spiritual blessing, relevant given commercialized folk-devotional practices around certain shrines.
Medium Risk Doctrines
Signs and Wonders Confirming the Word
Polish name: znaki i cuda potwierdzające słowo
Key terms: signs_and_wonders
Review routing: Native speaker review
Risk of default association with Polish shrine and apparition folk piety (private revelations, miraculous images) rather than the specific apostolic, gospel-confirming sense Acts intends.
Inaugurated Last Days
Polish name: zapoczątkowane dni ostateczne
Key terms: last_days
Review routing: Native speaker review
Must be taught as an era beginning at Pentecost and continuing through the church age, not exclusively a still-future end-time event.
Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One Church
Polish name: jedność Żydów i pogan w jednym Kościele
Key terms: church, gentiles
Review routing: Native speaker review
Poland’s complex Jewish-Christian history gives this doctrine particular pastoral weight; must be translated with full theological clarity, avoiding any implication of a hierarchy of belonging.
The Church as a Spirit-Filled Community
Polish name: Kościół jako wspólnota napełniona Duchem
Key terms: church, fellowship, one_accord
Review routing: Native speaker review
Distinguish the local, gathered, Spirit-filled congregation from the capitalized institutional sense (‘Kościół’) central to Polish Catholic ecclesiology and national life, per baseline caution.
Miracles Confirming Apostolic Preaching
Polish name: cuda potwierdzające głoszenie apostolskie
Key terms: power_of_god, signs_and_wonders
Review routing: Native speaker review
Distinguish God’s specific miracle-confirming power tied to gospel proclamation from generic supernatural-power language or shrine-associated folk piety.
Bold Witness Under Persecution
Polish name: śmiałe świadectwo w prześladowaniu
Key terms: boldness_parrhesia, witness
Review routing: Native speaker review
Teach as boldness specifically in proclaiming Christ, not generic courage; Poland’s history of costly public witness under totalitarian regimes may be used pastorally as a bridge without eclipsing the Christ-specific content.
The Great Commission’s Geographic Fulfillment
Polish name: geograficzne wypełnienie Wielkiego Nakazu Misyjnego
Key terms: ends_of_the_earth, unhindered
Review routing: Native speaker review
Must be taught as literal global scope bracketing the whole book (Jerusalem to Rome), an ongoing mandate rather than a completed, closed program.
The Kingdom of God Is Not a Nationalist Political Program
Polish name: królestwo Boże nie jest nacjonalistycznym programem politycznym
Key terms: restore_kingdom_to_israel, kingdom_of_god
Review routing: Native speaker review
The disciples’ question about restoring the kingdom ‘to Israel’ is a corrected misunderstanding, not a model; parallel to the baseline’s caution against conflating God’s kingdom with the Polish Catholic national-political heritage.
The Gospel’s Unhindered, Ongoing Advance
Polish name: nieprzeszkodzony, trwający postęp Ewangelii
Key terms: unhindered, preach_proclaim, word_of_god_grew
Review routing: Native speaker review
Acts’ deliberately open-ended final word must be taught as an ongoing mandate bracketing back to 1:8, not a triumphant, closed conclusion to the mission.
Idolatry Confronted by the Living God
Polish name: bałwochwalstwo skonfrontowane z żywym Bogiem
Key terms: gods_made_with_hands, offspring_of_god
Review routing: Native speaker review
The biblical critique of manufactured idols worshipped as gods must not be applied by extension to Catholic statues and icons used in veneration (e.g. the Black Madonna of Częstochowa), a live ecumenical sensitivity in Poland; native speaker review recommended for teaching framing.
Low Risk Doctrines
Thanksgiving
Polish name: dziękczynienie
Key terms: thanksgiving
Review routing: Automated review
Standard term; minimal risk.
Mutual Exhortation and Encouragement
Polish name: wzajemne napominanie i zachęta
Key terms: exhort
Review routing: Automated review
Standard term; no significant doctrinal risk.
Continuity of Prophetic Ministry in the Church
Polish name: ciągłość służby prorockiej w Kościele
Key terms: prophet, prophecy
Review routing: Automated review
Standard terms; low risk beyond noting that these are contemporary church prophets, not only OT figures.
Referenced passages