Doctrine Analysis
Doctrine Analysis — Acts — English → Ukrainian
Purpose
This document provides the full doctrine matrix for the entire book of Acts (chapters 1–28), consistent with assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json: identical doctrine set, identical risk tiers, identical review routing. It adds the supporting-passage detail and chapter-by-chapter coverage confirmation required by Phase 1 full-book-coverage mandate. The core passage (Acts 2:1-41, Pentecost) is the theological anchor of the curriculum, not its scope boundary — every chapter of Acts is reviewed below.
Risk tiers and review routing follow the shared framework: Critical and High require human theologian review; Medium requires native speaker review; Low requires automated review only.
Part 1 — Doctrine Matrix (Full Book)
| # | Doctrine | Ukrainian Name | Key Supporting Passages (Acts) | Risk | Translation Risk Summary | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Святий Дух і П’ятдесятниця | 1:5, 8; 2:1-4, 33, 38; 4:8, 31; 10:44-47; 19:1-7 | Critical | П’ятдесятниця collides with the beloved folk-liturgical feast Трійця; narrative content (tongues, mass conversion) risks being silently absorbed into calendar-feast association rather than explicitly taught. Live Ukrainian Pentecostal/Charismatic debate over “Spirit baptism” as a separable experience must be stated explicitly, not resolved by default. | Human theologian |
| 2 | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | Євангеліє для юдеїв і поган | 2:5-11, 39; 10:1-48; 11:1-18; 13:46-48; 15:1-29; 28:28 | Critical | погани’s modern derogatory drift (“wicked people”) risks coloring the foundational unity narrative; requires народи in mission-scope contexts. Ukraine’s history of antisemitic violence (pogroms, Babyn Yar) requires unambiguous, careful handling of the юдеї/погани contrast throughout. | Human theologian |
| 3 | Repentance and Baptism | покаяння і хрещення | 2:38, 41; 3:19; 8:12-13, 36-38; 9:18; 16:15, 31, 33; 19:1-5; 22:16 | Critical | Single highest-stakes doctrine in the curriculum: покаяння also names the sacrament of Confession; хрещення carries the civilizational weight of Хрещення Руси (988) and near-universal infant baptism practice, in tension with Acts’ adult believer’s-baptism pattern. Must state this text’s own credobaptist portrayal explicitly without attacking majority-tradition practice. | Human theologian |
| 4 | The Church as Community | церква як спільнота | 2:42-47; 4:32-35; 6:1-6; 12:5; 15:1-29 | Critical | церква remains acutely live/contested (OCU/UOC/UGCC jurisdiction question); усе спільне must be distinguished from Soviet forced collectivization; ламання хліба must be neither over-sacramentalized nor stripped of sacred weight. | Human theologian |
| 5 | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | апостольська влада і чудеса | 2:22, 43; 3:1-10; 4:33; 5:12-16; 8:14-25; 14:3; 19:11-12 | High | Must be kept distinct from post-Soviet folk-occult culture (екстрасенси, ворожки); Simon Magus’s commodification of spiritual power (8:18-19) is a biblically grounded corrective to highlight, not a historical curiosity. | Human theologian |
| 6 | Persecution and Bold Witness | переслідування і сміливе свідчення | 4:1-31; 5:17-42; 7:1-60; 8:1-3; 12:1-19; 14:19-22; 16:19-40; 21:27-40 | High | сміливість/свідок carry acute current wartime resonance (military/civilian courage, war-crimes documentation); must remain anchored to Spirit-given gospel boldness, not generalized patriotic courage. | Human theologian |
| 7 | Conversion of Paul | навернення Павла | 9:1-31; 22:1-21; 26:9-23 | High | навернення is low-collision but must be distinguished from secular “conversion to a cause”; небесне видіння must be distinguished explicitly from folk-occult vision/prophecy practices. | Native speaker review |
| 8 | Justification apart from the Law | виправдання без закону | 13:38-39; 15:1-11, 24 | Critical | Acts 13:39 is the book’s only explicit forensic-justification vocabulary and must match the Romans/Galatians rendering exactly; діла закону must denote Torah-boundary markers only, never a blanket critique of обряд-positive sacramental piety; compounded by Собор’s historical-trauma collision (see #18). | Human theologian |
| 9 | The Great Commission Fulfilled | виконання Великого Доручення | 1:8; 13:1-3; 28:23, 30-31 | High | Programmatic “to the end of the earth” and the open-ended closing note (безперешкодно) should reflect current wartime chaplaincy/displaced-persons ministry, not only peacetime cross-cultural missions; Царство Боже must avoid царство’s imperial/Russification resonance. | Human theologian |
| 10 | Resurrection of Christ (Acts’ Central Proclamation) | воскресіння Христа в Діях | 2:24-32; 3:15; 4:2, 33; 17:18, 31-32; 23:6-8; 26:23 | Critical | Recurs with unusual centrality as a point of both Jewish (Sadducee/Pharisee, 23:6-8) and Gentile (Athenian mockery, 17:18, 31-32) controversy; Tabitha’s temporary resuscitation (ch. 9) must be explicitly distinguished from Christ’s unique, permanent, glorified resurrection using the same word family. | Human theologian |
| 11 | Lordship of Christ (Acts’ Sermon Climaxes) | Господство Христа в Діях | 2:36; 10:36; 16:31 | High | Acts 2:36’s “Lord and Christ” is the sermon’s climax and must restore personal, decisive force, not a recited creed line; Христос’s everyday-surname function requires the Jewish messianic-fulfillment sense to be explicitly resurfaced. | Human theologian |
| 12 | Sanctification and Inheritance | освячення і спадщина | 20:32; 26:18 | Critical | освячення must not collapse into its everyday ritual-object-blessing sense (свячення паски) nor into обоження without explicit teaching; 26:18’s “inheritance among those sanctified” carries acute pastoral weight given wartime family/inheritance realities. | Human theologian |
| 13 | Providence and God’s Sovereign Plan | провидіння Боже і Божий задум | 2:23; 4:28; 15:28; 17:26-28; 27:24, 34 | High | Must never be rendered/read as доля/випадок/карма; 2:23 requires holding divine sovereignty and human moral responsibility together without fatalism or evasion of guilt; ch. 27’s “do not be afraid” carries acute resonance for wartime danger/displacement but must not become a blanket physical-safety promise. | Human theologian |
| 14 | Election and Divine Calling | обрання і Боже покликання | 9:15; 13:48; 22:14 | High | Paul’s “chosen instrument” (9:15) must be personal, purposive divine choice, never доля/фатум/приречення without qualification, given intensified wartime fatalism discourse. | Human theologian |
| 15 | The Gift and Filling of the Holy Spirit | дар і наповнення Святим Духом | 2:38; 4:8, 31; 8:20; 9:17; 10:45; 11:17; 13:9, 52 | Critical | Singular дар Святого Духа must stay lexically and doctrinally distinct from духовні дари; whether repeated “filling” is a subsequent separable experience or the Spirit’s ongoing empowering must be stated explicitly, not defaulted to any one Ukrainian tradition’s settled answer. | Human theologian |
| 16 | Water Baptism and Spirit-Reception Sequence | співвідношення хрещення водою і прийняття Духа | 2:38; 8:14-17; 10:44-48; 19:1-7 | Critical | Acts narrates at least three distinct sequences resisting flattening into one fixed order; покладання рук maps closely onto Миропомазання (Chrismation); must be taught as Luke’s own varied narration of the Spirit’s sovereign freedom, neither prescribing nor contradicting any tradition’s sacramental order. | Human theologian |
| 17 | Church Leadership and Eldership | керівництво церкви і старійшинство | 6:1-6; 11:30; 14:23; 20:17, 28 | Critical | Ukrainian єпископ denotes a high-ranking office within the fully developed OCU/UOC/UGCC hierarchy; risks importing that institutional weight into Paul’s simpler local pastoral-care context. Use старійшини as primary rendering; Acts 6’s “seven” must not be read back into the fully developed ordained диякон office. | Human theologian |
| 18 | The Jerusalem Council and Doctrinal Unity | Єрусалимський собор і доктринальна єдність | 15:1-29 | Critical | Собор [апостолів] collides directly with the 1946 “Lviv Sobor,” the Soviet-orchestrated forced liquidation of the UGCC, remembered as defining historical trauma; any contrast with Acts 15’s genuine, free, Spirit-led deliberation must be made deliberately, never accidentally. | Human theologian |
| 19 | Signs and Wonders versus Occult Power | знамення і чудеса проти окультної сили | 8:9-24; 13:6-12; 19:11-19 | High | Direct collision with persistent post-Soviet folk-occult culture; Simon Magus’s attempted commodification of the Spirit should be taught as the passage’s real corrective point. | Human theologian |
| 20 | Household Faith and Family Conversion | віра дому і сімейне навернення | 10:2, 24, 44; 16:15, 31, 33-34; 18:8 | High | Intersects directly with the paedobaptist/credobaptist tension already Critical under baptism; present narrative on its own terms without overclaiming decisive support for either position. | Human theologian |
| 21 | Martyrdom and Suffering Witness | мучеництво і страждальне свідчення | 7:1-60; 12:1-2; 22:20 | High | Stephen’s death resonates deeply with 20th-century Soviet-era clergy/lay martyrdom (including the UGCC’s forced underground existence) and recent wartime losses — a genuine pastoral asset that must not override Stephen’s own specific narrative; 7:51’s indictment must never be weaponized against any contemporary Ukrainian church body. | Human theologian |
| 22 | The Universal Impartiality of God | Божа неупередженість до всіх народів | 10:1-48; 11:1-18 | High | Directly parallel to the unity_of_jews_and_gentiles doctrine; must affirm full, unqualified divine impartiality (10:34) without narrowing the OT purity-metaphor’s real referent (people-groups, not food). | Human theologian |
| 23 | Mutual Care and Economic Sharing | взаємна турбота і спільне майно | 2:44-45; 4:32-35; 6:1-6 | Medium | Voluntary, Spirit-motivated generosity must be distinguished from Soviet forced collectivization (колектив); has genuine positive resonance with current wartime mutual-aid networks. | Native speaker review |
| 24 | Government and Legal Authority in Acts | влада і закон у Діях | 4:1-31; 5:17-42; 23:1-24:27; 25:1-27; 26:32 | Medium | Paul’s appearances before Jewish/Roman authorities and his appeal to Caesar require the same care as Romans 13’s government/authority sensitivity in wartime Ukraine. | Native speaker review |
| 25 | The Name of Jesus and the Power of the Name | ім’я Ісуса і сила імені | 3:6, 16; 4:7, 10, 12; 16:18; 19:13, 17 | High | Must guard against magical-incantation misreading against the post-Soviet folk-occult backdrop; “the name” is personal trust in and appeal to Christ’s person, never an independently powerful formula (sharpened by the Sons of Sceva’s failed imitation, 19:13-16). | Human theologian |
Tally (derived from the matrix above): Critical = 11, High = 12, Medium = 2, Low = 0. Total requiring human theologian review = 23. Total requiring native speaker review = 2. Total automated-only = 0. This tally is fully consistent with every individual doctrine/risk pairing recorded in assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json; no doctrine or tier has been altered, added, or removed.
Part 2 — Chapter-by-Chapter Full-Book Coverage
Per the Phase 1 full-coverage mandate, every chapter of Acts is confirmed reviewed below. The core passage (2:1-41) anchors the curriculum theologically but does not bound its scope.
| Ch. | Content Summary | Doctrines Touched (# from matrix) | Coverage Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ascension, promise of the Spirit, Great Commission mandate, replacement of Judas by lot | 9, 13, 14 | Reviewed. “Casting lots” (1:26) folds into Providence (#13); no new Critical term beyond Царство Боже (already baseline). |
| 2 | Pentecost, tongues, Peter’s sermon, mass repentance/baptism, church community formed | 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16 | Core passage. Highest doctrinal and terminological density in the book; anchors nearly half the matrix. |
| 3 | Healing of the lame man, Peter’s temple sermon (Servant of God, restoration, resurrection) | 5, 10 | Reviewed. Introduces Servant [of God] and restoration terms (Section B, glossary #12-13); no new doctrine beyond apostolic authority/resurrection. |
| 4 | Peter and John before the Sanhedrin, boldness under threat, community sharing, providence (4:28) | 5, 6, 13, 23, 24 | Reviewed. First explicit парρησία (boldness) occurrence; foundational for Persecution and Bold Witness doctrine. |
| 5 | Ananias and Sapphira (lying to the Spirit), apostles re-arrested, Gamaliel’s counsel | 5, 6, 15 | Reviewed. “Lying to/testing the Holy Spirit” (glossary #16) is a distinct High-risk term requiring the Spirit’s personal, divine referent to remain undiminished. |
| 6 | Appointment of the seven, Stephen introduced, synagogue opposition begins | 4, 6, 17, 23 | Reviewed. Founding text for Church Leadership and Eldership doctrine; διακονία must not be read back into the later ordained diaconate. |
| 7 | Stephen’s speech (covenant history) and martyrdom | 6, 21 | Reviewed. “Resist the Holy Spirit” (7:51) and mucheniztvo resonance are both High-risk; must never be weaponized against a contemporary church body. |
| 8 | Persecution scatters the church; Philip in Samaria; Simon Magus; Ethiopian eunuch’s baptism | 2, 3, 5, 15, 16, 19 | Reviewed. Gospel crosses first ethnic-religious boundary (Samaritans); Simon Magus is the paradigm occult-power collision text. |
| 9 | Saul’s conversion on the Damascus road; Ananias; Tabitha raised | 7, 10, 14 | Reviewed. Distinguishes Tabitha’s temporary resuscitation from Christ’s unique resurrection (#10); “chosen instrument” (9:15) anchors Election doctrine. |
| 10 | Cornelius, Peter’s vision, Gentile household receives the Spirit before baptism | 2, 16, 20, 22 | Reviewed. Structural counter-sequence to 2:38 and 8:14-17; central text for Universal Impartiality doctrine. |
| 11 | Peter’s report to Jerusalem; Gentiles glorify God; Antioch church founded; “Christian” coined | 2, 4, 17, 22 | Reviewed. “It seemed good…” pattern (glossary #28) previewed here in miniature (11:18). |
| 12 | Peter’s imprisonment and rescue; James martyred; Herod’s death | 6, 13, 21 | Reviewed. Angel of the Lord (glossary #24) and providence intersect; no new Critical doctrine. |
| 13 | First missionary journey begins; Sergius Paulus; Bar-Jesus; Paul’s synagogue sermon; justification (13:39) | 2, 8, 9, 11, 14, 19 | Reviewed. Acts 13:39 is the book’s single explicit justification text — mandatory cross-check against Romans/Galatians rendering. |
| 14 | Continued mission at Iconium, Lystra, Derbe; healing; persecution; Paul stoned | 5, 6, 9 | Reviewed. Signs-and-wonders/persecution pairing continues; no new doctrine. |
| 15 | The Jerusalem Council: circumcision controversy resolved | 2, 8, 18 | Reviewed. Single highest institutional-collision chapter in the book (Собор/1946 Lviv Sobor); mandatory theologian review for every occurrence of the council term. |
| 16 | Lydia’s household baptized; Philippian jailer; Spirit of Jesus redirects Paul’s route | 3, 6, 16, 20 | Reviewed. Second major household-baptism narrative; Spirit-guidance text ties to Providence. |
| 17 | Areopagus address; resurrection preached and mocked at Athens | 9, 10 | Reviewed. Resurrection doctrine’s Gentile-controversy pole (contrast with 23:6-8’s Jewish-controversy pole). |
| 18 | Corinth; Gallio’s tribunal; Paul’s vow | 6, 24 | Reviewed. Government/legal-authority theme continues (Medium risk); no new Critical term. |
| 19 | Ephesus; John’s baptism vs. Spirit-baptism; magic books burned; riot | 1, 15, 16, 19 | Reviewed. 19:1-7 is a compounded Critical text (baptism + gift of the Spirit); magic-books renunciation extends occult-power doctrine. |
| 20 | Miletus farewell address; elders/overseers charged; breaking of bread; sanctification (20:32) | 4, 12, 17, 23 | Reviewed. Paul’s charge to the elders is the founding text for Church Leadership doctrine; sanctification/inheritance language begins here. |
| 21 | Return to Jerusalem; Nazirite vow; temple riot; arrest | 6, 24 | Reviewed. No new Critical doctrine; civil/religious-authority tension continues. |
| 22 | Paul’s defense speech; conversion account retold; heavenly vision; Roman citizenship | 7, 24 | Reviewed. Second of three conversion retellings; reinforces distinction from folk-occult vision practices. |
| 23 | Before the Sanhedrin; Pharisee/Sadducee resurrection dispute; plot against Paul | 10, 24 | Reviewed. Resurrection’s Jewish-controversy pole (contrast with ch. 17’s Gentile pole). |
| 24 | Trial before Felix; righteousness, self-control, judgment to come | 24 | Reviewed. праведність (already Critical baseline term) reappears embedded in a compound High-risk phrase (glossary #58). |
| 25 | Trial before Festus; appeal to Caesar | 24 | Reviewed. No new doctrine; civil-authority/legal-appeal theme continues. |
| 26 | Before Agrippa; Paul’s testimony; turn from darkness to light; chosen instrument echoed | 7, 14, 21 | Reviewed. Third and fullest conversion retelling; strongest concentration of election/turning vocabulary outside ch. 9. |
| 27 | Storm and shipwreck; “do not be afraid”; providence amid danger | 13 | Reviewed. Providence doctrine’s most extended narrative treatment; acute wartime-danger pastoral resonance. |
| 28 | Arrival in Rome; snake bite; unhindered preaching of the kingdom | 9, 13 | Reviewed. Closing text for Great Commission Fulfilled; безперешкодно’s deliberately open-ended, hope-affirming tone must be preserved. |
Coverage confirmation: All 28 chapters of Acts have been reviewed. No chapter is silently omitted; chapters contributing no new Critical/High doctrinal content (e.g., 18, 21, 25) are explicitly noted as reviewed with their doctrinal continuity recorded above.
This document extends and remains fully consistent with assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json (v1) and analysis/08_core_glossary.md. It must be loaded alongside those artifacts, and alongside the baseline Romans/Galatians doctrine_risk_registry.json, before Phase 2 translation begins.
Critical Risk Doctrines
The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Ukrainian name: Святий Дух і П’ятдесятниця
Key terms: pentecost, holy_spirit, tongues, filled_with_holy_spirit, gift_of_holy_spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
The feast-day name П’ятдесятниця collides with Трійця (Trinity Sunday), the beloved Orthodox/Greek Catholic folk-liturgical feast, risking the narrative content (Spirit’s descent, tongues, mass conversion) being silently replaced by folk-agricultural custom associations rather than explicitly anchored to it. Compounded by the live Ukrainian Pentecostal/Charismatic-versus-other-traditions debate over whether ‘filling’/tongues names a subsequent, separable ‘Spirit baptism’ experience or the Spirit’s ongoing work in an already-indwelt believer; this curriculum’s framing must be stated explicitly rather than default to any one tradition’s settled answer.
The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Ukrainian name: Євангеліє для юдеїв і поган
Key terms: gentiles, jews, god_shows_no_partiality, light_for_gentiles, clean_unclean
Review routing: Human theologian
погани’s modern derogatory drift (‘bad/wicked people’) risks inadvertently coloring Acts’ foundational Jew-Gentile unity narrative; use народи in mission-scope contexts per baseline guidance. Given Ukraine’s history of antisemitic violence (pogroms, Babyn Yar), the юдеї/погани contrast running throughout Acts’ missionary chapters requires the same careful, unambiguous handling as the baseline’s unity_of_jews_and_gentiles doctrine, with full unqualified impartiality preserved at 10:34.
Repentance and Baptism
Ukrainian name: покаяння і хрещення
Key terms: repentance, baptism, forgiveness_of_sins, household_salvation, johns_baptism_vs_spirit_baptism
Review routing: Human theologian
The single highest-stakes doctrine in the Acts curriculum. покаяння names both Peter’s demanded inward turning and the Orthodox/Greek Catholic sacrament of confession (Таїнство Покаяння); хрещення carries the civilizational weight of Хрещення Руси (988 AD) and the near-universal Ukrainian practice of infant baptism, standing in real tension with Acts’ repeated portrayal of adult, responsive, believer’s baptism. This curriculum must state its credobaptist reading of these specific texts explicitly as this text’s own portrayal, without attacking infant baptism as practiced by the majority traditions or letting the household-conversion narratives (16:15, 31-34) be overclaimed as decisive for either position.
The Church as Community
Ukrainian name: церква як спільнота
Key terms: church, fellowship, breaking_of_bread, had_all_things_in_common, with_one_accord, diakonia_service
Review routing: Human theologian
церква is the single most frequent Critical term in Acts and remains acutely live and politically contested (OCU/UOC/UGCC jurisdiction question); must be framed as the universal people of God, never any one jurisdiction. усе спільне (voluntary economic sharing) must be carefully distinguished from Soviet-era forced collectivization, an actively rejected imposed past. ламання хліба (breaking of bread) must neither be over-loaded with the fully developed Eucharistic sacramental theology all three majority traditions hold, nor stripped of all sacred significance.
Justification apart from the Law
Ukrainian name: виправдання без закону
Key terms: justification, works_of_the_law, circumcision, grace, jerusalem_council_sobor
Review routing: Human theologian
Acts 13:39 is the book’s only explicit forensic-justification vocabulary and must match the Romans/Galatians rendering of виправдання exactly. The Jerusalem Council (ch. 15) is Acts’ narrative counterpart to the Galatians law/grace antithesis; діла закону must denote specifically Torah-boundary markers, not a blanket critique of обряд-positive Orthodox/Greek Catholic sacramental piety. Compounded further by Собор’s collision with the 1946 Lviv Sobor’s historical trauma when the council event itself is named — this doctrine sits at the intersection of two separately Critical risks.
Resurrection of Christ (Acts’ Central Proclamation)
Ukrainian name: воскресіння Христа в Діях
Key terms: resurrection
Review routing: Human theologian
воскресіння recurs with unusual frequency and centrality across the whole book, becoming a primary point of both Jewish (Pharisee/Sadducee dispute, 23:6-8) and Gentile (Athenian mockery, 17:18, 31-32) controversy that the apostles repeatedly proclaim and defend. Tabitha’s raising (ch. 9, ἀνίστημι, temporary resuscitation) must be explicitly distinguished from Christ’s unique, permanent, glorified resurrection using the same word family, so the doctrine is never flattened or generalized without care, per the baseline’s existing discipline.
Sanctification and Inheritance
Ukrainian name: освячення і спадщина
Key terms: sanctification, adoption
Review routing: Human theologian
освячення must not collapse into its everyday ritual-object-blessing sense (свячення паски) nor into обоження/theosis without explicit teaching. Acts 26:18’s ‘inheritance among those sanctified’ should be linked explicitly to the baseline’s adoption doctrine’s emphasis on full, permanent inheritance rights, a resonance of particular pastoral weight given the war’s impact on Ukrainian family and inheritance realities.
The Gift and Filling of the Holy Spirit
Ukrainian name: дар і наповнення Святим Духом
Key terms: gift_of_holy_spirit, filled_with_holy_spirit, spiritual_gifts
Review routing: Human theologian
The singular ‘gift of the Holy Spirit’ (дар Святого Духа) must be kept lexically and doctrinally distinct from духовні дари (spiritual gifts/charismata); conflating them blurs the live and sometimes contested Ukrainian Pentecostal/Charismatic-versus-other-traditions debate over ‘Spirit baptism’ as a separable post-conversion experience. Whether repeated ‘filling’ names a subsequent, separable experience or the same Spirit’s ongoing empowering must be stated explicitly rather than defaulting to any one Ukrainian ecclesial tradition’s settled answer.
The Relationship Between Water Baptism and Spirit-Reception
Ukrainian name: співвідношення хрещення водою і прийняття Духа
Key terms: baptism, laying_on_of_hands, johns_baptism_vs_spirit_baptism, gift_of_holy_spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
Acts narrates at least three distinct sequences (Spirit given with/at baptism, 2:38; Spirit given after baptism through apostolic hands, 8:14-17; Spirit given before baptism, 10:44-48) that resist being flattened into a single fixed order. покладання рук maps with unusual closeness onto Миропомазання (Chrismation), the Orthodox/Greek Catholic sacrament administered immediately after baptism specifically to impart the Spirit; this must be taught as Luke’s own varied historical narration of the Spirit’s sovereign freedom, neither prescribing nor contradicting any specific tradition’s sacramental order.
Church Leadership and Eldership
Ukrainian name: керівництво церкви і старійшинство
Key terms: elders_overseers, shepherd, diakonia_service
Review routing: Human theologian
Ukrainian єпископ today denotes a specific, high-ranking office within the fully developed, jurisdictionally significant OCU/UOC/UGCC episcopal hierarchy; rendering ἐπίσκοπος this way in Acts 20:28 risks importing that entire contemporary institutional weight into Paul’s simpler, local pastoral-care context. Use старійшини as the primary rendering, glossing the overseer-function without importing modern jurisdictional rank; likewise, Acts 6’s ad hoc ‘seven’ must not be read back into the fully developed, ordained диякон office familiar to contemporary readers.
The Jerusalem Council and Doctrinal Unity
Ukrainian name: Єрусалимський собор і доктринальна єдність
Key terms: jerusalem_council_sobor, seemed_good_to_spirit_and_us, works_of_the_law, circumcision
Review routing: Human theologian
Собор [апостолів], the traditional Ukrainian church-historical name for this event, collides directly with the 1946 ‘Lviv Sobor,’ a Soviet-orchestrated pseudo-council that forcibly liquidated the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church into the Russian Orthodox Church, an act accompanied by the arrest and martyrdom of resisting clergy and remembered as a defining historical trauma by the UGCC. Using this term without comment risks unintentionally evoking that trauma; any contrast between Acts 15’s genuine, free, Spirit-led deliberation and the 1946 event’s coerced falsification of the same word must be made deliberately, never accidentally. Mandatory theologian review for every occurrence.
High Risk Doctrines
Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Ukrainian name: апостольська влада і чудеса
Key terms: signs_and_wonders, name_of_jesus, magic_sorcery, laying_on_of_hands
Review routing: Human theologian
God’s attesting signs and wonders through the apostles must be kept firmly distinct from Ukraine’s persistent post-Soviet folk-occult culture (екстрасенси, ворожки, чаклуни), where ‘чудо’ is loosely used for any striking or lucky occurrence; Simon Magus’s specific sin of commodifying spiritual power (8:18-19) provides a biblically-grounded corrective that should be highlighted rather than treated as merely historical curiosity. ‘The name of Jesus’ must never be taught as an independent power-formula divorced from personal trust in Christ.
Persecution and Bold Witness
Ukrainian name: переслідування і сміливе свідчення
Key terms: boldness, witness, martyr, sanhedrin
Review routing: Human theologian
сміливість/відвага and свідок both carry acute, currently lived Ukrainian wartime resonance (military and civilian courage; свідчення as documentation of war crimes and human-rights violations); this resonance can powerfully illuminate the doctrine but must remain anchored to Spirit-given gospel boldness and resurrection-testifying witness specifically, not generalized patriotic or military courage. мученик (martyr) carries deep, positive resonance with 20th-century Soviet-era clergy/lay martyrdom (including the UGCC’s forced underground existence) and recent wartime losses; Stephen’s specific narrative must remain the primary referent even as this resonance is honored.
Conversion of Paul
Ukrainian name: навернення Павла
Key terms: conversion_turning, chosen_instrument, heavenly_vision, turn_from_darkness_to_light
Review routing: Native speaker review
навернення is a standard, well-established Ukrainian religious term across all traditions with low collision risk; the primary care needed is distinguishing навернення’s specifically Christ-initiated, gospel-content sense from its secular-metaphorical usage (‘converted’ to a cause), and distinguishing небесне видіння (Paul’s commissioning vision) explicitly from the post-Soviet folk-occult vision/prophecy practices (ворожіння) already flagged repeatedly elsewhere in this Language Package.
The Great Commission Fulfilled
Ukrainian name: виконання Великого Доручення
Key terms: mission, end_of_the_earth, kingdom_of_god, without_hindrance
Review routing: Human theologian
Acts 1:8’s programmatic ‘to the end of the earth’ and the book’s deliberately open-ended, hope-affirming closing note (28:31, безперешкодно) should be handled with the same wartime chaplaincy/displaced-persons-ministry sensitivity already flagged in the baseline’s mission entry — the current lived Ukrainian mission field is chaplaincy and refugee ministry, not only cross-cultural missions in a peacetime frame. Царство Боже must avoid царство’s imperial/tsardom resonance from centuries of Russification.
Lordship of Christ (Acts’ Sermon Climaxes)
Ukrainian name: Господство Христа в Діях
Key terms: lord, messiah
Review routing: Human theologian
Acts 2:36’s double confession ‘Lord and Christ’ is Peter’s sermon’s climax and must restore personal, decisive force rather than reading as a recited creed line, exactly as the baseline requires for Romans 10:9; Христос’s function as Jesus’s effective everyday surname requires the Jewish messianic-fulfillment sense to be explicitly resurfaced throughout Acts’ many proof-from-Scripture sermons.
Providence and God’s Sovereign Plan
Ukrainian name: провидіння Боже і Божий задум
Key terms: providence, do_not_be_afraid, casting_lots, spirit_of_jesus_guiding
Review routing: Human theologian
провидіння Боже must never be rendered or read as доля/випадок/карма; Acts 2:23 requires holding divine sovereignty and full human moral responsibility together without collapsing into fatalism or evading guilt. The storm narrative (ch. 27, ‘do not be afraid’) carries acute pastoral resonance for readers currently living through wartime danger and displacement and must be kept anchored to God’s purposes, not a blanket promise of physical safety in every circumstance.
Election and Divine Calling
Ukrainian name: обрання і Боже покликання
Key terms: election, chosen_instrument, called
Review routing: Human theologian
Paul’s calling as a ‘chosen instrument’ (9:15) must be taught as personal, purposive divine choice, never доля/фатум/приречення without qualification, extending the baseline’s existing caution about Ukrainian folk and literary fatalism, intensified by wartime discourse about survival and fate.
Signs and Wonders versus Occult Power
Ukrainian name: знамення і чудеса проти окультної сили
Key terms: signs_and_wonders, magic_sorcery, books_of_magic
Review routing: Human theologian
Direct collision with Ukraine’s persistent post-Soviet folk-occult culture (екстрасенси, ворожки, чаклуни/чаклунки, already repeatedly flagged in the baseline). Simon Magus’s specific sin — attempting to buy/commodify the Spirit’s power — should be taught as the passage’s real point, providing a sharp, biblically grounded corrective to that persistent cultural pattern rather than remaining a merely historical curiosity.
Household Faith and Family Conversion
Ukrainian name: віра дому і сімейне навернення
Key terms: household_salvation, baptism
Review routing: Human theologian
Household salvation-and-baptism narratives intersect directly with the paedobaptist/credobaptist tension already Critical under the baptism doctrine: sometimes invoked to support infant baptism (the near-universal Orthodox/Greek Catholic practice) and sometimes read as implying only that each capable household member believed individually. Present the narrative on its own terms without overclaiming decisive support for either position.
Martyrdom and Suffering Witness
Ukrainian name: мучеництво і страждальне свідчення
Key terms: martyr, witness, resist_holy_spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
Stephen’s death carries deep, positive Ukrainian resonance with 20th-century clergy and lay martyrdom under Soviet religious persecution (including the UGCC’s forced underground existence, 1946-1989) and recent wartime chaplain and believer losses — a genuine pastoral asset that must not override Stephen’s own specific narrative (faithful gospel witness provoking violent religious opposition) as the primary referent. Stephen’s indictment of his hearers’ resistance to the Spirit (7:51) must never be weaponized against any specific contemporary Ukrainian church body.
The Universal Impartiality of God
Ukrainian name: Божа неупередженість до всіх народів
Key terms: god_shows_no_partiality, clean_unclean, gentiles
Review routing: Human theologian
Directly parallel to the baseline’s unity_of_jews_and_gentiles doctrine, already High risk given Ukraine’s history of antisemitic violence; must affirm full, unqualified divine impartiality (10:34) per the baseline’s universality-claims rule, without narrowing the OT purity-metaphor’s clear point (people-groups, not food, are the real referent).
The Name of Jesus and the Power of the Name
Ukrainian name: ім’я Ісуса і сила імені
Key terms: name_of_jesus
Review routing: Human theologian
Must guard against a magical-incantation misreading given the post-Soviet folk-occult backdrop of spells and charms (ворожіння); ‘the name’ names personal trust in and appeal to Christ’s own person and authority, never an independently powerful formula, a distinction sharpened by the Sons of Sceva’s failed imitation (19:13-16).
Medium Risk Doctrines
Mutual Care and Economic Sharing
Ukrainian name: взаємна турбота і спільне майно
Key terms: had_all_things_in_common, with_one_accord, diakonia_service
Review routing: Native speaker review
Voluntary, Spirit-motivated generosity must be carefully distinguished from Soviet-era forced collectivization and колектив, an actively rejected imposed past for many Ukrainians; this doctrine has genuine, positive practical resonance with current wartime volunteer and church-based mutual-aid networks that may be affirmed without needing translation adjustment.
Government and Legal Authority in Acts
Ukrainian name: влада і закон у Діях
Key terms: appeal_to_caesar, sanhedrin
Review routing: Native speaker review
Paul’s repeated appearances before Jewish and Roman authorities, and his appeal to Caesar, touch questions of civil authority and legal recourse that should be handled with the same care the baseline requires for Romans 13, given acute current sensitivity around government and authority language in wartime Ukraine.
Referenced passages