Pentecost, Persecution and the Council

Christian Religious Studies · WAEC and JAMB · SS2 and SS3

Acts shows how a frightened group of about a hundred and twenty became a movement that reached beyond the Jewish world, and how the Church settled its first great doctrinal quarrel. WAEC sets Pentecost, Stephen, the conversion of Saul and the Council of Jerusalem repeatedly, usually with a 'state the significance' second part.

What you need to know

Before Pentecost the disciples waited in Jerusalem as Jesus had commanded, about a hundred and twenty persons, and chose Matthias by lot to replace Judas, the condition being that the man must have accompanied them from John's baptism to the ascension.
On the day of Pentecost, the Jewish Feast of Weeks fifty days after Passover, they were all together when a sound like a rushing mighty wind filled the house, tongues as of fire rested on each of them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues.
Devout Jews from many nations heard the apostles speaking in their own languages and were amazed, while some mocked and said they were full of new wine. Peter stood with the eleven and explained that this was what the prophet Joel had foretold, that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh.
Peter's sermon proclaimed Jesus of Nazareth, attested by mighty works, delivered up and crucified by lawless hands, raised by God because death could not hold Him, exalted at God's right hand and made both Lord and Christ. Cut to the heart, the hearers asked what they should do, and Peter told them to repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; about three thousand were added that day.
The new community devoted itself to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayers. They held things in common, sold possessions to meet needs, attended the temple together, broke bread in their homes with glad and generous hearts, and the Lord added to their number daily.
Peter and John healed a man lame from birth at the Beautiful Gate, telling him that silver and gold they had none but what they had they would give. The resulting sermon led to their arrest, and before the council they declared that there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved, and that they could not stop speaking of what they had seen and heard.
Ananias and Sapphira sold property, kept back part of the price while pretending to give all, and both fell dead when confronted by Peter, who told Ananias that he had lied not to men but to God. Great fear came upon the whole Church.
Growth brought friction when the Hellenists complained that their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. The Twelve called the disciples together, said it was not right that they should give up preaching to serve tables, and seven men of good repute full of the Spirit and of wisdom were chosen, among them Stephen and Philip, and set before the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them.
Stephen, full of grace and power, was seized on false charges of speaking against Moses, the temple and the law. His speech before the council traced Israel's history from Abraham, argued that God is not confined to a building, and accused his hearers of always resisting the Holy Spirit and of betraying and murdering the Righteous One. They stoned him while he prayed that the Lord would not hold the sin against them, and the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
The persecution that broke out after Stephen's death scattered the believers through Judea and Samaria, and they preached wherever they went, so that persecution spread the gospel rather than stopping it. Philip evangelised a city of Samaria and then explained Isaiah 53 to the Ethiopian eunuch on the Gaza road and baptised him.
Saul of Tarsus, breathing threats and murder, was travelling to Damascus with letters of authority when a light from heaven flashed and a voice asked why he persecuted Jesus. Blinded for three days, he was visited by Ananias of Damascus, regained his sight, was baptised, and immediately began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues.
Peter's vision at Joppa of a sheet with all kinds of animals, and the instruction not to call common what God had cleansed, prepared him to enter the house of Cornelius the centurion at Caesarea. The Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles there while Peter was still speaking, and he ordered their baptism, which he later had to justify to the Jerusalem church.
The church at Antioch, founded by scattered believers who preached to Greeks as well as Jews, became the first strongly mixed congregation, and it was there that the disciples were first called Christians. Barnabas was sent from Jerusalem and brought Saul from Tarsus to teach there, and Antioch sent out the first missionary journey.
The Council of Jerusalem met around AD 49 or 50 after men from Judea taught in Antioch that Gentile converts must be circumcised according to the custom of Moses. Peter argued that God had given the Spirit to Gentiles without distinction and that no yoke should be laid on them that the fathers could not bear; Paul and Barnabas reported the signs God had done among the Gentiles; and James gave the judgement, supported by the words of the prophets, that Gentile believers should not be troubled, but should abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled and from blood. The decision was sent in a letter carried by Judas called Barsabbas and Silas with Paul and Barnabas.

Key terms

Pentecost: The Jewish Feast of Weeks, fifty days after Passover, on which the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples in Jerusalem.
Glossolalia: Speaking in tongues; at Pentecost the disciples spoke in languages understood by the visitors present.
Apostle: One sent out with authority to witness to the resurrection and to establish churches.
Martyr: A witness who is killed for his faith, Stephen being the first in the Christian Church.
Conversion: A decisive turning from unbelief or opposition to faith in Christ, as in the case of Saul on the Damascus road.
Council of Jerusalem: The meeting of apostles and elders that ruled that Gentile believers need not be circumcised to be saved.
Judaisers: Jewish believers who insisted that Gentile converts must keep the law of Moses, especially circumcision.

Worked examples

Give an account of the events of the day of Pentecost and state four effects of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the early Church.

Say who was gathered, where, and why they were waiting.
Narrate the three signs in order: the sound of wind, the tongues of fire, the speaking in other tongues.
Report the crowd's reaction, both the amazement and the mockery, and summarise Peter's sermon and its result.
List the effects as separate points drawn from Acts 2 onwards, including boldness, numerical growth, sharing and mission.

Answer: The disciples, numbering about a hundred and twenty, were waiting together in Jerusalem as Jesus had commanded, and Matthias had been chosen to complete the Twelve. On the day of Pentecost, when they were all in one place, there came suddenly from heaven a sound like a rushing mighty wind that filled the whole house, and there appeared to them tongues as of fire which rested on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Devout Jews from every nation under heaven were in Jerusalem, and each heard them speaking in his own language, so that they were amazed and perplexed and asked what it meant, while others mocked and said the men were filled with new wine. Peter stood up with the eleven and answered that these men were not drunk, since it was only the third hour, but that this was what Joel had prophesied about God pouring out His Spirit on all flesh. He preached Jesus of Nazareth, crucified by lawless hands but raised by God and exalted to His right hand, and declared that God had made this Jesus both Lord and Christ. The hearers were cut to the heart and asked what they should do, and Peter called them to repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, promising the gift of the Holy Spirit. About three thousand souls were added that day. Effects: (i) the disciples received boldness, so that men who had hidden in fear now preached openly and later stood before the Sanhedrin without flinching; (ii) the Church grew rapidly, from a hundred and twenty to three thousand in a day and daily thereafter; (iii) the believers were united in teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer, and shared their possessions so that no one lacked; and (iv) the barrier of language and nation began to fall, preparing the Church for a mission that would reach Samaritans, the Ethiopian eunuch and finally the Gentiles.

What led to the Council of Jerusalem, and what decision did it reach?

Explain the background: Gentiles were being converted in large numbers at Antioch without becoming Jews first.
State the specific teaching that caused the dispute and who brought it.
Narrate the meeting: the debate, Peter's speech, the report of Paul and Barnabas, James's judgement.
State the four prohibitions and how the decision was communicated.

Answer: After the gospel had spread to the Gentiles through Peter's visit to Cornelius and through the mixed church at Antioch, and after Paul and Barnabas returned from their first missionary journey reporting that God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles, certain men came down from Judea to Antioch teaching that unless the converts were circumcised according to the custom of Moses they could not be saved. Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension with them, and the church sent them with others to Jerusalem to lay the matter before the apostles and elders. At the meeting there was much debate, and believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees insisted that Gentiles must be circumcised and charged to keep the law. Peter rose and reminded them that God had chosen him to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, had given them the Holy Spirit just as He had to the Jews, had cleansed their hearts by faith, and that it was wrong to put on their necks a yoke which neither they nor their fathers had been able to bear, since both are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus. The assembly then listened to Paul and Barnabas recount the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles. James summed up, citing the words of the prophets about God taking from the Gentiles a people for His name, and gave judgement that they should not trouble the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled and from blood. The decision was put in a letter and sent to Antioch by Judas called Barsabbas and Silas along with Paul and Barnabas, and when it was read the congregation rejoiced at the encouragement.

The mistake to avoid

Candidates write that the Council of Jerusalem abolished the law entirely, or that it imposed circumcision. It did the opposite on circumcision and kept four specific abstentions. In the Pentecost question, many candidates describe the tongues as unintelligible, when Acts 2 says each visitor heard his own language. Another regular error is confusing Ananias of Damascus, who prayed for Saul, with Ananias the husband of Sapphira.

In the exam

Acts questions almost always have a second part asking for the significance, the effects or the lessons, so plan for it before you start writing. Use the names Acts gives, since Matthias, Stephen, Philip, Cornelius, Barnabas, Judas Barsabbas and Silas all carry marks. For the Council, state the four abstentions exactly and say clearly that circumcision was not required, because that is the point the examiner is testing.