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Act 2: A Thematic Analysis Essay
The thematic development of this second movement of the book of Acts is very in depth
as well as the first was. This first movement in Acts identifies the creation of the first century
church, turmoil experienced by this church and even ministers of the same church and their
speeches. The second movement identifies major changes in the lives of sinners, the redemptive
power of Christ when it is shared, and even how we should not be willing to hold onto the great
news of God’s love but instead be willing to share so that ‘all will come to repentance.’ 2 Peter
3:9,KJV). Throughout this essay, I will attempt to answer the following:
What is the geographical and ethnic advance of the proclamation of the
Gospel after Acts 1:8?
What other major themes are developed in Acts 8–12?
A comparison of two evangelistic encounters of Peter with Cornelius and
his household and how this correlates with Peter’s preaching of the gospel
to Gentiles in comparison to his preaching to the Jews in the first
movement of Acts.
Definition of the definite transition in the audience of the gospel in these
chapters as geographical, religious, and ethnic.
The Geographical and Ethnic Advance of the Proclamation of the Gospel
At this point in Acts, we still see significant advancement of the gospel throughout the
geographical region. Namely these places are: Jerusalem, Samaria, and Judea. This directly
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completes the proclamation that Jesus made in Acts 1:8. Furthermore, we see more of a
geographical advancement as we see the gospel reaching Gaza (Acts 8: 26), Azotus (Acts 8:40),
Caesarea (Acts 8:40), Damascus (Acts 9:1-3), Tarsus (Acts 9:30), Galilee (Acts 9:31), Lydda
(Acts 9:32), Saron (Acts 9:35), Joppa (Acts 9:36), Phoenicia (Acts 11:19), Cyprus (Acts 11:19),
Anitoch (Acts 11:19), and Cyrene (Acts 11:20). We can also see in chapter 8, an ethnical
advancement of the gospel as Philip shares the gospel with the first Gentile. The Ethiopian
eunuch was known to be the first Gentile convert.
Major Themes of Acts 8-12
In the first essay on the church of Acts, I identified the nine major themes of Acts as
discussed by Dr. Don Fowler. These were: God’s providence, the kingdom of God, the ministry
of the Holy Spirit, a dual Israel, the kingdom being inclusive, prayer, the fact that followers of
Christ are always people who live within the Roman law, participants of the kingdom are often
asked to suffer, and finally God’s message to the who refuse Him in an unbelieving Israel.1 We
can see that our first theme (God’s providence) is hit in this second movement by the fact that
even with Stephen’s death in Acts 7; Phillip continued to carry the gospel forward boldly. It says
in verse 5, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.” (Acts
8:5, KJV). The next theme that we see encountered here in this movement is the kingdom of
God. In verse 27, we see the transitioning of the Gospel from the Jews to the Gentiles as Philip
encounters the Ethiopian eunuch. His time with the eunuch was the first conversion of a non-
Jewish person to Christ. This also proves a later theme of the kingdom being inclusive.
1 Don Fowler, “Key Themes of Acts,” course video for BIBL 364, accessed June 22, 2018.
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In this same passage we also see the Holy Spirit’s ministry. Verse 29 says, “Then, the
Spirit said unto Philip, ‘Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.” (Acts 8:29, KJV). We see signs
of a dual Israel as well through the life of Saul. Before his Damascus road experience, Paul was
considered an unbeliever. He knew the laws and spent years learning them but his heart was not
right with Christ. Yet, we also see the life of Ananias who was a believer. Also, another of the
dual Israel is that of Simon Magus (the sorcerer). Dr. James Hastings tells that after his encounter
with Peter, Simon was “Unconverted and hardened… he is said to have gone to Rome where he
preached a religion of his own invention.” 2 These are smaller signs of the dual Israel. In chapter
nine, we see that participants of the kingdom are often asked to suffer directly by the statement
that Christ made to Ananias in correlation to the newly converted Saul (or Paul). Jesus states,
“For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:16, KJV).
Peter’s Encounter with Cornelius
During Peter’s encounter with Cornelius, we see Peter’s "non-negotiables" in his
preaching yet again is the call to repentance. We also see Peter refuses to bow to any supremacy
other than God. He teaches this time, as well as the others, that Christ was died, buried, and
resurrected and the only way to be saved is through Jesus. His core elements of this sermon to
Cornelius were: God is no respecter of persons, the calling of the apostles to preach, and
believer’s baptism. This is similar to the preaching he did to the Jews. However, in both
instances, the power of the Holy Spirit fell and they were speaking in tongues. In his book, The
Book of Acts; Witnesses to the World, Stephen Ger wrote: “It was not the manifestation that
dumbfounded the Jewish believers, it was the motivating force behind the manifestation, that
2 James Hastings, The Speaker’s Bible; Acts Volume 1 (Aberdeen: TSBO, 1927), 130.
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God had accepted the Gentiles just as He had the Jews.”3 By this point we start to see the major
transition of the church audience from the Jewish believers to the Gentiles.
Transitioning the Audience of the Gospel
The gospel was originally received by the Jews as the first audience. Peter believed that
this was explicitly the ones that God had chosen to follow Him and no one else. However, in a
vision, Jesus directed him differently. (Acts 10:9-22, KJV). In this particular story, we see that
Jesus tells Peter to eat of the meat that is let down in a sheet from heaven. Peter replies, “No, it’s
unclean (this is a religious law that Jews observed).” Jesus directs and corrects him that he
doesn’t have the right to call unclean something that God created. This vision’s interpretation
was that God has created the Gentiles as well and that Peter should allow everyone the equal
right to be able to hear the message that God intended for everyone to hear. With this, as well as
the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch discussed earlier, we see the significant redirection of the
audience of the gospel from Jews to Gentiles as well through the avenues of geographical
advancement, religious correction, and ethnic acceptance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, throughout the book of Acts we see the interweaving of Christ’s love for
the humanity. We see this not only through the major themes presented but also through Peter
and Cornelius’ interaction and Philip’s guidance of the Ethiopian eunuch. We can see that Christ
wants all who will accept Him to have everlasting life and have the opportunity to understand
His love.
3 Steven Ger, Acts: Witnesses to the World (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2004), 160.
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Bibliography
Fowler, Don. "Key Themes of Acts." Course video for BIBL 364. Accessed June 22, 2018.
Ger, Steven. The Book of Acts; Witnesses to the World. Edited by Mal Couch, & Ed Hindson.
Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2004.
Hastings, Rev. E. . The Speaker's Bible, Acts; Volume 1. Aberdeen: Speaker's Bible Office, 1927.
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