[Paper] Acts 2:42-47 as Spiritual & Practical Inspiration for the Church Today
My final paper for my "Reading the New Testament Contextually" class. With great thanks to my professor for an amazing semester of teaching and for his supportive, insightful and thorough corrections!
Interpretive Context
It is ubiquitously recognized that the 21st century western church is undergoing a period of drastic change. This is often expressed through a variety of statistics on the decrease in church membership, as often referred to under the broader category of 'church decline’. Such statistics are powerfully brought together in Ferreira and Chipenyu’s 2021 paper where they share: Krejcir’s research revealing that Western countries comprise 77.7% of global reduction in church membership; Meacham’s research on a drastic increase in Westerners identifying as atheists; Mabry-Nauta’s research stating that church decline is pushing an average of nine churches a day to close down in America; and Van der Walt’s research stating that in Europe 35 000 church members, and in England alone 1500 members, exit church life every week.[1]
Researchers have attempted to unpack this phenomenon further by delving deeper into how people spiritually and religiously identify themselves. For example, 2018 Pew research reveals that whilst Western Europe has become one of the world’s most secular regions, 71% still identify as Christian but only 22% attend church monthly or more. The same report reveals that there are roughly three times as many non-practicing Christians (55%) as there are church-attending Christians (18%) in the UK.[2] A further Pew research report also reveals that self-identified Christians made up 63% of the U.S. population in 2021 (down from 75% in 2011) of which fewer than 31% attend a religious service at least monthly.[3]
However, as a self-identifying practising Christian who believes in the Living God, I find the statistical picture of church decline deeply inadequate - almost to the point of frustration. In such research and analyses, I feel the Church being equated to a religious institution whose worship services one can attend on a Sunday. I feel the Church being reduced to an irrelevant failing organization. I feel the Church being depicted as a limp body who nobody cares for. I know that sadly these perceptions are widespread - the result of a long history through which the Church has become inextricably linked with the religious institution of the church.
As such, discourses on the Church often remain stuck on the institutional, getting hung up on numerical decline and the church’s seemingly growing irrelevance. But what about the living Church!? The Church as the body of believers whom the Spirit works through? The Church as witness to the Truth of the Gospel? The Church as pockets within the world where life is led on earth as it is in heaven? The Church as the manifestation of a transformative love so powerful that it is impossible to ignore? Many do not know this Church. For many it is even beyond the point of imagination.
To this point, I believe it is worth quoting Lewis Brogdon at length:
“Many do not believe in the power of God and the transformative power of the gospel because they see so many ‘Christians’ bound by the demonic and idolatrous power of race and racism…wrongly thinking that Christianity is the problem instead of realizing that its present form is a poor witness of which many Christians are guilty. Some find solace in more inclusive Christian churches and communities. Others abandon the Christian religion altogether. One can only hope that more of them encounter Christians with a radical understanding of koinonia like the one Paul modeled before Onesimus and which led to Onesimus’s conversion. Maybe then we will not lose a generation to secularism, agnosticism, and atheism.”[4]
Amen! Here Brogdon is writing in the context of an article addressing racism in Paul’s letter to Philemon, but I believe he has hit the nail on the head in speaking to the crux of the issue of church decline more broadly - we need more places where people can encounter God through the divine manifestation experienced through koinonia.
Koinonia is often translated from Greek to English as ‘fellowship’ and to point to communities of believers in Christ, but I couldn’t agree more with Brogdan’s deeper definition of koinonia as:
“a spiritual bond that Christian share with God through his Son, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and fellow believers, and is extended to those not in Christ. It is a spiritual reality, activated and made effectual by faith and knowledge that can transform how Christians see and treat people. This reality manifests itself in concrete acts of kindness, generosity, hospitality, and love.”[5]
This bears a close resemblance to how Matthew L. Skinner expands upon the definition of the Greek for church, ekklesia; its basic meaning being ‘assembly’ but which Skinner expands upon to mean “a community that embodies and enacts the word of God in the world, not performing its own ministry but continuing the work of Jesus began through the power of the Holy Spirit”.[6] These expanded upon definitions perfectly encapsulate my personal experience of intentional Christian communities through which I have experienced a fullness of ekklesia (Church) and of koinonia (fellowship/community).
In living with the Lyn’s House community, and subsequently by dwelling with ten plus intentional Christian communities across the UK, I have been blessed with a transformative witness of the divine.[7] In such places I feel the reality of God. I experience the Truth of the gospel. I am surrounded by God’s kingdom here on Earth. Such places fuel my hope in the Church; that as Christians we can live in ways which manifest the transformative power and love of the Living God. I yearn for the Church to grow in its witness and for more people to experience God in tangibly transformative ways.
Though my personal conviction in communal Christian living as a powerful Christian witness is primarily rooted in experience rather than the Bible, I have repeatedly heard intentional and communal ways of Christian living being supported by biblical passages – especially Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-37 - and likened to the early church. Therefore, in this essay I hope to share my scholarly exploration of Acts 2:42-47 and how it speaks to the Church today. This will be done by considering some literary features of this passage but with an overall emphasis on learning more about the historical-social context of the early church. Did the early church community really share all they had in common? What was the cultural context within which they were doing this? How radical/counter-cultural was the early church? What impact did their way of life have on others? Was this way of life meant to set a timeless example of how we ought to be and do Church?
An Introductory Exploration
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
~ Acts 2:42-47 [NRSVue translation]
Biblical Context
The book of Acts is a sequel to the gospel according to Luke, with widespread scholarly agreement that Luke-Acts was written by the same anonymous author whom we have come to know - and which I will refer to as - Luke. The gospel of Luke, in comparison to the other gospels, carries a particularly prominent call to social justice with noticeable attention to care for the marginalized and poor of society, especially across lines of gender and religion. Alongside a message of liberation for the oppressed, Luke’s gospel also gives guidance to the rich, with repeated pointers to the renouncement of wealth [Luke 14:33, 18:22-25].
Acts follows on from this gospel, with a short account of the resurrected Jesus being among the apostles in Jerusalem, promising the Holy Spirit, and being ascended into heaven. Chapter 2 begins with the account of Pentecost, moving into Peter’s speech which “cut(s) to the heart” of the crowd prompting them to ask Peter “Brother, what should we do?” [Acts 2:37] and leading to about three thousand persons being baptized that day [Acts 2:41].
Acts 2:42-47 is therefore chronologically, within Luke’s account, situated on day one of the growth of the church after Jesus’ ascension into heaven; it is indeed the very early church! This fervent portrayal of the early believers sets the stage for the continued powerful witness of the Spirit through the apostles as narrated in the rest of the book of Acts. Whilst Peter and Paul feature as the protagonists, the commitment and generosity of the wider community as first described in Acts 2:42-47 clearly undergirds the whole movement, this also being apparent in Paul’s letters. They are alive in, and witnessing to, the Spirit. A witness which the author of Luke-Acts and his benefactor seek to amplify through written records.
To expand upon the author of Luke-Acts, given his sophisticated Greek literary style, he can be presumed to have been very well educated and therefore privilege to a certain level of wealth. As an author, he also seems to have a bias toward presenting the good, downplaying conflict and disruption. For example, the debates around circumcision and clean foods were likely much more contentious than they are described in Acts. This is affirmed by conflict and suffering being communicated a lot more prominently in Paul’s letters which are the earliest of the New Testament writings and a direct account. In contrast, Luke-Acts is written as a researched second-hand account.
In the author of Luke-Acts I therefore see a combination of traits which I also perceive in myself and others interested in the intentional Christian community movement; a combination of social comfort and belief in the Gospel which feeds a desire to renounce personal wealth and live more equitably, and also a living in the joy of what is possible in the Spirit but sometimes to the detriment of facing the reality of human limitations. More likely a third-generation than first-generation witness, the author of Luke-Acts probably was not part of the earliest church, however I do detect notes of admiration for the early church’s communal way of life in his writing.
Character of the Early Church
How rich an account of the early church community – no wonder it has captured the attention of so many! One of the initial things which strike me is the very compact report of how early believers were living out their faith together; practices which have all lived on in some shape or form across Christianity’s 2000-year history; some elements, such as Eucharist, prominently being carried by the mainstream institutional church, and others, such as sharing all in common, restricted to the fringes of monastic and highly intentional expressions of Christianity.
Beyond these practical actions however, it is the way in which these actions are reported to have been lived out which I find most interesting: with devotion, with fellowship, with awe, with glad and generous hearts, with praise and goodwill. I find it impossible to read Acts 2:42-47 without feeling a great sense of excitement, joy and conviction of the sort which compels one to believe and trust.
Honing in on the original Greek, the translation for ‘devotion’ stems from the Greek proskartereó, which means to “attend to constantly” and is sometimes also translated as “steadfastly” or “continuing steadfastly”.[8]
There is debate around how Acts 2:42 should be read, with commas being later additions and some manuscripts having an additional ‘and’ between ‘fellowship’ (koinonia) and ‘breaking of the bread’.[9] Manuscript evidence heavily favours the conclusion that the original text lacked the ‘and’, suggesting that ‘the breaking of bread and prayers’ is a further explanation of what is meant by koinonia in this context.[10] Regardless of how one interprets this sequence, there is undoubtedly a fervour and commitment to this shared way of life.[11]
‘Awe’ derives from phobos, which is most commonly translated as fear. Acts 2:43 could therefore be read as “fear came upon everyone” which drastically changes the tone of the passage, and perhaps especially so for the modern reader.[12] However, the original Greek uses the language of every psuché (rather than ‘everyone’), with psuché carrying connotations of breath, soul, and commonly translated as either ‘life’ or ‘soul’.[13] Luke is therefore perhaps pointing to a more spiritually-rooted awe/fear than the English translation makes out. Perhaps a movement within one’s very soul which ultimately transforms. The use of the language of ‘soul’ also points to the community’s inclusivity to all persons e.g. regardless of gender.
‘Glad’ is perhaps even more dramatic in meaning than an English translation can convey, with agalliasis used to express exultation, exuberant joy, wild joy, ecstatic delight and exhilaration in other ancient texts.[14]
Interestingly the word aphelotés, here translated as ‘generous’, appears only this once in the Bible with its meaning being debated among biblical scholars.[15] It is more directly translated as ‘simplicity’, and in the contexts of Acts 2:46 also translated as ‘sincerity’ [of heart].[16] However etymologically it means ‘not stony ground’ and figuratively points to that which is smooth, uncomplicated, without stumbling blocks. What a powerful pairing agalliasis and aphelotés make in describing the states of people’s heart! Not only glad and generous, but abundantly liberated to live in exuberant joy!
And this feeding into praising, ainountes, God and having the goodwill, charin, of all people. ‘Praising’ is a very direct translation of the Greek used throughout the New Testament, however charin, derived from charis, is more directly translated as grace or kindness and more often translated as grace, favour or to express thanksgiving.[17] Notably, charis is most commonly used in reference to the grace and favour extended by God.[18] Is Luke implying that the community of early believers were extending a divine quality of grace to all people?
Additionally, the NRSVue translation misses that the actions of Acts 2:46-47 were lived homothymadon – with one accord. Homothymadon occurs eleven times in the New Testament, of which ten occurences appear in Acts.[19] This perhaps speaks to the aforementioned conflict-minimizing traits of Luke, but also speaks to his perceiving the early church community as displaying a unity which was worth noting.
Though there is no explicit mention of the Spirit, Acts 2:42-47 directly follows the narration of Pentecost. I believe the author is implying that the early church community is alive with the Spirit to which Acts 2:42-47 bears witness. A witness so powerful and striking that people couldn’t help but notice, be drawn and join the community of believers, or at least hold them in high esteem [Acts 5:13]. As Jennings beautifully puts it in his commentary, people were being brought into the “sight and sound of the incarnate life”, via a “holy wind blowing through structured and settled ways of living and possessing and pulling things apart” resulting in people being “caught up in the love of God” and living in ways which spoke of “that gracious love to others”.[20] Luke was aware of the difficulties of this communal life in fellowship - fleetingly referenced in other parts of Acts [Acts 5:1-11, 6:1] - but for now that is not the point. The point is that the Spirit dwells and works powerfully through its believers as enhanced and demonstrated by a way of life as described in Acts 2:42-27.
But is this an idealization? An over-exaggeration? How widespread and long-lived was this way of life? How was this way of life perceived in the first century A.D.? It is to these questions we now turn to through a more historical-critical analysis of Acts 2:42-47.
Critical Scholarship on the Reality & Relevance of Acts 2:42-47
Many scholarly arguments suggest that Acts 2:42-47 is not historically accurate and therefore not to be taken too seriously as a model for Christian life. In this section I will first present these arguments somewhat chronologically and thematically - as inspired by Reta Halteman Finger’s chapter on “A History of (Mis)Interpretation” of Acts 2:41-47 – before critically engaging with these arguments by highlighting their biases and moving onto a next section presenting alternative ways of interpreting Acts 2:42-47.[21]
An Overview of Dominant Scholarship
Early in church life, the Jerusalem community as described in Acts 2:42-47 was used to legitimize the monastic life – for example by John Cassian and Augustine - but was not understood to be relevant to the wider church. This view was carried forward into Reformation times with Luther believing in the original community of goods in Jerusalem and initially preaching a communal living/ house church model as one of three ways to worship, but later no longer preaching this more intentional, committed way of worship realizing that few would take to this model. Calvin, another key Reformation theologian, took a noticeably more conservative view of the communality of Acts, mostly discouraging common sharing, and advising it to be kept in check as to maintain social order.[22]
Since the advent of historical criticism in the 19th century, many have put forth that Luke is over-exaggerating, and others that this communal lifestyle – sometimes referred to as financial and material recklessness - is primarily explained by early Christians’ expectation of Jesus’ imminent return. Many also suggest that this communal lifestyle was specific to Jerusalem only, dysfunctional, and not long-lived, which some like to evidence by the poverty of the Jerusalem church made evident in Paul’s letters.[23]
From a 20th century onward literary/style and redaction criticism perspective, scholars have identified Acts 2:42-47 as one of three “summaries” in Acts alongside 4:32 and 5:12-16 (initially observed by Cadbury); these summaries being a literary technique used by Luke to “divide and connect” the narrative in a flowing way.[24] Some therefore take these summaries to be less factual, and more as literary fillers biased towards Luke’s personal and theological agenda; for example, to emphasize that conflict doesn’t have an adverse impact on the community.[25]
Additionally, some take the absence of any further mention of Christian communal living beyond Acts 4, or the absence of explicit references of continuation, as inferring that this way of Christian life did not last, but rather that Luke meant to depict the community as a short-lived ideal; depending on the commentator an aspirational reference point or an impossible dysfunctional ideal which the church ought not to get too hung up on.[26]
Building on this, historical-critical commentaries widely agree that Luke draws upon Greco-Roman utopic thought and literature in presenting the Jerusalem/early church community. For example, in Acts 2:44 Luke uses a Hellenistic phrase paralleled in Aristotle to describe the Jerusalem community’s sharing of all things in common.[27] This is related to the Greco-Roman ideals of friendship, whereby friends united around their upper-class status and/or a particular school of thought would share things in common; for example the Pythagorean philosophical school. To Hellenistic audiences, the similarities to Greco-Roman utopic thought and friendship ideals in Luke’s writing would have been evident. [28] For some biblical commentators, this supports the argument that Luke is over-exaggerating the life of the early church and that his portrayal serves as an aspirational ideal rather than an attainable way of life.
A further historical-critical/social point is the resemblance of the community’s description to the Essenes. The Essenes were a Jewish sect pre-dating Jesus and also contemporary to the early church which are known to have shared a communal life - including shared property and wealth - as reported by Josephus, Philo, Pliny and as backed up by manuscripts found at Qumran. There seems to have been variety in the Essene way of life, including a desert monastic-like community in Qumran as well as Essene members who lived and worked in cities. But what is clear is that the Essenes espoused a communal way of life involving the distribution of wealth according to need as a way of living more deeply into the commands of the Torah. It is postulated that Jesus, the apostles, and the author of Luke-Acts may have known of the Essenes and may have been influenced by their ways. [29] This historical-social awareness of the echoes of Greco-Roman utopian thought, Greco-Roman friendship ideals, and Jewish communal living found in Acts 2:42-47 is sometimes used to downplay the significance of the early church’s ways.
Continuing into the early 20th century, prominent theologians Brunner, Barth and Bonhoeffer have extolled the spiritual significance of Acts 2:42-47 but limit its practical and social implications. Bonhoeffer emphasizes spiritual reality over social reality. Brunner concludes that though a powerful witness of God’s self-giving love and the ideal of brotherly love, that such a life is impractical. And Barth argues that Jesus does not call for such a social re-ordering, that Christian social re-ordering has never succeeded, and that no thought to material possession is not workable in present society.[30]
It is important to recognize the biases which have fed the tendency of mainstream scholarship to downplay the practical and socio-economic component of Acts 2:42-47, namely - as incisively summarized by Reta Halteman Finger -:
The union of church and state, which left reformation theologians unable to imagine what a community as described in Acts could viably look like in a state-church made up of predominantly nominal Christians;
Scholarship emerging from an upper-middle class which benefits from a capitalist system and therefore views capitalism as the superior economic system and communal sharing as an unappealing proposition;
Reactions against communism;
Historical skepticism in liberal scholarship, which doubts the historical accuracy of Luke’s portrayal of the early church/Jerusalem community;
Lack of historical-social understanding, leading to an ignorance of the historical-social reality of the early church;
Limited definitions of communal sharing, resulting in an all-or-nothing understanding of communal practices and a lack of imagination/consideration in envisaging communal ways of living;
The abstraction of spiritual values, and the consequent dismissal of practical implications.[31]
I perceive these biases and emphases to remain strongly at work in the 21st century with Pervo’s 2009 commentary having an overall skeptical historical view, Jennings’ 2017 commentary emphasizing the spiritual, and the 2022 Wisdom commentary addressing Acts 2:42-47 in its literary and historical context (with attention to gender) but not how it might be relevant to us today as the Church.[32] Whilst each of these hermeneutical lenses has value, I now turn to consider other voices - less affected by the above biases and more open to intentionally communal forms of Christianity - to illuminate alternative ways of interpreting Acts 2:42-47.
As Luke Said It To Be: Evidence for Acts 2:42-47 as a Long-Lived Radically Transformative Reality and Witness
Christian Texts (Biblical and Non-Canonical)
Roman A. Montero in All Things in Common puts forth a strong case for the longevity and widespread practice of worshipful living and generous giving as put forth in Acts 2:42-47 by highlighting that moral obligations to share everything are also stipulated in the Didache [1:5-6, 4:7-8] and the Epistle of Barnabas [19:8].[33] These are both early Christian, though non-canonical, texts which share a common source (perhaps related to Matthew or the oral sources contributing to Matthew), but a different source to that used for Acts suggesting independent witnessing to the economic practices of the early church.[34]
Additionally, the Didache [12:2-5] and 2 Thessalonians [3:6-15] contain warnings and measures against abuse of the communal economic system, suggesting that the generous, communal economic practices of the early Christians as described in Acts 2:42-47 extended beyond Jerusalem and were being fully lived into, to the extent that these warnings where seen as necessary. The restriction of aid to the widows in 1 Timothy 5:3-16 can also be interpreted in this light as evidence of the vast generosity of the early church which some felt needed reigning in. [35]
Greco-Roman Writings
In addition to writings from within the early church, Montero presents fascinating evidence from Greco-Roman perspectives for the widespread, long-lived and powerful witness of the early church. For example, the 2nd century text, Passing of Peregrinus, by Greek satirist Lucian narrates the story of Peregrinus Proteus who realizes he can pretend to be a preacher, travel around various Christian communities, and be graciously received and generously provided for, including when in prison. The tone is mocking of the early church’s naïve generosity. And the 4th century pagan emperor, Julian the Apostate, writes of the Christians’ common purse used to feed the poor, and his confiscating of it to instead fund the military. Jealous that the Christians are extending aid not only to ‘their’ poor, but all the poor, and threatened by the consequent rising popularity of the church, Julian also asks for mutual aid to be built into pagan theology to better compete with Christianity.[36]
The fact that these texts are written from an outsider’s perspective to the Christian movement, are from outside of Jerusalem, extend into the 4th century, and perceive Christianity as defined by its hospitality, generosity, sharing of goods in common, and its extension of alms, I believe makes a strong case for the early church living just as described in Acts 2:42-47 in many locations and for multiple centuries; a case made all the stronger by how mocking and begrudging these writers are of Christianity!
Historical Social Context
As discussed earlier, there were other forms of communal living in the Greco-Roman world contemporary to the early church. This reality is sometimes used to downplay the significance of the early church however I believe the historical-social reality in which the early church emerged only serves to highlight just how radical the early Jesus movement was.
Notably, the Greco-Roman world was incredibly transactional, and honor based. Selfless giving was not seen to make sense, with acts of benefaction or philanthropy often being motivated by the gain of honor.[37] And whilst communal sharing among friends was held as an ideal, this practice was understood as one for the upper-middle classes and as among a highly select group of friends.[38] Additionally, in Greco-Roman culture the vast percentage of the population were poor peasants at the mercy of a small percentage of elites. To the elites, the poor were barely seen as human and undeserving of help.[39] In this context, one can come to appreciate just how counter-cultural the early church was in tending to people’s needs, to the point of simply not making sense to elite Greco-Roman onlookers (as evidenced above).
That said, the Essenes already lived counter-culturally to these Greco-Roman norms, sharing things in common and extending alms to the poor as a practical outworking of their Torah theology – how beautiful to consider the people of God loving so powerfully and counterculturally since time immemorial! The early church, having begun as a Jewish sect, likely drew inspiration from the Essenes (God breathing through human history?). However, membership to the Essenes was regulated with a process akin to a novitiate and with an emphasis on needing to be pure. In contrast, the early church flung its doors wide open accepting people across class and social and religious backgrounds in a way which isn’t seen elsewhere in the Greco-Roman world.[40]
Helpfully, Richard S. Ascough highlights the tendency to use evidence to make out that the early church and Christianity were special in some way. In his work he argues that the early church wasn’t particularly unique in its context, emphasizing the semblance of ‘early Christ groups’ to other voluntary associations at the time such as athletic clubs, trade guilds, and Isis worship groups, who were also united by a commitment to one another and around some degree of commensality, including shared meals.[41] I am in agreement with Ascough that the basic structuring of the early church was not exceptional but logically drew from the existing societal structure of the time.[42] However, in Ascough’s treatment of forms of commensality in Greco-Roman associations - which he does by building on Grignon’s taxonomy of forms of commensality as domestic and institutional, everyday and exceptional, and segregative and transgressive – I do perceive that the early church displayed of degree of commensality, inclusion and care which surpassed the expectations of the day.[43]
Related, further comments situating Acts 2:42-47 in its historical context remark that whilst Luke uses utopic language, unlike other utopic texts, hierarchy and gender are not mentioned.[44]
Counter-Arguments to the Skeptics
Whilst some have argued that a community of goods/sharing all in common was the reason for the poverty of the Jerusalem church, others argue that the poverty may have been caused by a regional famine (as alluded to in Acts 11:28) or due to a gradual and continuous loss of peasant-owned land to the elite i.e. Roman oppression.[45] In this context of Roman oppression, the sharing of resources may also be understood not as the cause of poverty but as a cooperative defence against it.[46]
Others have suggested that the early church only acted as they did due to the expectation of an imminent Parousia/the return of Jesus. N.T. Wright argues that there is virtually no evidence to support that the Jews (the church began as a Jewish sect rather than a distinct religion) were expecting the end of the “space-time universe” but rather lived in the expectation of the coming of a new world order. Strengthening this point, the Essenes were a very eschatologically orientated community and practised a community of goods for hundreds of years, implying that practising a community of goods is not a reckless response in anticipation of the end times, as some have suggested, but rather a living into and working toward the realization of a new order.[47]
On the Essenes, it is also worth noting that scholars used to think Philo, Pliny and Josephus were exaggerating the extent of their communal life until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, speaking to the general tendency to dismiss communities of goods as impossible until strongly proven otherwise.[48]
Letesma
I wish to bring forth Resane’s article on letesma where the depth of the word letesma - from the Sesotho language spoken in Southern Africa - is unpacked and related back to Acts 2:42-47. Resane explains that letesma is an ancient African concept and practice of coming together voluntarily with others, for others, with purpose and with joy. It is a non-hierarchical way in which people gather together to “uplift each other towards self-sustenance, eradicate poverty, empower each member with a sense of togetherness or belonging, and promote equality among members of the community.”[49]
It would seem that whilst Western society has strayed so far from the early church’s ways that we are hesitant to acknowledge Luke’s portrayal as real and replicable, for other societies this way of life is so culturally engrained and universally recognized that there is a specific word to describe this way of being. One can only wonder how differently Acts 2:42-47 would have been interpreted over time had biblical scholars been embedded in a culture which recognizes and practices letesma.
Conclusion - The Early Church and the Church Today
Having seen Acts 2:42-47 alive today through the witness of intentional Christian communities, I have no trouble believing in the spiritual and social reality of what Luke is writing. Now supplemented with further scholarly perspectives, I feel all the more inspiration and admiration for the early church and their passionate, practical, radical witness of love across the Greco-Roman world for centuries.
This is not to say that Acts should be taken as providing the practical guidelines for church; the Church is not an ink stamp which prints itself in exactly the same way across historical-social contexts. But I do believe Acts demonstrates and reminds us of how, and the posture with which, we are called to be Church; as a manifestation of the transformative love of God made possible by being in intimate and brave relationship with the Spirit.
If the early church could live out such a powerful witness in the context of oppression, persecution and a culture in which compassion for the poor was seen as nonsensical, surely we too - if we intimately and bravely align ourselves with the Spirit - can also powerfully embody the Christian faith in spite of the capitalist forces which tempt us away from fully living the gospel? If the early church was called by the Spirit into a practical outworking of love which defied societal expectations, surely we can also expect to be called to practically live out the love of God in ways which defy societal expectations?
It is therefore my prayer that in this present day, we – as the Church – take seriously the witness of the early church. That we too might devote ourselves to teaching, learning, praying and celebrating meals together in spiritual fellowship. That we too might so fully embrace the Spirit that wonders and signs be done through us. That we too might feel so strongly the gift of divine grace that we are compelled to care for others as there is need, freely and loosed from materialistic, individualist and capitalist concerns. That we too might daily dwell deeply and richly with one another in church, in prayer, and in our everyday, and in doing so birth contagious gladness and generosity, praising God and extending grace to all God’s people. That we too might embrace the Spirit so fully, that we witness to a love so powerfully transformative that it is impossible to ignore.
Amen.
Bibliography
Ascough, Richard S. Early Christ Groups and Greco-Roman Associations. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2022. https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.earlham.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=3322922&site=ehost-live.
———. Early Christ Groups and Greco-Roman Associations: Organizational Models and Social Practices. Interview by Rob Heaton. New Books Network, November 16, 2023. https://newbooksnetwork.com/early-christ-groups-and-greco-roman-associations.
Bible Hub. “Acts 2 Interlinear Bible.” biblehub.com, 2004. https://biblehub.com/interlinear/acts/2.htm.
Finger, Reta Halteman. Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007.
Jennings, Willie James . Acts. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017.
Maloney, Linda M., and Ivoni Richter Reimer. Wisdom Commentary: Acts of the Apostles. Edited by Mary Ann Beavis and Barbara E. Reid. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2022.
Montero, Roman A. All Things in Common : The Economic Practices of the Early Christians. Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2017.
Pervo, Richard I. Acts : A Commentary. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009.
Piette, Lakshmi. “Dwelling Place.” lakshmipiette.substack.com, 2024. https://lakshmipiette.substack.com/.
Resane, Kelebogile T. “Letsema: Communion Ecclesiology in Action.” In Die Skriflig 57, no. 1 (October 6, 2023). https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v57i1.2989.
Robinson, Anthony B, and Robert W Wall. Called to Be Church : The Book of Acts for a New Day. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 2006.
[1] Ignatius W. Ferreira and Wilbert Chipenyu, “Church Decline: A Comparative Investigation Assessing More than Numbers,” In Die Skriflig / in Luce Verbi 55, no. 1 (January 18, 2021), https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v55i1.2645.
[2] Pew Research Center, “Being Christian in Western Europe,” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, May 29, 2018, https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2018/05/29/being-christian-in-western-europe/.
[3] Gregory Smith, “About Three-In-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated,” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project (Pew Research Center, December 14, 2021), https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/12/14/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-are-now-religiously-unaffiliated/.
[4] Lewis Brogdon, “Reimaging Koinonia: Confronting the Legacy and Logic of Racism by Reinterpreting Paul’s Letter to Philemon,” Ex Auditu 31 (2015): 27–48, https://web-p-ebscohost-com.proxy.earlham.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=15541d53-5a8c-4254-8693-8e722ea870ab%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=ATLAiGEV170930003563&db=lsdar.
[5] Lewis Brogdon, “Reimaging Koinonia: Confronting the Legacy and Logic of Racism by Reinterpreting Paul’s Letter to Philemon,” Ex Auditu 31 (2015): 27–48, https://web-p-ebscohost-com.proxy.earlham.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=15541d53-5a8c-4254-8693-8e722ea870ab%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=ATLAiGEV170930003563&db=lsdar.
[6] Society of Biblical Literature, The SBL Study Bible (HarperCollins, 2023), 1926.
[7] Lakshmi Piette, “Dwelling Place,” lakshmipiette.substack.com, 2024,
.
[8] Bible Hub, “Strong’s Greek: 4342. προσκαρτερέω (Proskartereó) -- to Attend Constantly,” biblehub.com, 2004, https://biblehub.com/greek/4342.htm.
[9] The word koinonia and the phrase ‘breaking of the bread’ each deserve a research paper of their own! Here, however, I will just comment that koinonia is an economic term used in the context of dividing up business profits between partners. The use of koinonia, therefore points to an economic equity in relation to the early church community. Interestingly the word used for ‘breaking’, klasis, appears only once elsewhere in the Bible in the breaking of the bread which makes known the resurrected Jesus to the two on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:35. Was this a deliberate choice on Luke’s part, rather than using the more primitive verb klaó which is used throughout the Bible in reference to Jesus breaking bread?
Dan Ulrich to Lakshmi Piette, “Essay Feedback,” Microsoft Word Tracked Comments, May 22, 2024.
Bible Hub, “Strong’s Greek: 2800. κλάσις (Klasis) -- a Breaking,” biblehub.com, 2024, https://biblehub.com/greek/2800.htm.
Bible Hub, “Strong’s Greek: 2806. κλάω (Klaó) -- to Break,” biblehub.com, 2024, https://biblehub.com/greek/2806.htm.
[10] Dan Ulrich to Lakshmi Piette, “Essay Feedback,” Microsoft Word Tracked Comments, May 22, 2024.
[11] Reta Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007), 226–29.
[12] Bible Hub, “Strong’s Greek: 5401. φόβος (Phobos) -- Panic Flight, Fear, the Causing of Fear, Terror,” biblehub.com, 2004, https://biblehub.com/greek/5401.htm.
[13] Bible Hub, “Greek Concordance: ψυχῇ (Psychē) -- 24 Occurrences,” biblehub.com, 2004, https://biblehub.com/greek/psyche__5590.htm.
[14] Bible Hub, “Strong’s Greek: 20. ἀγαλλίασις (Agalliasis) -- Exultation, Exuberant Joy,” biblehub.com, 2004, https://biblehub.com/greek/20.htm.
[15] Richard I. Pervo, Acts : A Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009), 88.
[16] Bible Hub, “Strong’s Greek: 858. ἀφελότης (Aphelotés) -- Simplicity,” biblehub.com, 2004, https://biblehub.com/greek/858.htm.
[17] Bible Hub, “Strong’s Greek: 134. αἰνέω (Aineó) -- to Praise,” biblehub.com, 2024, https://biblehub.com/greek/134.htm.
[18] Bible Hub, “Strong’s Greek: 5485. χάρις (Charis) -- Grace, Kindness,” biblehub.com, 2024, https://biblehub.com/greek/5485.htm.
[19] Bible Hub, “Strong’s Greek: 3661. ὁμοθυμαδόν (Homothumadon) -- with One Mind,” biblehub.com, 2024, https://biblehub.com/greek/3661.htm.
[20] Willie James Jennings, Acts (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017), 39-40.
[21] Reta Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007), 12–47.
[22] Reta Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007), 13–18.
[23] Reta Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007), 22-32.
[24] Richard I. Pervo, Acts : A Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009), 88-99.
Linda M. Maloney and Ivoni Richter Reimer, Wisdom Commentary: Acts of the Apostles, ed. Mary Ann Beavis and Barbara E. Reid (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2022), 39.
[25] Richard I. Pervo, Acts : A Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009), 88-99.
[26] Richard I. Pervo, Acts : A Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009), 90.
[27] Richard I. Pervo, Acts : A Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009), 90.
Reta Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007), 231.
Roman A. Montero, All Things in Common : The Economic Practices of the Early Christians (Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2017), 46.
[28] Roman A. Montero, All Things in Common : The Economic Practices of the Early Christians (Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2017), 42-46.
[29] Roman A. Montero, All Things in Common : The Economic Practices of the Early Christians (Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2017), 27-37.
Reta Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007), 146-165.
[30] Reta Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007), 33–34.
[31] Reta Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007), 45–47.
[32] Richard I. Pervo, Acts : A Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009), 88-95.
Willie James Jennings, Acts (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017), 38–40.
Linda M. Maloney and Ivoni Richter Reimer, Wisdom Commentary: Acts of the Apostles, ed. Mary Ann Beavis and Barbara E. Reid (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2022), 39-42.
[33] Rather fittingly, this book was also given to me by an intentional Christian community which practices a community of goods; when they heard I was writing this paper they insisted that I accept the book as a gift!
[34] Roman A. Montero, All Things in Common : The Economic Practices of the Early Christians (Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2017),61-63.
Dan Ulrich to Lakshmi Piette, “Essay Feedback,” Microsoft Word Tracked Comments, May 22, 2024.
[35] Roman A. Montero, All Things in Common : The Economic Practices of the Early Christians (Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2017),70-73.
[36] Roman A. Montero, All Things in Common : The Economic Practices of the Early Christians (Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2017),76-82.
[37] Reta Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007), 126-28.
[38] Roman A. Montero, All Things in Common : The Economic Practices of the Early Christians (Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2017), 38-47.
[39] Reta Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007), 99-104.
[40] Reta Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007), 146-165.
Roman A. Montero, All Things in Common : The Economic Practices of the Early Christians (Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2017), 27-37.
[41] Voluntary associations being in contrast to involuntary, state-sanctioned, associations such as the military.
Richard S. Ascough, Early Christ Groups and Greco-Roman Associations (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2022), https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.earlham.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=3322922&site=ehost-live.
Richard S. Ascough, Early Christ Groups and Greco-Roman Associations: Organizational Models and Social Practices, interview by Rob Heaton, New Books Network, November 16, 2023, https://newbooksnetwork.com/early-christ-groups-and-greco-roman-associations.
[42] Similar to how Christians, Jews and Muslims today have a similar organizational structure of gathering as a wider community in religiously designated building (churches, synagogues, mosques respectively), or how members of football group might drive from different parts of town to meet once a week for an hour of sports practice, and how members of a church might drive from different parts of town to meet once a week for worship. Our historical-cultural context inevitably shapes the societal structures we employ to gather.
[43] Richard S. Ascough, Early Christ Groups and Greco-Roman Associations (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2022), 136–40, https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.earlham.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=3322922&site=ehost-live.
[44] Linda M. Maloney and Ivoni Richter Reimer, Wisdom Commentary: Acts of the Apostles, ed. Mary Ann Beavis and Barbara E. Reid (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2022), 39.
[45] Reta Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007), 141.
[46] Dan Ulrich to Lakshmi Piette, “Essay Feedback,” Microsoft Word Tracked Comments, May 22, 2024.
[47] Reta Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007), 218-19.
[48] Reta Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals : Communal Meals in the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2007), 277.
[49] Kelebogile T. Resane, “Letsema: Communion Ecclesiology in Action,” In Die Skriflig 57, no. 1 (October 6, 2023), https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v57i1.2989.