Applying Acts 2 42 Today How Luke S Desc
Applying Acts 2 42 Today How Luke S Desc
Applying Acts 2 42 Today How Luke S Desc
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Applying Acts 2:42 Today.!
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How Luke’s description of the life of the early church can be
applied to the contemporary situation with special reference to
the Open Brethren in the UK and Faroe Islands. !
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Student 100!
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A dissertation submitted to Trinity College and the University of Bristol in
accordance with the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts by advanced
study in Biblical Studies in the Faculty of Arts.
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Trinity College/Arts Faculty
September 2012
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Word count: 14 996
(text and footnotes only, excluding preliminary pages and bibliography)
Abstract!
The purpose of this dissertation was firstly to discuss the way in which Acts 2:42
has been interpreted by the Open Brethren in the United Kingdom and the
Faroe Islands and then to consider how Acts 2:42 can be applied to
contemporary church life. !
A brief sketch of the traditional Brethren view of the verse was conducted. This
was followed by an exegesis of the verse in question and a discussion of some
of the relevant issues concerning Luke’s authorship of Acts and his purpose in
writing. !
The final section considered how far Luke’s description of the activity of the
early church should be seen as prescriptive for contemporary church practice.
The conclusion was that there are principles any church needs to adhere to but
that practices are open to interpretation within the specific context. It was also
concluded that while this occurs amongst the progressive Brethren to some
extent, it is lacking on the conservative side. The most pressing conclusion was
that across the spectrum, more work needs to be done on what it means to
manifest true fellowship.
Contents!
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Introduction! 1!
Traditional Brethren Application! 3!
Acts 2:42 - Some Exegetical Issues! 9!
τῇ διδαχῇ τῶν ἀποστόλων0 100
τῇ κοινωνίᾳ0 120
τῇ κλάσει τοῦ ἄρτου0 150
ταῖς προσευχαῖς0 180
Summary0 200
Hermeneutical Issues! 21!
Authorship0 210
Reliability0 210
Purpose0 230
Contemporary Brethren Interpretation! 26!
F. F. Bruce0 260
τῇ διδαχῇ τῶν ἀποστόλων0 260
τῇ κοινωνίᾳ0 270
τῇ κλάσει τοῦ ἄρτου0 280
ταῖς προσευχαῖς0 280
Other Interpretation0 290
The Apostles’ Teaching0 320
Fellowship0 350
Breaking of Bread0 410
Prayer0 440
Conclusion0 460
Applying Acts 2:42 Today! 47!
Genre and Importance0 470
Description or Prescription0 510
Bibliography! 54!
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Introduction!
Andrew Borland refers to Acts 2:42 as a verse which “describes the fourfold
writing nearly sixty years later, uses the same verse for his comment that, “We
come together for worship, teaching and fellowship.”2 Two Brethren writers from
different countries and different times who both see this verse as being
foundational for the activity of the church. Neither of them however, tackles the
question of exactly what it is that Luke refers to when he writes that the very
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”3 Still less do they discuss
just how far, and in what ways, this verse can be seen as prescriptive for the
contemporary church.!
The concentration in this dissertation will be upon the way Brethren writers have
used the passage in question and the way in which this influenced, and
Brethren and Christian Brethren to mention but four. While always being
each other for segregation into denominations,”5 the general title of ‘Brethren’
has come to be accepted. For the purpose of this essay, the discussions
$1
concerning modern practice will be limited to what are commonly termed the
‘Open’ Brethren, though this designation itself needs some clarifying. Since the
opinion ranging from a conservative wing on one side to, what has been called,
progressive on the other. Our discussions will include all parts of this spectrum.
Brethren as well.!
In this essay, I intend to look briefly at the way in which this verse (and
κλάσει τοῦ ἄρτου and ταῖς προσευχαῖς6) served to form the basis for the
the Faroe Islands. I will then deal with some of the exegetical questions
surrounding these phrases and what they might have meant in the context of
the early church. Following a discussion of the nature and purpose of Acts, we
final section will discuss the issue of how far these phrases should be seen as
first Christians. If the latter, whether there are areas the Brethren might need to
look at more carefully in putting principles drawn from these early practices into
practice.
$ 6 The Greek text used is Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece Edition XXVII (1993)
$2
Traditional Brethren Application!
The traditional Brethren understanding of the local church, and the application
England). Perhaps the most important of the early leaders of the movement,
John Nelson Darby, refers to this when he writes, “The careful reading of the
Acts afforded me a practical picture of the early Church, which made me feel
deeply the contrast with its actual present state, though still, as ever, beloved of
Darby returns to the same theme but narrows down the parts of Acts which had
had such an effect on him, “It was easy, reading Acts 2 and 4, to see how far we
The influence of Acts 2, and especially verse 42, on the thought of early
Church was “made up of the members of the one body of Christ, gathered
together for fellowship, for instruction, for the breaking of bread and for prayer in
local companies.”9 !
Both Darby’s and Cronin’s comments here show that they saw Acts not only as
a record of the early church, but also, in Darby’s phrase, a “practical picture”
1862, H. W. Soltau put it in this way, that as the early Brethren “searched the
Bible they looked around them… they saw nothing like what it describes in the
Church of God–they could discover nothing around them like what was depicted
$ 7J. N. Darby in a letter “to Prof. Tholuck about 1857-9” and quoted in Ironside (1942) 181
$ 8“A Letter Written to a French Catholic Newspaper” 1878, in Ironside (1942)190
$ Ironside (1942) 11
9
$3
in the Scriptures… They looked at all the sects, but they saw no fac-simile (sic)
The general, and widespread, belief amongst the early leaders of the Brethren
that the contemporary Church had drifted from the biblical pattern, led them to
two basic positions of relevance to us. Firstly, there was a move away from
using traditional terminology when speaking about the church activities and
always as ‘meetings’. The buildings where they met as a fellowship were never
Wells. While the assembly building in the town was not opened until 1924,11
people had been meeting together since sometime in the 1890s, although “it is
not possible to say exactly when” this first occurred. From the very start
Gospel meeting in the evening. During the week people would meet for other
We can expand upon the pattern for these meetings a little by referring to the
assembly in which I grew up,12 which was not untypical of assemblies of the
$ 10 Soltau (1862) 8
$ 11 Information in this paragraph is taken from a pamphlet written to celebrate the Golden Jubilee
of the building of Culverden Hall Evangelical Church in Tunbridge Wells.
$ 12 Victoria Hall, Folkestone, Kent
$4
time.13 The central meeting was the Sunday morning Breaking of Bread service
where there was no set liturgy and no designated service leader. The first part
choosing a hymn or sharing a brief thought from the Bible were present. All
baptised men (not women) were free, and indeed encouraged, to take an active
part. The climax of the gathering was the breaking of the bread and sharing of
the cup. Following this, would be a time of ministry where teaching from God’s
word would take place. This was not, generally, consecutive teaching and was -
except when there was a visiting brother - carried out by ordinary members of
the assembly. Sunday evening was given over to the Gospel Meeting, where,
as the name suggests, the central aim was the preaching of the gospel. The
prayer and ministry meeting was held mid-week and comprised a time of open
prayer where all men were encouraged to take part once again. This was
These meetings was not just seen as a practical way of following what was
seen as the New Testament pattern. Adherence and faithfulness to them was
also the manner that faithfulness to Scripture was both manifest and judged.
favourable comment that from the very beginning the believers were faithful in
This pattern was not restricted to UK assemblies, but was replicated in many
respects wherever the Brethren founded assemblies. This can seen by looking
at the founding of the first two assemblies in two other countries, that of the
$ 13 See Stenhouse (1971) 117-18 for a description of the essential features which mark “A
scripturally-gathered assembly”. Grass (2011) 6 gives a similar account of the services held in a
‘typical’ Open Brethren assembly, see also Brown (2003) 35
$ 14 Moar (2004)
$5
Faroe Islands and Barbados. The first Brethren assembly in the Faroe Islands
recognised Brethren pattern of meetings was followed from the very beginning;
Sunday morning saw the Breaking of Bread with an evangelistic meeting in the
evening. Apart from these, “they came together during the week for a ministry
meeting (Bible reading and discussion) and for prayer.”15 The first Brethren
assembly in Barbados was founded in 1889, just ten years after that in the
Faroes, the same pattern of meetings was established from the very beginning.
describes the practices of the Brethren assemblies and makes the link with Acts
2:42 explicit when he notes the weekly Breaking of Bread service as well as
“Regular united meetings of all the assemblies for prayer, ministry of the Word
and fellowship (Acts 2:42).”17 It can be seen that neither the culture where the
assembly was founded nor that of the founding missionary played any serious
While these examples demonstrate that there was a general consistency in the
may follow, it would be wrong to suggest that there was a total uniformity of
practice within them. What we find is some variation of practices which takes
cultural and other issues into some consideration, as Harold Rowdon has
pointed out.18 He then goes on to confirm that much of what the Open Brethren
of Acts 2:42, but that at the time of his writing much of this distinctiveness has
begun to disappear. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen but the
Acts 2:42 is not the only verse to which Brethren writers turn for inspiration and
government in the Pastoral letters are also important. However, it is the four
main words or phrases from the Acts verse which are referred to often and
which form the basis for the specific pattern of assembly gatherings. This
continues from beyond the early days of the Brethren movement and is
influential during the 1960s and ’70s, especially in the more traditional
life as it shows, “The four phases of assembly activity.”21 Thus, the apostles’
the weekly prayer meeting. The one word which is less clearly represented in
the weekly meetings is that of ‘fellowship’. Heading describes this as, “the
not this was seen to be experienced in the coming together of Christians in their
$ 19 ibid 7
$ 20 Heading (1975) 85
$ 21 ibid 86
$ 22 ibid 92
$7
Faroe Islands with the annual Samfelagsmøtir (literally ‘fellowship meetings’),
$8
Acts 2:42 - Some Exegetical Issues!
Before discussing the four specific phrases we are concentrating on, there are
two major aspects to this verse which need to be mentioned and which will have
implications for our later discussion concerning their relevance today. The first
of these is the question of the role of summary passages in Acts. This verse,
and those which immediately follow it, forms part of Luke’s first summary “of the
sentence which forms the first part of a summary passage (2:42-47).24 This
verse, then, might be considered the first summary statement25 that Luke gives
of the life of the early church, something which perhaps lends it special
and the use of the imperfect tense simply serves to heighten the “constant
attention”27 the early church gave to these activities. Peterson argues that this
“strong verb… [is used] to stress that the earliest disciples were pre-occupied
with and persevered in the activities [Luke] lists.”28 Luke uses the identical
there is a range of meaning in the word that allows us to infer that this summary
is not just Luke’s account of what happened on one occasion but rather of what
The first of the four relevant phrases is τῇ διδαχῇ τῶν ἀποστόλων, and its
primary position in this short list implies quite strongly that it was of utmost
importance to the life of the early church. This should not come as any surprise
to us. In Ephesians, Paul refers to the apostles as being part of the foundation
of the church. 29
that is the case, then we have a similar situation here in the early days of the
church. We are, thus, justified in seeing the apostles’ teaching as being of the
The word διδαχη can mean both the act of teaching, and the subject matter
that is taught.31 If it is the first, then the new believers devoted themselves to
listening to the apostles as they taught; if it is the second, their devotion was to
These two understandings are not mutually exclusive. Indeed Bruce, refers to
the Didache as the basis for arguing the first position32 but also states in his
earlier commentary that it was this teaching which “took written shape in the NT
$ 29 Ephesians 2:20
$ 30 Bruce (1990a) 131
$ 31 See Vine (1952) 323
$ 32 Bruce (1990a) 131
$10
scriptures.”33 Whether this shows a change in position on his part or simply a
to assume that the content of this teaching - at least at this stage of the church’s
development - centred upon the person of Jesus and the “Gospel tradition”34
rather than on any defined body of teachings; and that the apostles were
carrying out Jesus’ command to them in Matthew 28:20 to teach future disciples
“to obey everything I have commanded you.”35 Further support for this can
criterion that Peter mentions for the ‘short list’ of candidates is that they should
have been witnesses of Jesus from the beginning of his ministry, so that they
which formed “the primary function of an apostle”38 and which gave them the
body of instruction” is put forward by Williams39 where he contends that the use
of the definite article leads us to this conclusion. This position finds further
Ephesians to the “mystery of Christ, which… has now been revealed by the
Spirit of God’s holy apostles and prophets”40 as being that same “body of
$ 33 Bruce (1962) 79
$ 34 As Marshall (1988) 49 mentions in his discussion of κήρυγμα.
$ 35 See Bruce (1964) 6
$ Acts 1:12-26
36
$ Acts 1:22
37
$ 38 Williams (1990) 37
$ 39 ibid 59
$ 40 Ephesians 3:4-5
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argument,41 that the use of διδαχη to describe a defined body of teachings
such a statement, but does not preclude its use here by Luke in that way.!
Another aspect, which has a lot to commend it, is mentioned by Blue, when he
suggests that at least part of the content of the Apostles’ teaching was
linked ideas. The early church was taught by the apostles as they were led by
the Holy Spirit. This teaching had, as its foundation, the Old Testament
scriptures and, as its focus, the person and work of Jesus, and is what later
forms the basis of our New Testament. It is perhaps not too fanciful to suggest
that this teaching followed the pattern that they had seen in the life of Jesus
himself and they were thus continuing what Jesus had begun “to do and to
τῇ κοινωνίᾳ0
The second of our phrases raises a number of issues. While it is clear that the
precise meaning here needs some closer inspection. Witherington argues that
argue that the expression of the κοινωνια of the early church was in the
basic activities of the church, teaching and κοινωνια. Bruce argues slightly
The breaking of bread and prayer are two of these but that κοινωνια extends
beyond them to other actions such as the collection of gifts by Paul for the
Jerusalem church.49
practical.!
Marshall takes a different view in saying that κοινωνια refers to a meal that was
Witherington and sees not just two but four distinct activities where κοινωνια
None of these positions, however, seems really to take full account of the
context in which Luke uses the word. The fact that this summary comes
immediately after Luke’s account of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost at
least suggests that the word may need to be understood in not just a practical
way but also a spiritual one. As Stott points out, this is the first time the word
κοινωνια is used, and for good reason “for there was no κοινωνια before the
Holy Spirit came.”51 This idea is taken a little further by Williams when he
relationship they enjoyed with God, that they were therefore sharing in none
$ 47 ibid 160
$ 48 Bruce (1962) 79, see also Bruce (1990a) 131-32
$ 49 See eg Romans 15:26
$ 50 Marshall (1980) 127
$ 51 Stott (2007) 97
$13
other than God himself.52 This is an attractive proposition as it seems to do
This sharing in God through his Spirit brings about a “common bond” which was
the source of their “unanimity and unity”53 and which then manifests itself in
bread and prayer, but may go further and include the sharing of possessions
(Acts 2:44-5; 4:32-35). This community of possessions was not peculiar to the
early church, other Jewish groups such as the Essenes practised something
similar. 54
Some, like Blue, would argue that κοινωνια may not be “lexically
broad enough to include the sharing of property.”55 Whether this is right or not, it
possessions; rather that this was part of the outward expression of the
κοινωνια the early believers enjoyed.56 In other words, the unity they now knew
possessions – a part of their community life that was so important, Luke felt it
possessions, both in his Gospel and elsewhere in Acts. Marshall57 argues that
the story of Zacchaeus shows what this attitude looks like in practice. He also
points out that, how wealth was distributed within the church became such a
$ 52 Williams (1990) 59
$ 53 Schattenmann (1992) 642
$ 54 See e.g. Witherington (1998) 205; Bruce (1964) 7
$ 55 Blue (1998) 489
$ 56 See Bruce (1990a) 131-32
$ 57 Marshall (1988) 206-07
$14
time-consuming issue, that “it had to be passed over to other officers (Acts
6:1-6).”58 This concern for the welfare of other Christians is not limited to Luke,
be found in the fellowship that the new believers enjoyed with God. This sharing
in God through his Spirit was at the centre of the fellowship that the believers
had with each other – their common bond.60 This spiritual sharing manifests
collection for the poor.61 There are also what might be called more spiritual
expressions of this fellowship, such as the breaking of bread and prayer. In the
specific terms of Acts 2:42, Luke seems to be presenting us, then, with the new
Christian community expressing the reality of their faith in four different, but
linked, ways.62!
Supper within the context of the general, fellowship meal.64 The immediate
τοῦ ἄρτου and a general meal. However, the possibility that the breaking of
$ 58 ibid 207
$ 59 e.g. Romans 15:26, 1 Corinthians 16:1-4, 2 Corinthians 8-9
$ 60 See Williams (1990) 59
$ 61 See Peterson (1998) 391
$ 62 See Schattenmann (1992) 642
$ 63 See Witherington (1998) 160
$ 64 Bruce (1962) 79 and (1990a) 132
$15
bread took place within the context of a general meal, as Williams suggests,65
the Lord’s Supper in his letter to the church in Corinth66 show that in at least
one of the early churches, τῇ κλάσει τοῦ ἄρτου has this third meaning of the
separate from a fellowship meal. Even though we do not totally accept this
specific celebration of the Lord’s Supper is referred to here in Acts 2:42. This is
the definite article. Peterson holds a different position, arguing that τῇ κλάσει
does recognise that the fellowship meals Luke refers to in Acts in general, and
context, τῇ κλάσει τοῦ ἄρτου took place and some diffidence about being
There are other reasons for accepting that this reference is to the Lord’s
$ 65 Williams (1990) 61
$ 66 1 Corinthians 11:17-35
$ 67 See also Blue (1998) 489
$ 68 Williams (1990) 60
$ 69 Peterson (1998) 393
$ 70 See also Witherington (1998) 160-61
$16
Supper, the most compelling of which is the way Luke links the breaking of
bread elsewhere with revelation concerning the person of Jesus. There are two
specific occasions that are worth considering briefly. In Luke 9:16, Jesus breaks
bread in order to feed the 5000. It is immediately following this that he records
Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ.71 The second concerns the disciples
on the road to Emmaus who only recognise Jesus when he breaks the bread, it
is then that their eyes are opened.72 In both instances, the recognition of who
Jesus is follows the breaking of bread and in both instances it is in the context
of a meal.!
A further link between the Emmaus story and Acts 2:42 is to be found in the way
that in both passages, Luke brings together the breaking of bread with teaching.
Before he is revealed to the disciples through the breaking of bread, Jesus has
spent the time on the road teaching them what the Scriptures had to say about
him. Luke seems to want his readers to recognise the links between teaching,
These links seem clear; however there is still a step from this position to
Bruce argues,74 that the emphasis that Luke appears to give to this phrase, and
the fact that he mentions as a separate event the daily eating together of the
disciples only a sentence or two further on,75 leads one to the reasonable
conclusion that the “significant element of the celebration”76 was the sharing of
$ 71 Luke 9:18-20
$ 72 Luke 24:31, 35
$ 73 See Marshall (1980) 124-25
$ 74 Bruce (1962) 79; Bruce (1990a) 132
$ 75
Luke 2:46
$ 76
Otto, R. (1943) The Kingdom of God and the Son of Man 315 quoted by Bruce (1962) 79 and
Bruce (1990a) 132
$17
bread and wine in remembrance of the death and resurrection of Jesus. !
Luke’s account of the Last Supper77 becomes relevant to this discussion at this
juncture. Jesus and the disciples are together in the context of a general
fellowship meal,78 during which Jesus gives a new meaning and understanding
to the bread and the wine.79 It is perhaps not stretching things too far to see a
link here with the context in the Corinthian church mentioned above where the
and by extension to an
It is noteworthy that Luke makes only one other reference to the Eucharist in
Acts apart from here, and that is in Acts 20:7. This may seem particularly
the conclusion, with Liefeld, that the Lord’s Supper is to be understood as being
fellowship meal.83!
ταῖς προσευχαῖς0
The main question arising from the fourth of the phrases we are considering is
what importance, if any, should be given to Luke’s use of the definite article. Its
use suggests that something other than general prayer of a personal or even
$ 77 Luke 22:14-20
$ 78 For a discussion of exactly what this meal was, see Marshall (1980) 57f
$ 79 See Bruce (1990a) 62
$ 80 See Marshall (1980) 127
$ 81 Luke 22:19
$ 82 Liefeld (1995) 98 see also the discussion in Marshall (1988) 204
$ 83 Bruce (1990a) 62
$18
corporate nature is being referred to; rather that Luke has in mind some kind of
specific prayer. This may be prayer at appointed times, such as the times of
corporate prayer.84 !
Luke’s account of the early church shows the believers at prayer on a number
of occasions,85 to the extent that we can conclude it was part of their “normal
activity.”86 Two examples will suffice for us at this point. In Acts 3:1 Peter and
John go to the Temple to pray at the appointed time, suggesting that for the
apostles at least, following the Jewish timetable for prayer was not unusual.
Acts 4:24-30 gives an example of a specific prayer offered upon the release of
Peter and John from prison, suggesting that specific events may have given rise
to specific prayers on a more regular basis. In Acts 12:12, the disciples are
described as being together in prayer. The fact that Peter goes to the house
together for prayer was a regular occurrence rather than a one-off occasion
The most likely meaning of ταῖς προσευχαῖς in this context is that it refers to
Bruce puts it, “The disciples’ own meetings for prayer are primarily in view, but
Luke’s first summary statement of life in the early church gives us a picture of
activities:89 the apostles’ teaching about Jesus, the sharing in the spiritual unity
they had through the coming of the Spirit, the remembrance of Jesus in the
Lord’s Supper, and regular times of corporate prayer. Blue comments that what
binds these together is that the “primary element of the gathering was the flow
of divine grace.”90!
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!
The scope of this dissertation does not allow for a detailed discussion of issues
the life of the early church.91 The position taken in this dissertation is that which
is "accepted by almost all scholars"92 that Acts was written by the same author
as the Gospel of Luke. The exact identity of the writer may still be a matter of
question, and indeed the work itself is anonymous,93 but he is probably the
Paul.94 !
The identity of the writer relates to the question of the dating of the book. If we
accept that Luke was a companion of Paul then the date of the writing of Acts
must be during the first century. Again there is scholarly disagreement about
this, and while it does not bear overmuch upon this dissertation the position
Reliability0
Acceptance of Lucan authorship and a first century date for the writing of Acts
does not, of course, mean that Luke was present at all of the events he
narrates. Indeed, the prologue to Luke makes it clear that he is reliant upon
$ 91 For these, see the introductions to the commentaries, e.g.: Bruce (1990a) 3-9; Nolland (1989)
xxxiv-xxxvii; Williams (1990) 2-5 and Witherington (1998) 51-60.
$ 92 Nolland (1989) xxxiii
$ 93 See e.g. Bruce (1990a) 7
$ 94 e.g. Colossians 4:14. See e.g. Bruce (1990a) 6-7 and Witherington (1998) 58
$ 95 Bruce (1962) 18; see also Bruce (1990a) 12f
$ 96 Luke 1:1-2
$21
which also clearly shows that Luke was aiming to write history.97 This opens up
the door to the question of the genre of Acts, a debate which “has taken many
this subject99 is that Luke is writing a history which resembled earlier Greek
here.101!
If Acts is a history, we need to discuss briefly how reliable the history Luke
produces is, especially in terms of the accounts of the early church. If we accept
that the “we” passages are Luke’s accounts of his travels with Paul, a position
which Bruce describes as “the most natural explanation,”102 then Luke was
Paul’s companion at a later stage in church history and travelled with him to
Jerusalem.103 He was thus able to talk with people who had been present
during the days of the early church. His acknowledgment of reliance upon such
eyewitness accounts is clear from his prologue. While his sources may be
somewhat "obscure"104 and while the results of form and redaction criticism
suggest that both Luke and Acts "are extremely poor quarries for bed-rock
tradition"105 in terms of the criteria for ancient historians, "Luke acquits himself
very credibly".106 As Bruce says, “he combined into a continuous and coherent
whole both the traditions which were preserved in the primitive Christian
difficulties and doubts remain on this issue, there seems to be little reason not
continued discussion, then, will leave these to one side and concentrate on
Purpose0
The question of the purpose that Luke had in writing Acts is clearly tied to the
question of genre but not restricted to it. Having accepted that Luke was writing
history, we need to move on to discuss what the purpose of this history was - or
indeed if history was his sole purpose - in order that we might draw conclusions
need to understand, at least to some extent, what Luke’s agenda was before
asking him to answer questions related to our agenda.108 This is not as easy a
task as it might at first seem; as Liefeld puts it, “It is probable that more theories
exist as to the purpose of Acts than for any other New Testament book."109!
It is, of course, possible for a writer to have more than one purpose in writing;
the Book of Acts, Walter Liefeld gives a list of six possible purposes that have
been proposed for Acts and we will use these as the basis for our discussion.110
They are:!
numbers one and two are clearly linked. As we have seen above, Luke makes
claims, which seem to be upheld, to writing an historical account both of the life
of Jesus (in Luke) and of the early church. However, it “hardly does justice”112 to
One aspect to which the historical nature of Luke’s record contributes is the
conclusion that Luke’s “intention was evangelistic.”113 This may well be the case
The arguments that Acts is a defence of Paul are ones which rely to some
extent at least on a late date for the work, which we have already rejected.114
That Luke has an apologetic aim, though, can be substantiated. This aim is
clearly stated by Luke in the prologue to his Gospel where he says that he
writes these things ἵνα ἐπιγνῷς περὶ ὧν κατηχήθης λόγων τὴν ἀσφάλειαν.
This is both apologetic and didactic and allows us to agree with Bruce when he
$ 111 ibid 30
$ 112 ibid 30
$ 113 Marshall (1988) 19
$ 114 See above p 21. Liefeld describes these theories as ones which “have faded” Liefeld (1995)
31
$ 115 Bruce (1990a) 22
$24
This didactic element leads us on to Liefeld's fifth category, Luke’s theological
Luke’s being a theologian should not be allowed to detract from his reliability as
Liefeld’s sixth category is the one which is of most relevance to our discussion
and which, importantly, he considers to have the least to be said for it. He
argues that there is no suggestion that what Luke was aiming to do in Acts was
to give a model for later church practice.117 If Acts 2:42 is to have contemporary
This brief survey of Liefeld’s categories shows that Acts suggests Luke has
more than one purpose but that the main purpose is an historical one which has
theological, evangelistic and didactic aspects to it. It is the final category, that of
a model for later church practice, which concerns us here and we will now
We have already seen that the early Brethren writers had no qualms about
turning to Acts 2:42 as part of the basis for their understanding of how a church
should act and what types of meetings should be set up. We may well ask just
how justified they were in doing this, and we will be looking at how we can use
Acts 2:42 in our attempts to decide what a contemporary church may look like.
That, though, is the task for the final section of this dissertation. Before that, we
need to turn to look at some of the ways in which some contemporary Brethren
While not truly contemporary (F. F. Bruce died in 1990) any discussion on the
way in which Brethren writers have commented upon and understood Acts 2:42
which did not make some reference to his work and writings would be ignoring
one of the most important and influential of all Brethren commentators. Gasque
have appeared since Bruce’s but his remain important, all the more so in the
his life.119 !
member of the Brethren that his exegesis of Acts 2:42 was binding in any way
upon Brethren thought and practice; this is clearly not the case. Indeed, some
him with, on at least one occasion, his being described as “a spearhead for the
scholar and prominent member of the Brethren he does hold a central and
influential position in our discussion of how the Brethren have viewed Acts 2:42.
His comments on this verse have been taken into account in our section on the
exegesis of the passage but it is worth our while to return to them briefly now.!
For Bruce, the apostles’ teaching is important for two reasons. Firstly, he
the teaching had an authority for the early church because, for Bruce, it was
argues that this teaching is what later became the New Testament. Churches
that wish to claim to be in some sort of apostolic succession from the early
church to the present day, can only do so in so far as they “continue stedfastly
theme amongst Brethren writers of all times, though what is meant by it can
Scripture to speak inductively for itself. As Grass says, when referring to Bruce’s
τῇ κοινωνίᾳ!
Bruce sees the fellowship of the early church as being expressed in “a number
expressions of fellowship as being the breaking of bread and prayer, and the
the lack of time and space that he devotes to this question and especially to the
However, elsewhere, he makes it clear that “the apostles’ fellowship carries with
it fellowship ‘with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ’ (l John 1:3)”129 thus
κοινωνια. However, he argues that it refers to more than just eating together,
His
argument is that the significance of the phrase being here is to be found in the
fact that in the course of a meal together the early church would remember the
Lord’s death. Thus there was, in other words, a eucharistic element to the
breaking of bread that went beyond simply eating together. He makes no further
ταῖς προσευχαῖς!
As with the breaking of bread, Bruce sees prayer as one of the practical out-
workings of the fellowship of the early Christians; and that the reference here is
argues that this does not rule out participation in the Jewish times of prayer, “the
temple services could not take the place of prayer within their own
the question of the apostles’ teaching than he does on any other aspect of the
early church’s life described in Acts 2:42. He clearly has nothing to say in these
can take through to our final section. Firstly, breaking of bread and prayer are
central to the life of the church, and secondly, that the church needs to be
founded upon and guided by the apostles’ teaching as we have it now in the
form of the New Testament. We may, I think, infer with some confidence from
this that Bruce saw these two principles as being ones which could be taken
from Luke’s record of the early church and applied to the contemporary
situation. In other words, something resembling the early church can be found
Other Interpretation0
writers from the progressive Brethren, Martin Erwin starts his contribution by
quoting Acts 2:42-47 and asks the following rhetorical question, “That is how we
want the church to be, isn’t it?” He goes on to comment that these verses not
helpful model of church life.”133 These verses remain very much at the heart of
Much of the contemporary discussion that has taken place amongst Brethren
writers in the UK on the four aspects of church life that we are considering has
taken place in two magazines and other collections of articles, whether gleaned
different authors. The two magazines are Precious Seed and Partnership
Perspectives134 and the relevant collections of articles are Church Doctrine and
The two magazines represent in many ways the two major contemporary
exemplified by the book Church Doctrine and Practice. This was first published
in 1970 - but making use of articles which appeared in the Precious Seed
magazine between 1945 and 1970 - and has been reprinted without revision on
represents the progressive Brethren. While often dealing with similar issues to
$ 133
Erwin (2012) 111 emphasis original
$ 134
Precious Seed is published by Precious Seed International: http://www.preciousseed.org/
pastpdfs.cfm. Partnership Perspectives is published by Partnership: http://
www.partnershipuk.org/perspectives.htm.
$ 135 A Precious Seed publication.
$ 136 A Partnership publication
$ 137 See above pp 1-2
$30
be more open to influence and inspiration from writers outside of the Brethren. It
An exception to this is to be found in the Faroe Islands. Over the years, much of
the discussion in the islands concerning how the church should manifest the
four characteristics of Acts 2:42 has again taken place in short articles in
magazines, both Faroes and Danish, but with general reference to UK writings
book Samkoman (The Assembly), which has as it’s sub-title, “Insight into
Christ’s assembly and assembly life in the 21st century.”139 While the majority of
conservative side of most issues concerning the church - including those under
stream, and from those outside the Brethren altogether. Thus his bibliography
along with writings by Bill Hybels, Rick Warren and Jim Cymbala, to mention but
three.!
Having given a brief sketch of the situation, we now need to turn to discuss how
the different streams of the Brethren interpret Acts 2:42 today, or more properly
how ‘the apostles’ teaching’, ‘fellowship’, ‘the breaking of bread’ and ‘prayer’
have been interpreted. We will do this by looking at the four issues separately,
$ 138 Zachariassen has a BA in Biblical Studies from Emmaus Bible School in Dubuque, Iowa and
a PhD from Dallas Theological Seminary, Texas. He is presently full time elder in Lívdin, an
assembly in Tórshavn the capital of the Faroes, previously having been a lecturer at Tilsley
College in Motherwell.
$ 139 Innlit í samkomu Kristusar og samkomulív í 21. øld.
$31
The Apostles’ Teaching!
There are two areas which we will consider here concerning the role of the
emphasise the importance the Brethren attach to the Bible. This does not, at
first sight, do much more than place them in the mainstream of evangelicalism,
however, Rowdon argues that in fact the Brethren were “distinguished … [by]
the absolute priority which they accorded to the Word of God.”140 The continuing
conservative/progressive spectrum.!
At the start of his chapter on the Bible in the life of the church, Zachariassen
life.”141 He sees this working itself out in both “respect for and commitment to
the Bible” and that these two elements “must characterise an assembly”.142 He
gives a number of reasons for this which can be summed up in his phrase that
“God reveals himself to us in the Scriptures.”143 Thus, the teaching of the Bible
holds an important place in the life of the assembly because it is teaching which
“gives me the basis for my faith.”144 In Zachariassen’s case, this manifests itself
in the weekly teaching on a Sunday morning and in their Tuesday evening Bible
book and teaching on topics of various types from ‘Purpose and Vision’146 to
discussed by Naismith and Cousins in terms of both its importance and its
content. They start from the same position as Zachariassen and argue that
“There can be no doubt about the emphasis laid on teaching in the NT”149
referring to Acts 2:42 as evidence for this. While recognising that not all great
preachers have followed a systematic programme150 they argue that this is the
best way to ensure a “balanced diet” of teaching. This diet should aim to be
“doctrinally balanced,”151 include teaching from the Old Testament and not just
In another article in the same book, the place that expository preaching has
major, if not the major, means of teaching is dangerous: “A church that rejects
preaching as a key part of its learning strategy may well be rejecting much more
than it thinks.”152 Clearly, the Brethren are not alone in their emphasis on the
authority of Scripture and on the centrality of teaching. Stott says that “Fidelity
to the teaching of the apostles is the first mark of an authentic and living
church.”153!
Expository preaching, though, is not the only way in which a church should
radically different from other parts of evangelicalism, nor are they a departure
in the emphasis on systematic teaching and the readiness to adapt and change
This difference in emphasis between the two wings of the Brethren is perhaps
again, he is clear that teaching is fundamental to the life of the assembly and
bemoans the situation, as he sees it, that the assemblies “are in danger of
teachers of God’s Word. However, remarkable for its absence is any discussion
on how this teaching is to take place, except that it will be within the context of
the local assembly; or of what the content may be, except that it is instructing
“the saints in the deeper things of God.”158 We may well be right in inferring that,
just as the training of the next generation of teachers “will need to develop by
the same processes” as before, so the way in which the assembly should be
Teaching, though, has a second purpose which is to enable people to read and
create a desire in people to spend time in the Bible itself.”159 This has always
been a central Brethren concept and its apparent lack is something which Large
assembly and church life. However, there are some differences to be seen. The
Brethren hermeneutical tradition has been that “the Bible must be its own
interpreter”161
interpretation. On the progressive wing this has changed; while the Bible
remains central, there is a greater willingness to turn to writers from outside the
Brethren for inspiration. This means that there has been a divergence in
spectrum so that there is no longer any uniform pattern or method across the
Brethren as a whole.!
Fellowship!
We saw in our opening section how the expression of fellowship in the Brethren
has, on occasions, been limited to little more than ‘being together’. However, it
would be untrue to suggest that there is not some discussion and debate about
what true fellowship is. While The Church Leaders’ Handbook has no specific
$ 159 “Læran sunnudag er ikki nóg mikið av føði til samkomuna. Undirvísingin í samkomuni skal
fáa fólk at tráa eftir at brúka tíð í Bíbliuni sjálv.” Zachariassen (2007) 127
$ 160 Large (1970) especially page 70
$ 161 Clines (1982) 66
$35
wing there is a fairly substantial section on fellowship in Church Doctrine and
Practice. Thus our survey of contemporary thinking on fellowship will start with
He thus starts with the spiritual nature of fellowship which we saw in our earlier
all) interest in the Person and work of Christ.”163 Or, as another contributor puts
it, “Partnership with our Lord Jesus Christ.”164 Thus, the foundation for Christian
Brethren have traditionally been wary) but the person of Jesus. This same
fellowship with the Apostles. This fellowship comes about because “they shared
with us their personal knowledge of Christ and His work” and it is this Apostles’
teaching, mentioned in Acts 2:42, that forms part of “the basis of Christian
Finally, he sees our fellowship with the Saints as also foundational to true
down through the ages, or merely with Christians living today. But, with Barnard,
he would agree that our “fellowship is with God and with each other.”167 The
that the fellowship that is expressed in the breaking of bread shows “our unity
with other Christians..., both those present… and those who participate in the
the board in the Brethren, we need to ask what this means in practice, in other
words, how does the spiritual fellowship that Christians have with God, the
The first answer to this is that fellowship is manifest "in every local assembly
As Clarke puts it, “The Lord's Table has been called the "focal point" of the
Christian fellowship... Neither it, nor its sister-ordinance baptism, creates the
our next section, so will leave this here for the moment.!
The first two of these cover the areas discussed by Clarke which we have
which touch upon new areas, it is worth taking a moment to mention that ‘being
in fellowship’ was, and continues to be, the phrase used most often by
brings to our attention the distinction sometimes made between union with
relies upon the finished work of Christ; the latter can be disrupted in two ways.
The believer’s communion with God can be broken by sin, and their communion
with other believers by false teaching, so that the measure of how true and real
and deep fellowship is depends "upon the measure in which I and they are
Donald Bridge argues that it is the responsibility of all to create true fellowship,
the building they meet in, has led to ‘fellowship’ being used as a common term
difficult to define. Indeed, in his list of the seven characteristics that he finds in
the early church, Summerton simply comments that fellowship “went on all the
time, of course.”176!
The second two categories above take the thought further by discussing other
involves giving – the collection made by Paul for the church in Jerusalem is an
the life of the early church which it is not necessary to emulate, as it was only
“For a short period in the beginning.”179 This attitude prevails throughout the
Secondly, fellowship means co-operation, and for Lovering, this means first and
and in the identification with Jesus’ mission181 has had a profound effect on the
Brethren. Mission has always played an important role in the life of Brethren
expression of this from the earliest time.182 Assemblies continue to hold regular,
and very different from that of a sports club, for instance,185 describing it as
having a “spiritual home.”186 There are “certain responsibilities and certain rights
that come with belonging to an assembly.”187 These range from pastoral care to
supporting its work financially.188 In many ways, much of his discussion centres
definitions above. However, while he recognises that fellowship had come about
as being grounded in the relationship the believer has with God through Christ
and that this manifests itself in fellowship, unity, communion, partnership with
other believers in practical ways as well as in the activities and meetings of the
the partnership that believers have in the gospel. However, it is in the breaking
Zachariassen puts it, “Baptism and the remembrance supper are visible actions
Breaking of Bread!
breaking of bread. It is one of the two ordinances, along with baptism, that are
describes it as “the centre of the church's activity”191 and Summerton can say,
“it is an article of faith that [the breaking of bread] should be the absolutely
central event in the life of a local church.”192 The reason for this is, primarily, the
$ 189 ibid 75
$ 190 “Dópurin og minnismáltíðin eru sjónligar handlingar, sum avmynda andaligar sannleikar.” Ibid
179
$ 191 Stenhouse (1970 117
$ 192 Summerton (2002) 91 see also Baigent (2008) 12
$41
record of its celebration in the New Testament, not only in Acts but also in 1
among Christians”193 existed not only in New Testament times but also in the
A clear example of this importance is seen in the fact that over a period of 10
while discussions on fellowship and prayer were merely part of other general
There is remarkable uniformity also in the ways in which the breaking of bread
to all who profess faith in Christ;199 that it holds the central place in the life of the
church; and that it is an expression of the fellowship we have with Christ200 and
Writers from across the spectrum refer to the example of the early church in
Acts 2:42 as the basis for their contention that regular celebration of the
verse that the most common appellation for the central meeting of the Brethren
– “The Breaking of Bread” – comes, and while the progressive strand of the
Brethren is more likely to make use of other terms such as ‘communion’, both
“names or titles as used by men and churches… [whereas] … We use the New
dismissal of these terms is not found in articles on the progressive side but the
There is also general agreement that Acts 2:42 and the following verses refer to
has always been “to meet weekly on a Sunday morning to ‘remember the
practice as even though “Paul had arrived… the previous Monday… [he] called
no special meeting but patiently waited till the ensuing Lord’s Day”206 before
speaking with the believers. There is also recognition that the context of the
early church’s celebration of the Lord’s Supper was that of a general meal207
and for some the question is raised as to whether “it is time to restore table
The practice of celebrating the Lord’s Supper on Sunday is one that is general
are Brethren fellowships where this practice has changed, and changed quite
but a larger number of fellowships have moved to a more structured format for
the service, leaving behind the traditional one of ‘open worship’ where
participation was open to all (men) who wished to take part.210 For the more
the traditional practice was seen to represent is of great importance; for those
on the progressive side, the fact that “the Bible does not say how assemblies
The final point which perhaps needs to be mentioned here is that all are agreed
that celebration of the Lord’s Supper is something which is limited to the time
prior to the return of Christ. As Zachariassen says, “Then we will no longer have
need of this memorial meal, for then we shall see Jesus instead.”213!
In conclusion, we can say that for all Brethren, the communion service remains
earliest days of the movement, but there is greater variation in the manner in
Prayer!
prayer are ones which would be echoed by writers from every part of the
God’s people to such an extent that Alexander argues that it is in his people
For traditional assemblies, the weekly Prayer Meeting is the main forum for
corporate prayer. That is not to say that prayer does not take place in other
meetings, but that these meetings are devoted to intercessory prayer. Separate
meetings are seen as a way - perhaps the way - of being faithful to the pattern
of Acts 2:42.216
Both strands recognise not only the importance of prayer to the life of a
fellowship but also the struggles there are in engaging church members in this
number of years ago the church moved from a weekly prayer and ministry
meeting, after the traditional pattern we noted in our first section, to fortnightly
house groups and fortnightly prayer meeting. This pattern changed again, about
six years ago, when a monthly prayer meeting called “ACTS”219 was started on
Sunday evening. In some ways this takes a traditional view of a separate time
$ 214 “Bøn hevur eyðkent samkomu Kristusar frá byrjan… Tann samkomu, ið er eyðkend av bøn
og setur bøn í hásetur, er ein samkoma, sum mennist andaliga.” ibid 241
$ 215 Alexander (1970) 156
$ 216 See Clapham (1970) 163
$ 217 See e.g. Clapham (1970) 166 and Gooding (2001) 12
$ 218 See the church’s website www.beaconheathchurch.org.uk. I was full-time pastor at this
church from 2000-2009.
$ 219 The common acronym for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication.
$45
for prayer, albeit a time which includes praise and worship as well as
There is, therefore, a great deal of agreement across the spectrum in the
importance placed on prayer but quite different ways in which the principles are
Conclusion!
church that he considers comprise the content of the gatherings of the early
church.220 Teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer are four of these.
It is a list which not only draws on biblical evidence but which stands firmly in
the Brethren tradition. As we have seen, the four activities we have been
considering are considered to have an abiding importance for the Brethren. The
found to a large extent in what form these activities should be found in the
pattern of separate meetings distributed throughout the week with the main
meeting being on Sunday morning, and this meeting being the Breaking of
there was little evidence to suggest that Luke wrote Acts “to provide a paradigm
for… church life.”221 We need, therefore, to bear in mind that Luke had other
aims and purposes and that we cannot - and should not - go to Acts to answer
questions Luke was not addressing, whatever others may have done. As
Witherington puts it, “If you go to Acts to answer all of the later questions about
infant baptism, church order, or apostles after the first generation, you will be
agenda was not ours.”222 The issue, though, of how far Luke’s work can be
seen as more than an historical account of practices that are of no lasting value
and therefore having some normative or prescriptive value for the contemporary
church is the “central interpretive question”223 related to the book. We need now
The brevity of the verse would, at first sight, seem to suggest that it should be
given little importance. However, there are four specific reasons I wish to
highlight as to why this would be a mistake. These concern the question of Acts’
genre, the particular sub-genre of Acts 2:42, the way in which Acts 2:42 works
We saw earlier that Acts is an historical work224 and as such is, of course,
narrative. Our interpretation of the book in general and this verse in particular
needs to take into account the specific nature of how narrative works. Tate
the task of interpretation involves “Movement from the referential level to the
mimetic level.”226
message which has repercussions beyond that time. If Tate is right, and I think
he is, then as Luke’s readers we are being invited to encounter a “truth about
the real world” through the story he tells. Our reading of Acts will, therefore, not
only be about its actual - and factual - content, but will also take into account
Luke’s purpose in writing and thus capturing the message that is being
Understanding this particular verse involves more than accepting that the book
2:42 is.!
The verse is obviously a summary of some kind, describing the activities of the
discuss where Acts 2:42 fits into this. Summary passages occur exclusively in
the early part of Acts dealing with the life of the early church, “suggesting
perhaps that Luke has fewer and less extensive sources for the earlier
period”228 than for later in his narrative. They also “share a common theme
about the nature of the interior life of the early church, seen at its best.”229 For
these reasons, we might agree with Witherington that this verse forms part of
those concerning their being Lucan creations and being “derived from
an argument which is not totally convincing. I would rather see Acts 2:42 as an
integral part of the longer summary passage that follows, while it retains some
Whatever the niceties of this definition may be, the role of the summary
the importance of this verse should not be diminished simply because it is short,
The third aspect involves the role of the verse in Acts as a narrative. We have
seen that Luke does not give summaries of the internal life of the church
beyond his description of the early days in Jerusalem. This may indeed be
As a story teller, Luke is setting the scene in these early chapters upon which
the rest of the story of the expansion of the gospel is played out.232 Thus, the
lack of continued repetition of the activities of the early church and the relative
they later changed or that Luke was not interested in them. Rather, that he
expects us to see all that subsequently takes place in the greater drama of the
spread of the gospel against this backdrop.234 Neither does it mean that the
activities are less important than others. This is a result of the genre that Luke
it is this verse, and others like it, which gives a context to the rest of the early
church’s activities.?
which emphasises both the importance of the activities that followed and that
this devotion was continuous. Its use implies that Luke saw the activities he
describes as not simply having importance for the early church in Jerusalem but
that this importance was one which extended beyond the immediate context.!
We are not, therefore, at liberty to ignore or even sideline the issues that Acts
2:42 raises. It may be only one verse, but as Liefeld says, “since all Scripture is
true and profitable, even one verse that describes the way the early church did
information on the activities of the early church and as a basis for discovering
the truth which we can apply to our contemporary situation. In other words, Acts
2:42 is not just descriptive, but should be seen as having lasting importance for
the church and thus as being prescriptive - the question is, though, in what way.!
In our exegesis of Acts 2:42 we recognised that there was room for debate
about the actual activities Luke was referring to, but came to the following
upon the Hebrew Scriptures and centred upon the person and work of Jesus;
• τῇ κοινωνίᾳ is the fellowship the believers had with God through his Spirit
• τῇ κλάσει τοῦ ἄρτου is the celebration of the Lord’s Supper which probably
• ταῖς προσευχαῖς refers to the disciples’ regular times of prayer which may
We also saw that Luke does not go into any detail concerning the form of these
activities, nor about whether they represent distinct gatherings for each activity
or were characteristic of each gathering of the early church. This is where some
frustration with Luke may come in, as it is these questions as much as any
others which occupy our minds if we agree with the basic premise of Brethren
should do.!
However, it is also here that we find the clue as to how Acts 2:42 can be used
principle and practice which is fundamental. The principles which Acts 2:42 give
us, of devotion to teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer are ones
$51
which should be the “marks of a living church today.”237 However, there is no
point out, the diversity that Luke records in various aspects of his narrative
“probably means that no specific example is being set forth as the model…
church life.”238 It is here that, I would suggest, there is a divide between the
maintain a pattern of meetings and general practice which has changed little
with the issue of how these principles can be put into a relevant practice.!
There is, though, one area where there appears to be a serious failing across
the spectrum, and that is in the area of fellowship. We have seen that
should be a regular occurrence, and that its true meaning is only to be found
κοινωνια. Stott is right when he says that fellowship is “most vividly expressed
striking aspects of what we have considered. The only area where a more
While we can agree that the Brethren have generally, though in different and not
always culturally relevant ways, placed teaching, the Breaking of Bread and
prayer at the centre of their gatherings, they have failed to work out any real
way of manifesting true κοινωνια. There is an urgent need to get beyond the
and rediscover the reality and depth of sharing lives together in true community.
It is here that work needs to be done in applying what all agree is an important
As our discussion has shown, it is not easy to bring the principles of Acts 2:42 to
maintained. There are no easy answers and a working out of this will mean a
diversity of practice, but this is a diversity which does not imply a divergence of
belief. The challenge for the Brethren, as for all of us, is to hold fast to the
!
!
$54
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Christian Brethren Review Journal Number 31,32 (exeter: The PAternoster
Press Ltd) 65-77.
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(Ed.) (1964) The Collected Writings of J. N. Darby Ecclesiastical Number 4,
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How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (Grand Rapids: Zondervan) pp 107-125.
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stempublishing.com/authors/hole/NT/ACTS.html Accessed 25.5.12 at 17.07.
$55
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(eds) Church Doctrine and Practice (Taunton: Precious Seed) 70-74.
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Doctrine and Practice (Taunton: Precious Seed) 70-74.
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