|
Characters around the churchWitnesses to the birth of the Jerusalem churchIn the ActsCHARACTERS AROUND THE CHURCH: This paperback book is one of a series of books on Bible characters. It contains 23 short chapters based on people found in the Acts of the Apostles. It takes us from humble faithful Matthias, via Peter, Ananias and Sapphira, Saul of Tarsus, Aeneas and Dorcas, Cornelius through to the final fate of Jerusalem itself. We meet people who spoke out whatever the consequences, some whose lives were changed by the power of the gospel, some who were models of evangelism later in life, and also the power-hungry and the greedy. The writer brings considerable background research to flesh out our understanding of, say, the Pharisees. He uses imagination to speculate on motives and inner thoughts, about which the text is silent, but this is never made to bear more weight than is proper. The result is a valuable reflective exposition on the psychological, cultural, and pastoral aspects of Christian life as found in the early church. Many of the chapters include illustrations from the lives of present-day Christians from across the world. A readable, sensitive and thought-provoking book. Philip Wells,
|