I’ve been reading through William H. Willimon’s Acts commentary (Interpretation; Atlanta, GA: John Knox, 1988), and really enjoyed his section on Acts and the Roman Empire. Willimon was on the money with these words: Luke’s church was not trying to be credible to the Empire or to assure Caesar of its apolitical status. It sought to create an alternative political entity, which became a monkey wrench thrown into the clanking machinery of Caesar’s systems. Christianity defeated the Empire, in great part, because it out organized the Empire. The church gave the decaying classical world a vibrant, tightly knit, exclusivist organizational alternative to other secular arrangements. Theophilus’ church appreciated not only God’s involvement in the world through the Spirit but also God’s apartness from even the Empire’s best cultural achievements. The
Very well said!!
Excellent.