| dc.description.abstract | The engagement between the Christian assembly, Judaism, the Nations and the Roman State in Acts has been a subject of scholarly discussion resulting in different solutions and contradictory conclusions. In this thesis I contend that a fresh approach is necessary to understand this multi-faceted engagement; an approach that can complement the strengths of other perspectives but which effectively addresses their weaknesses and limitations. Such an approach is subversive-fulfilment as developed by Daniel Strange. Developed from a close engagement with Scripture and within a twentieth century Reformed theological perspective this approach reflects Strange’s desire to engage with non-Christian religions and worldviews.
Subversive-fulfilment is founded on a covenantal redemptive-historical methodology. Created in God’s image but distinct from God, people choose idolatrous rather than theocentric worship and this results in a tension. Since people are made in the imago dei there is a continuity, but that image is marred and people look to worship other things, creating a discontinuity. This tension develops within the meta-narrative of Scripture and looks to the promised fulfilment of God’s salvation. It develops at the metaphysical, epistemological and ethical levels. Subversive-fulfilment recognises and accounts for these continuities and discontinuities in the extra-ecclesial and intra-ecclesial engagements in Acts. Subversive-fulfilment functions by discerning points of contact between the Christian assembly and the surrounding cultures. By entering and exploring the surrounding cultures, the assembly provides points of contact by which to expose and subvert the idolatry and by which it can proclaim the gospel, the promised fulfilment of God’s salvation which in Acts is christological. Thus, fulfilment is found in the present and eschatologically. Such engagement occurs by appropriately contextualising the Christian message within its surrounding cultures. It is argued that such an approach can be seen in Acts, specifically through a close reading of the narrative from Acts 13-17, and as a hermeneutical lens can provide a valuable means for a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the engagement between the Christian assembly and its surrounding cultures in Acts.
Key Words: Acts of the Apostles, subversive-fulfilment, reformed theology, engagement, idolatry, discontinuity, continuity, metaphysical, epistemological, ethical, subvert, fulfil(ment). | en_GB |
