The Challenge of Applying the Book of Acts

Peter Mead has a short but helpful post on the problems of applying the Book of Acts. Although, he does not use the same terminology that I would (prescriptive vs. descriptive), he does raise and attempt to answer some important questions. Mead strikes a good balnce when he writes, "Just because some of the events may not occur again, this doesn’t mean that the text is irrelevant (think about the crucifixion of Jesus, for instance). All Scripture is useful, applicable, but the challenge is having the wisdom to discern how to apply it. We need to consider Acts in light of the clear teaching of the epistles, as well as the progress seen within the epistles (consider the different emphasis in 1Corinthians as compared to the later Pastoral Epistles – both concerned with health in the local church, but a different emphasis). Let’s be careful not to automatically use “Acts” labels for contemporary experiences that may or may not be the same thing as what occurred back then."

You can read Mead's entire post here.