Beyond Acts : New Perspectives in New Testament History

by Finch, Paul R.

• ISBN13: 9781412003643
• ISBN10: 1412003644
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-07-01
• Publisher: Sunrise Pubns

Summary

Down through the centuries students of New Testament history have lamented over the fact that the New Testament Book of Acts of the Apostles ends abruptly and was never finished. It breaks off right after the most crucial point in apostolic history-only three decades after the Ressurection of Jesus. If ever the missing conclusion of this amazing story could be found, it would revolutionize our understanding of the history of the New Testament Church leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. - and beyond! Don't we wish we could just lift the veil of mystery that surrounds the final days of the apostles and finally get som straight answers? This book intends to do just that. It will be your guide into that great adventure, and it will be the next best thing to actually having the final chapter of Acts

Author Biography

Paul R. Finch, an independent researcher in biblical studies for the past 40 years, resides in Palm Bay, Florida with his wife, Mary Lou. He has for the past 6 years been a regular attendee of the Biblical Archaeological Seminars throughout the country, wherein he has been able to discuss his views on a personal basis with many leading scholars. Mr. Finch brings together in this single volume the culmination of his many years of study to produce a book that will reshape future research on the subject of New Testament history, chronology, and the canon. No serious study can ignore the challenges brought forth in this breakthrough research.

Table of Contents

Preface
Preface	p. xii
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgements	p. xvi
Introduction
Introduction	p. xvii
The Apostolic Drama Begins	p. 1
The Resurrection Faith	p. 4
What a Difference 50 Days Makes	p. 5
The Resurrection and Modern Critics	p. 8
The Testimony of the Apostle Paul	p. 10
The First Scattering	p. 12
Apostles in France?	p. 17
The Last Days of the Temple	p. 21
The Significance of the Temple	p. 22
The Temple and First Century Judaism	p. 25
The Holiness of the Temple	p. 26
The Three-fold Warnings	p. 28
The Five Year Grace Period	p. 30
The Three Outrages of the Second Temple	p. 31
Other Signs that the Temple Would Fall	p. 34
Ezekiel's Prophecy Fulfilled	p. 37
The Jerusalem Church under James the Just	p. 40
James - A Nazarite?	p. 43
James - A Priest?	p. 44
James - The First Pope?	p. 45
Jewish Christianity	p. 47
The Desire to be Jewish	p. 48
The Martyrdom of James	p. 49
The Expectation of the Apostolic Church	p. 54
The Mystery of the Year 63 C.E.	p. 62
Daniel - Key to Prophecy Run-Down	p. 64
Significant Factors Concerning 63 C.E.	p. 66
The Post Years of Acts	p. 69
Significant Post Acts Events	p. 70
Correctly Placing the Prison Epistles	p. 72
The "Revelation" of the Apostle Paul	p. 76
A New and Different Apostle Paul	p. 77
The Revelation of the "Mystery"	p. 78
The New Covenant versus the "Mystery"	p. 80
Religious Ritual versus "the Mystery"	p. 83
The Reaction to Paul's Revelation	p. 88
The Prophetic Viewpoint of the Apostle Paul	p. 90
The Gospel unto Britain	p. 94
Simon Zelotes	p. 96
Aristobulus	p. 98
The Apostle Paul's Threefold Commission	p. 100
Paul and the British War Captives	p. 101
The Jerusalem Church Flees	p. 107
The Apostolic Church and the Roman War	p. 113
The Final Acts of the Apostle Paul	p. 121
Heresy - Impetus for Canonization	p. 129
The Authority to Canonize Scripture	p. 143
Second Peter on Canonization	p. 144
The Transfiguration and the Prophetic Gift	p. 146
The "Prophet" like Moses	p. 148
Jesus was the Prophet Like Moses	p. 150
The Spirit of Prophecy Restored	p. 151
The Binding Authority of Peter	p. 155
Second Peter and Canonization	p. 158
The Martyrdom's of Paul and Peter	p. 161
Peter Confronts Simon Magus	p. 164
Was Peter Ever in Rome?	p. 165
The Initial New Testament Canon	p. 168
The Design of Paul's Epistles	p. 168
Hebrews - Key to the Order of Paul's Epistles	p. 172
"Hebrews" and Paul's Message	p. 173
The Order of the Gospels	p. 177
The Apostle John and the Canon	p. 180
Backdrop to John's Final Works	p. 182
John's Authority to Canonize	p. 185
Why Did the Roman Bishops Reject John?	p. 186
John and the Heretics	p. 188
John's Addition to the Canon	p. 190
The Final Canon of John	p. 193
Background to the Post-Apostolic Church	p. 200
The Controversy that Divided the Church	p. 205
Conclusion	p. 217
Who Wrote Second Peter?	p. 226
The Forgerer that Got Caught	p. 229
Secretaries are not Pseudonyms	p. 230
From First Peter to Second Peter	p. 232
Second Peter - Earliest Quoted Book	p. 235
The Chronology of Acts and Beyond	p. 239
The Resurrection and Beyond	p. 239
The Outline of Acts	p. 242
Paul Before Gallio	p. 243
From Gallio to Felix	p. 245
The Sequence of Sabbatical Years	p. 246
The Daily Account between Felix and Festus	p. 249
Paul before Festus	p. 250
Objections Answered	p. 254
The Final Years of the Apostle Paul	p. 258
The Chronology of Beyond Acts	p. 259
The Date of Paul's Martyrdom	p. 260
The Date of Peter's Martyrdom	p. 261
Did Peter Die on June 29?	p. 263
Linus - Another Chronological Key	p. 268
Significant Dates of the First Century	p. 270
When Was the Book of Revelation Written?	p. 294
The Book of Revelation and the Canon	p. 299
Was the Apostle Peter the First Pope?	p. 303
When Were the New Testament Books Written?	p. 310
Matthew	p. 311
Mark	p. 314
Luke-Acts	p. 316
The Gospel and Epistles of John	p. 320
The Epistle of James	p. 324
The Epistle of Jude	p. 324
First Corinthians	p. 325
Second Corinthians	p. 326
Galatians	p. 326
Philippians	p. 327
Colossians, Ephesians, and Philemon	p. 332
First Thessalonians	p. 334
Second Thessalonians	p. 335
Hebrews	p. 335
Hebrews and John's Circle	p. 338
First and Second Timothy and Titus	p. 339
Summary	p. 340
The Gospel unto Israel	p. 342
Who Were the Parthians?	p. 346
Parthia and Israel	p. 349
The Mission of the Twelve Apostles	p. 350
A Lost Chapter of Acts Found?	p. 355
The Credibility of the Sonnini Manuscript	p. 358
Canon Expansion Today?	p. 360
The Criteria for Canonicity	p. 363
Design of the Canon of Scripture	p. 365
The Proper Order of the Biblical Books	p. 366
The Text of the New Testament	p. 369
The Alexandrian Text Type Myth	p. 374
The Vanishing Caesarean Text Type	p. 375
Base Text versus Eclecticism	p. 379
Bibliography
Bibliography	p. 383
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