Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 62:1 (Mar 2019)
Article: The Spirit And The Mission Of The Church In Acts 1–2
Author: Craig S. Keener

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The Spirit And The Mission
Of The Church In Acts 1–2

Craig S. Keener*

* Craig Keener is the F. M. and Ada Thompson professor of biblical studies at Asbury Theological Seminary, 204 N. Lexington Ave., Wilmore, KY 40390. He delivered this plenary address at the 70^th annual meeting of the ETS in Denver, CO on November 14, 2018.

Abstract: In Acts, Luke closely connects the gift of the Spirit with cross-cultural mission. Luke underlines this connection particularly conspicuously in the opening two chapters of Acts. In Acts, believers sometimes corporately experience this prophetic-like empowerment after times of prayer, fitting the paradigm suggested in Luke 11:13. The first witnesses provide a model, but the mission to the ends of the earth continues today, inviting our continued dependence on the Holy Spirit. The promise of the Spirit is for all believers in all generations (Acts 2:39).

Key words: missiology, pneumatology, Lukan missiology, Lukan pneumatology, Acts 2, Acts 1—2, power of the Spirit, Pentecost, crosscultural mission, the Spirit and mission

A crucial theme at the heart of the Book of Acts is the Spirit empowering believers for mission (Acts 1:8).1 Most scholars recognize mission as a central theme in Acts,2 and I have also commented on this theme elsewhere.3 Here, however, I

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focus on the role of the Spirit in Christian mission, especially as outlined in Acts 1–2.4

After noting the same idea elsewhere in Jesus’s teaching in the Gospels, I will survey the need for and nature of the promise of the Spirit implied in Acts 1:4–5; the character of the Spirit’s power in Acts 1:6–11 and 2:2–4 (including as a foretaste of the future, as empowering cross-cultural witness, and as God confirming the message). I will comment only briefly on preparation for Pentecost in 1:12–2:1, and then turn to the prophecy and preaching of Pentecost in

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