Metropolitan Augoustinos (Kantiotes) Summarizes Acts of the Apostles

Editor's Note: During the Apostles' Fast, we fast to give thanksgiving to God for the apostles' witness of Christ for the endurance of their persecutions. We learn of these incredible acts of preaching and sufferings in the book "Acts of the Apostles" in the Holy Scriptures. Met. Augoustinos Kantiotes of Florina wrote a two volume series called A Panoramic View of Holy Scripture, in which he summarizes and points out the spiritual highlights of each book of Scripture. We share the following one for Acts of the Apostles so that the reader to enter more deeply into this Fast.

Metropolitan Augoustinos (Kantiotes)

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

“You shall be my witnesses ... to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1: 8)

Acts of the Apostles, beloved, is the fifth book of the New Testament. Luke, who wrote the third Gospel, is its author.

This book is called Acts not the Acts, because, as the interpreters observed, it does not contain in detail all the events of the life and deeds of all the apostles, but only of certain from them, especially the chief apostles, Peter and Paul, who are enough to give us a vivid picture of the first Church.

The book is historical. Luke has been proved an excellent historian. As a contemporary observed, the first and essential attribute of a historian is the truth. Whatever he says must be true. And as has been proved by archaeological research, all that Luke relate with his graceful language corresponds absolutely to reality. For example Paul's journey on the Mediterranean, which is described in chapter 27 of Acts, is full of adventures. During the voyage the ship was in danger of sinking. And as an experienced seaman says, with the details that are mentioned it is certain that it is not a creation of fantasy but a description of a real event which Luke lived through as a co-traveler with Paul. The credibility of the author is further proven by some sorrowful events, which darkened the bright picture of the apostolic age (for example, the lie of Ananias and Sapphira, or the disagreement between Paul and Barnabas), that are not omitted but are described in detail.

The reason this important book was written, like the third Gospel, was a certain official named Theophilos who had expressed a strong desire to learn about the life and deeds not only of Christ but also of the early Church. Acts mainly describes, as we said, the life and deeds of the two chief apostles Peter and Paul, of Peter in the first 12 chapters and of Paul in the remaining 16 chapters.

Saints Peter and Paul

As for the content of the book, it must be said that Acts begins with the description of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who on ascending to the Heavenly Father blessed the disciples and gave them the commandment that after they received the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Afterwards Luke narrates how the election of the new disciple, Matthias, who replaced Judas who betrayed Christ, took place. After that he narrates the astonishing occurrence of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit in the form of fiery tongues came to rest on the heads of the disciples, who under His influence exhibited an extraordinary transformation in thought, heart, and tongue, and started to preach the marvels of God with great power in all languages. The rabbits became lions! Peter, who as we know lost courage and denied Christ in front of a servant girl, now preached boldly before thousands of people, and three thousands of them believed, were baptized, and made up the first Church. To this number new multitudes were continuously added. This astonishing growth caused the hatred and opposition of the Jews. However, Peter continued to preach fearlessly.

After that the Martyrdom of Stephen, one of the seven deacons who were selected to serve the material needs of the Christians, is described. The love the first Christians had for each other was so great that they had all things in common, living in an ideal society. "This is mine and this is yours," was not heard. They lived like angels. A little prior to this, Luke narrated the way Apostle Paul was added to them. At first he was an awful persecutor of the Christians, but when he heard the voice of Christ saying: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" (Acts 9: 4), he changed and became the chief of the apostles.

Stoning of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr

After the holy author describes the missionary work of Apostle Peter, who preached not only among the Jews but the pagans, he begins to describe the missionary work of Apostle Paul. Paul, after he appeared in Jerusalem and conversed with James and with the other spiritual leaders of the Church, began to travel across all of the world. His missionary travels lasted about 30 years. As St. John Chrysostom observes, Paul, like a golden eagle, flew to all parts of the world and brought the message of the Gospel everywhere. If it were possible to keep a detailed diary of the work of Apostle Paul, many massive volumes would have to be written. But as we said above, the divinely inspired author describes only certain of those incidents, for the purpose of convincing Theophilos—and every other reader in the future—that after Pentecost it was the Holy Spirit that inspired the thought, warmed the heart, and strengthened the will, so that Paul and the other apostles would be able to preach the marvels of God and perform great miracles, the greatest of which was the rapid spread of the Gospel to the ends of the world. Because of this, as much in the Book of Acts as in the Epistles, the Holy Spirit is spoken about many times and it is noted that He continues the redemptive work of Christ in the Church. In Acts four apostolic missions that Paul made in order to visit the most important centers of the ancient world—the cities of Cyprus, Asia Minor, Philippi, Thessalonica, Veria (Beroea), Athens, Corinth, and Nicopolis—are described. Finally, Paul was brought in chains to Rome, the Capital of the Roman nation, in Nero's time, where he suffered a martyr's end.

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In the Book of Acts not only are the labors, the toils, and the sufferings that the apostles went through described, but also the miracles they performed. In addition there are also summaries of certain divinely inspired homilies which were given. I particularly recommend that you study these homilies, beloved, because what the god-preaching apostles said there, they did not say only for the people who lived at the time of the Book of Acts, but for all of us, for the people of all times who, as sinners, have need of redemption. Whoever studies these homilies understands that the Holy Spirit sparkles in them. The following are some of these homilies.

1. Apostle Peter's homily on the day of Pentecost. (see Acts 2: 14-36)

2. The homily of the First Martyr Stephen on the day of his trial. (see Acts 7: 1-53)

3. Apostle Paul's homily at the most solemn hall of the ancient world, the Supreme Court of Athens, the Areopagos. (see Acts 17: 22-31)

4. Paul's farewell speech at Miletos to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus. (see Acts 20: 18-35)

5. Paul's homily to the Jewish people on the steps of the Roman camp at Jerusalem just as they arrested him. (see Acts 22: 1-22)

6. Paul's homily in bonds in front of the Governor Felix (see Acts 24: 10-21) and King Agrippa. (see Acts 26: 2-23)

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Beloved! What our Lord Jesus Christ commanded the apostles about preaching at the time of His Ascension, the apostles did, especially Apostle Paul. They preached without any self-interest. They preached with adventures and dangers. And they sealed their preaching with their blood. These few, without weapons, but with the omnipotent word of God as their weapon, established churches everywhere.

As coworkers in this enormous work, the Apostles had men and women, who, though they were poor and had to work for a living, were not absorbed by their work, but considered the preaching of the Gospel as their main job. Wherever they were, they preached Christ. They preached Him especially with their holy lives, which astonished the world. Each of these Christians was a small apostle.

If, after that glorious time, we look at things today, especially in the Church of Greece, we have to ask, are we going to see the same kind of missionary zeal? As a certain saint of recent times said, all of the theologians and clergymen of modern times do not amount to the fingernail on St. Paul's little finger.

May the Holy Spirit, Who inspired the Apostles, inspire and elevate new missionary minded people to preach the pure Gospel of Christ not only to every part of Greece, but to the whole world.

SOURCE:

Kantiotes, Metropolitan Augoustinos, A Panoramic View of Holy Scripture (Belmont, MA: Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 2001).