The Bridge Builders Forum What If Acts Is a Jewish Book? A Conversation with Jason Moraff
How should the book of Acts be read? And what’s at stake in how we answer that question?
The book of Acts is often treated as the story of Christianity’s break from Judaism: the moment when “the Way” replaces “the Jews,” and Judaism becomes a problem the gospel has moved beyond. But what if that assumption is misplaced?
In this episode of the Bridge Builders Forum Podcast, Ryan Lambert is joined by Dr. Jason Moraff, Chair of the Department of Theological Studies at The King’s University, to explore a different way of reading Acts—as a Jewish text, written from within the Judaism of its own time.
Drawing from his book, "Reading the Way, Paul, and 'The Jews' in Acts within Judaism", Dr. Moraff examines how Acts portrays “the Way,” the Jerusalem Temple, the apostle Paul, and the Jewish people—challenging readings that turn Acts into a story of replacement or supersession.
Together, they discuss:
What Luke means by “the Way,” and why it should be understood as a Jewish subgroup
How Temple critique functions within Judaism rather than against it
How Acts portrays Paul’s relationship to Torah and the Jewish people
Why Luke does not construct a “true Israel” over against a “false Israel”
How the ending of Acts (Acts 28) should be read responsibly
What this approach means for today’s Bible readers—Jewish and Christian alike
This is an in-depth, historically grounded conversation about Acts, Jewish–Christian relations, and why how we read Scripture matters.
Check out Jason's book at https://a.co/d/0k1oFvL
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