The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

77 The contribution of the Stephen incident is therefore not difficult to understand. It plays an essential part of the story which Luke would communicate about the triumphant spread of the Gospel in the midst of persecution. As a result of Stephen' s death centrifugal forces are set in motion which result in the first major advance of the Gospel away from Jerusalem and Judea into Samaria. Essential to understand , however, is that the message is spread but not changed. Though Stephen did accuse his accusers of rejecting God he never taught that God had rejected them or spoke of any Gentile mission . That is the territory of later Pauline theology and is best left in its own chronological and theological setting . Acts 10:1- 11:18, Cornelius The critical importance of the Cornelius episode is evident from its length , location and theme . Its sixty-six verses make it the longest narrative in the book. 69 The main geographical location of the episode is Caesarea, the seat of Roman power in the land . The spread of the gospel there is a an important symbol pointing toward the geographical advance of the gospel from Jerusalem toward the "ends of the earth" (1: 8; 11: 19 ff .). Together with Apostolic Decree (Acts 15) it is the most comprehensive statement regarding the ocial and religiou dilemmas encountered as the Mes ianic movement began to embrace both Jew and Gentile . xactly what Luke i affirming about tho e dilemma , howe er, 1 riti al t under tanding the me age of the book. All interpreter would agree that the door to the G ntil m1 1 n 1 pi d . What i now op n to qu tion, how ver, i th pla of I r l in thi n ment. 70 Doe the J i h M 1am mo m nt impl nd dir ti mbr ntil r i th r 69 J hn H lli tt , "H u h ld nd M l u -A t , ., Btblt al 111 olog Bulletm 1 ( mpl Purit : R ph t1 n P tt rn m 1 1 70 "'1h r 1 n qu ti n ch t it o d n imp rt nt m t n m th dmi 1 n f m