Words and phrases for the church in the book of Acts
I have a personal copy of the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) it is The Mission of God Study Bible edition. This translation is quite enjoyable to read though it has already been updated as the Christian Standard Bible (CSB).
As I was reading the book of Acts I challenged myself to note down all the words and phrases that were used to describe the church or believers in the book. Here is the list that I came up with, one is welcome to tell me which words I have missed. The most number of occurrences were the disciples, the brothers, and the church.
Here's my list:
"those who accepted his message" Acts 2:41 (Peter's message)
"the believers" Acts 2:44; 15:5
"believers" Acts 5:14; 19:18; 28:14, 15
"those who believed in You" Acts 22:19
"their own people" Acts 2:23
"slaves" Acts 4:29
"the large group of those who believed" Acts 4:32
"the whole church" Acts 5:11; 15:22
"the church" Acts 8:1; 9:31; 11:22; 11:26; 12:1; 5; 13:1; 14:27; 15:2, 3, 4
"church" Acts 14:23
"the churches" 15:41
"the church" Acts 18:22, 20:17
"the church of God" Acts 20:28
"the number of the disciples" Acts 6:1
"the whole company of disciples" Acts 6:2
"those who were scattered" Acts 8:4 (because of persecution - Acts 8:1)
"those who had been scattered" Acts 11:19
"the disciples of the Lord" Acts 9:1
"the disciples" Acts 9:19; 26; 38; 11:26; 29; 13:52; 14:20, 22, 28; 15:10; 18:23, 27; 19:9; 20:1, 30; 21:16
"his disciples" Acts 9:25
"disciples" Acts 14:21; 19:1; 21:4
"the Way" Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22
"this Way" Acts 22:4
"Your saints" Acts 9:13
"the saints" Acts 26:10
"the saints" Acts 9:32; 41
"all who call on Your name" Acts 9:14
"those who call on this name" Acts 9:21
"the circumcised believers" Acts 10:45 (speaking of Jewish believers because before this event the first believers in Christ were all Jews)
"the brothers" Acts 11:1; 29; 12:17; 15:3, 22, 23, 32, 33, 36, 40; 16:2, 40; 17:14; 18:18, 27; 21:7
"your brothers" Acts 15:23
"Christians" Acts 11:26
"Christian" Acts 26:28
"many had assembled" Acts 11:12 (in Mary's house assembled and praying for Peter)
"we assembled to break bread" Acts 20:7
"we were assembled" Acts 20:8
"the flock" Acts 20:28 (2 times)
"all who are sanctified" Acts 20:32
"the sect of the Nazarenes" Acts 24:5
"sect" Acts 24:14;
"this sect" Acts 28:22
Some thoughts:
"Disciples" is a humbling phrase to use for Christians because it tells the hearer that this group of people are followers of their Guru/Master/Rabbi, the Lord Jesus Christ. They are disciples of a certain way of life not their own way of life. Their Teacher is the o
ne who leads by example, who sets the parameters, and who gives the definitions. The disciples are learners not perfected masters.
Brothers is an endearing term. I was touched, when this was used in Acts 15:23 in the letter to the Gentile believers. The apostles and the elders at Jerusalem embraced the Gentile believers by using the possessive "your brothers". People from different cultures, economic statuses, education levels and religious knowledge became brothers in Christ.
The church is the group of people that suffer for the Gospel and comfort each other. It is a community called to keep the teachings of the Lord Jesus (and the apostles); to proclaim the message of Jesus as a service to the world; to suffer for the Lord Jesus while serving the world, and to love each other while suffering.
The two times that the term Christian was used contrast each other somewhat. The first time to name the disciples in Acts 11:26; the second time was a rejection to become a disciple and derogatively used by King Agrippa in Acts 26:27-29.
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