(Written by Brian)

I was doing some additional reading for my New Testament lesson this Sunday morning, and found this introduction to the Book of Acts by Bruce R. McConkie, calling Acts a book for weak mortals.  How fortunate; this is just the book that I need!

“… Acts is more than a book of spiritual superlatives; it is also an account of righteous men and their weaknesses and bickerings, their jealousies and foibles, their failures and successes.

“The meridian saints are not perfect. Paul contends with Silas, corrects Peter, and rejects Mark as a missionary companion. And then with that dogged determination – without which he could not have withstood the Ephesians nor spoken boldly to Felix and Agrippa – he goes to Jerusalem, to bonds and imprisonment, in spite of the prophetic counsel relative to the trials ahead. James, the Lord’s brother, temporizes on keeping the Law of Moses, even a quarter of a century after that law was fulfilled, and hosts of Jewish converts mingle Mosaic practices with the newly found freedom of the gospel. All this is recorded by Luke, the faithful scribe.

“Thus Acts is a book for weak mortals. It shows the spiritual heights they can ascend – imperfect, jealous, and stubborn though they may be…” ~ Bruce R. McConkie