Acts: Lesson 14

Study Guide Questions for Ch. 27-28

If you are looking for the beginning of this study you can start HERE with the brief introduction. At the bottom of that introduction will be the links to each section of the study guide as it becomes available. For this study the English Standard Version is the translation that is being utilized and you can read it online HERE or pick up the copy of your choice from Amazon or your local book store. I find THIS EDITION to be useful for deeper study and annotation.

Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Despair, Hope, Deception, Faith, Prudence, Friendship, Hospitality, Ignorance, Faith vs. Unbelief, Providence

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. How did Centurion Julius show kindness to Paul?

2. What advice did Paul give to the Centurion (which he ignored)?

3. What trouble did their ship run into on their voyage?

4. What steps did the crew of the ship take to increase their chances of survival?

5. Who appeared to Paul on the ship and what did he tell him?

6. How many days and nights did the crew and passengers of the ship go without eating anything?

7. What did the soldiers plan to do with the prisoners (which the centurion prevented)?

8. What did the people of Malta think about Paul at first? What did they think later?

9. What was Paul “allowed” to do once they reached Rome?

10. With whom did Paul meet in Rome “three days” after arriving there and what was the result?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. Why did Julius pay more attention to the pilot and the owner of the ship than he did to Paul who advised him not to set sail in the current weather?

2. Why did the crew “jettison the cargo” and throw “the ship's tackle overboard”? How was this supposed to be helpful?

3. Why did Paul say, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved”? Why was it so necessary that they stay?

4. Why did Centurion Julius want to save Paul?

5. Why did the people of Malta think Paul must be a god?

6. Why might the Jews in Rome have not heard anything about Paul?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. Offer a definition of the concept of “providence.” What are  the various ways we can see God’s providence in this present reading?

2. The text tells us that some of the Jewish Romans were “convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved”? Given all that you’ve read in the book of Acts, what do you think makes some people believe while others don't? Explain and defend your answer carefully.

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Acts 1:8 (again) and then consider all the places to which the gospel traveled throughout the book of Acts and also where the book of Acts concludes. What connection might we make between Jesus’ words and the conclusion of this book?