Acts: Lesson 4

Study Guide Questions for Ch. 7-8

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)

Unbelief, Pride, Needing a Guide, Despotism, Providence, Faith

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What covenant promises did God give to Abraham?

2. What did the “patriarchs” do because they were “jealous”?

3. In what manner was Moses formally educated according to Stephen?

4. What caused Moses to flee from Egypt?

5. In what way did God appear to Moses and speak to him?

6. What did Moses say “God will raise up”?

7. What did God give the stubborn and rebellious Israelites “over to worship”?

8. What did the people listening to Stephen do when he had finished giving his speech?

9. What was Saul doing to the church?

10. What had Simon been famous for prior to Philip coming and preaching the gospel in Samaria?

11. What was the Ethiopian Eunuch doing when Philip caught up with him?

12. What happened to Philp after he baptized the Ethiopian Eunuch?

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

1. Why did Stephen spend so much time retelling the story of the patriarchs and Moses? What was his purpose in telling this familiar story to the people?

2. What are the three divisions of Moses’ life, how are they different from one another, and why do you think God led Moses through each of those three phases?

3. What does it mean when it says that “God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven”? What is the “host of heaven”?

4. Why would Stephen ask the Lord to “not hold this sin against them” as they are putting him to death? Shouldn’t murderers be held accountable?

5. The term “simony” refers to the practice of purchasing an office/position within the church (e.g. Bishop, Cardinal, etc.). In light of what we have read here in Acts, why might this be the name given to that practice and what ought we to think of it?

6. Why would an Ethiopian official have been worshiping in Jerusalem? What does this indicate about the spread of the Jewish faith?

7. What might we infer about the practice of baptism from the Ethiopian’s baptism story?

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

1. Was it prudent for Stephen to call the people listening to him “stiff-necked”? Are there times when it is appropriate to say offensive things to people? Explain your answer carefully.

2. In the end, do you think Simon the sorcerer became a true follower of Christ? Why or why not?

3. How is the story about Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch a great example of God’s providence?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. According to Stephen’s speech one of the false gods that Israel followed after, in rebellion against Yahweh, is Moloch (Molech being an alternate spelling). Read Leviticus 20:1-5 and state what heinous thing the worshipers of this false god would do as part of his worship? 

2. The Ethiopian Eunuch was baptized immediately after his conversation with Philip. Read Romans 6:1-4. In light of this passage, why is baptism so important?