Acts 29

Since finishing reading the Bible, I've been slowly trying to also read the apocrypha, but then Acts chapter 29 comes along and makes a mockery of the whole idea.

In fairness, there don't seem to be many people who consider it to be genuine, and having just read it myself, I have to unhesitatingly agree.

After all the build-up to Paul's long drawn-out journey under guard to await trial in Rome, this next chapter begins with him simply leaving. No miraculous angel-assisted escape, no appealing to Caesar, not even any preaching of the gospel there, he just leaves. No, that doesn't run on at all.

Heck, take a read of verse one for yourself…

"And Paul, full of the blessings of Christ, and abounding in the spirit, departed out of Rome, determining to go into Spain, for he had a long time proposed to journey thitherward, and was minded also to go from thence to Britain."

- Acts 29:1

Yes, then he goes to Britain, specifically to Sandwich and Ludgate Hill. If that sounds parodic to you, and jokes about oysters and travelcards are already occurring to you, then remember that those are the modern translation names for those stops, I mean places.

Along the way, everyone is nice to him, no-one disagrees with him, and even God shows up to helpfully wrap-up what ultimately became of Pontius Pilate. There's also a miracle in verse 21 in which an earthquake reforms the waters of the lake…

"like unto the Son of Man hanging in an agony upon the Cross."

That doesn't sound like a Biblical miracle at all. With respect, that sounds more like catholicism.

I'm all for fan-fiction, but if the style is going to change so drastically, then there needs to be some acknowledgement and hopefully explanation for this. There are enough people who divorce the opening chapters of Genesis from the rest of it on these grounds as it is.

Acts chapter 29? I'm tempted to have a go at writing it myself, if only to bridge into this as some sort of additional page by Marvel UK.