‘Loosening the pangs of death’ (Acts 2:24) : dying and death, preservation from death and its defeat in the Book of Acts

Abstract

This article examines the many occurrences of dying and death in the Acts of the Apostles. While Acts often refers to the death and resurrection of Jesus, it also speaks of the resurrection of the dead in general, of death as a form of divine judgement, of the prospect of death, and the actual deaths of Christ-believers, and other forms and instances of natural and violent dying and death. While there are instances of death or references to it in so many chapters, the emphasis in Acts lies on different divine and human ways of being saved from death or its threat, and on the resurrection of the dead. Fully acknowledging the reality and tragedy of death, Acts proclaims a message of life and salvation.