The Triumph of Christianity
“As for the triumph of Christianity, no student of civilization will ever underestimate its importance. Its victory over paganism was the purest ever won. For it was won by witnessing and enduring, by loving and suffering, by pouring out innocent blood. Conjecture loses itself in attempting to explain the 'why' and the 'how.' It was won by weak men and women, slaves often, and people of no social standing, but it was won against all the power and intellectual pride and prejudice of the civilized world.”
William Stearns Davis, Readings in Ancient History: Rome and the West
The Current Landscape: The Neo-Pagan Shift
The Acts 2020 Project operates on the premise that the Western world has moved into a "Neo-Pagan" era. This is not a "pre-Christian" world, but a "post-Christian" one that has intentionally abandoned its Christian memory.
The Parallel: Modern secular skepticism, naturalistic mockery, and pluralistic confusion are identical to the environment Peter, Paul and other followers of “The Way” faced in the Roman Empire.
The Opportunity: Because the landscape has returned to 1st-century conditions, the Apostolic strategies found in the Book of Acts are effective tools for engaging our secular friends, relatives, and colleagues. While we might not have the apostle’s ability to perform “signs, wonders and miracles” today, we all have an essential resource not available in Apostolic times - the written word of God. And there is no one more capable of guiding us to its meaning and life application than Dr. John MacArthur. While many believers will not be supporters of some of Dr. MacArthur’s theology, we believe everyone can benefit from his exhaustive research.
The Acts 2020 Project Mission
The Acts 2020 Project is not just a website. It is an investigative portal and tactical resource for making disciples. We want you to do more than just read what we write. We want you to engage with us to learn. Then we want you to use what you’ve learned by engaging with our increasingly “neo-pagan” culture.
While traditional studies on the Book of Acts too often focus on history (the "What happened" in the early Church), this project examines the "Why" and the "How." We focus on specific evidence from Acts that equips us for productive conversations with 21st-century “neo-pagans.” By examining decades of exhaustive research from Dr. MacArthur using modern “search and synthesis” technology, we provide a tactical manual for today’s disciple.
The Forensic Standard
To navigate in a culture of subjective "truths," we believe it is important to apply what we call a “Forensic Standard” to our study of the Word. While we realize “forensic” is not a biblical or theological term and can be somewhat jarring to pastors and scholars, we ask your indulgence as we apply it here. We believe the word helps explain our “examination of the evidence” approach through a modern term (CSI / Crime Scene Investigation) that disciples will understand.
Forensic [fə-rĕn-sĭk]: Relating to the application of scientific methods and techniques to the investigation of facts for a court of law.
We do not treat the Book of Acts as merely ancient "religious literature" that has little application in our modern world. Instead, we treat it respectfully as a “Forensic Record” that can guide humanity today. When Peter and Paul (and the many believers who followed over Christianity’s first 3 centuries) confronted the Roman world, they didn’t offer "spiritual feelings"; they presented Infallible Proofs - tekmērion (τεκμήριον).
They appealed to physical locations, forensic facts (like the Empty Tomb), and eyewitness testimony. Our methodology follows this same rigor. We examine (sometimes we use another non-biblical term “audit”) the historical evidence from the 1st Century to build a logical, evidence-based explanation of truth for application in our 21st Century secular society.
The Investigative Methodology
The Acts 2020 Project utilizes a unique “7 Lenses of Examination” framework to help students understand the Book of Acts thoroughly. Each of our portal pages encourages you to engage… to "Ask John". Our Interactive Research Hub (based on his research) will give you detailed answers to your questions. To learn how to use this remarkable resource, go to the Practice Lab.
Finally, we need to emphasize that the developer of the Acts 2020 Project is not a trained theologian. He’s a former Episcopalian and retired entrepreneur whose professors at Harvard Business School never taught cases from the Bible. Still, while we may employ some “strategy and structure” approaches, we believe all Christians at every level of sanctification will find this portal offers a unique and refreshing education in which Dr. MacArthur assures theological accuracy.