Edinburgh Christology Conference 2002, Paper 1 Acts 4:12 and its First Century Setting Helen K Bond 'There is salvation in no one else. for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals hy which we must he saved' Introduction The New Testament is full of problematic passages; passages which, at face value. seem pointlessly restrictive or even morally dubious in our modern world. Paul. for example. advises the Corinthian Christians to remain single as he himself is single (I Cor 7.8)- yet few Christians feel obliged to follow the apostle's advice today. The author of I Timothy announces that women are to he saved through childbirth (I Tim 2.15) - a view which, if pressed, would cause childless women a great amount of hurt and anxiety. And Matthew has the entire Jewish people declare to Pilate: His blood he on us and on our children (Mt 27.25)- a verse which has heen taken all too literally over the years. with devastating consequences for generations of Jews. What do we do with passages like these? How do we make sense of verses which seem to go against everything whichjust. fair-minded. and neighbour- loving people hold dear? The hest way to make sense of difficult passages. I believe. is to read them in context. In an age when very few people sit down and read hihlical hooks from cover to cover. verses of scripture are all too often quoted out of context. In this way. the meaning intended hy the original author and understood hy the original readers is all too easily lost. By reading problematic passages in context. we can keep a sense of the larger picture; we can see the real issues and avoid being hogged down hy cultural and historical expressions. Thl'<>lnU:y '" Sl'<otlund _jw i