Czas odpoczynku w Chrystusie, obecnym w Kościele. Tradycja i redakcja Dz 3,19–21

Abstract

subject of this article is the history of redaction and theological interpretation of a passage from the Acts of the Apostles which is a part of St. Peter’s second missionary speech. In the main part of his speech, St. Peter calls his listeners to repent and to do penance. The penance should be done in the imminent perspective of the Lord’s Day. It should be noted that this passage is extremely important for the correct understanding of the Christology of the nascent Church. Primarily, it is important for the accurate understanding of the development of eschatological thought of the first century-Christianity. This passage announces the second coming of Christ, whom the “heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21). Particularly, the subject of this article is the expression from the Acts of the Apostles 3:20, speaking about the “days of refreshing” or “refresh time”. That days should be expected by the Church and they will last until the second coming of Jesus Christ. The expression is so unique that there is no analogical one in the texts of the New Testament neither in the intertestamental Jewish literature. Moreover, the expression is crucial for correct understanding of the Christian eschatology. By its content the expression is connected with the larger topic, namely, with the issue of “the renewal of everything ( apokatastasis ) in Christ”.