This paper first presents Luke’s use of “the Way” as deriving from the book of Proverbs, dismantling previous suggestions of the referent as the Dead Sea Scrolls and even the book of Isaiah. Second, the paper discusses how “the Way” is used polemically, utilizing insider and outsider language. In a sense, Luke uses “the Way” as an honorific, i.e., as a name bequeathed upon Jesus followers that can be used as a descriptor or in place of a proper name (e.g., True Followers or Christians).
The study uses two literary methods (i.e., Beale’s and Freedman’s). The two distinct literary methods are used to reinforce the weaknesses identified in the other. Although the heart of the research focuses on establishing Proverb’s use of “the Way” as the ultimate referent of Acts (i.e., vv. 9:2; 13:10; 14:16; 16:17; 18:25-26; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22), this paper focuses on the implications of Proverbs as the referent for evangelism. Luke intended his use of “the Way” in Acts to be a proper understanding of God’s chosen people, not an affront to the Jewish people. The importance for the Church today is a biblical vision towards image bearers that doesn’t blind one to ethnicity while evangelizing but blinds one’s heart toward sinful notions of status associated with ethnicity.