Clint Arnold points out in his Acts commentary that the early community of believers in Acts 2L42-47 was characterized by four types of activities. Acts 2:42 says that the believers were devoted to these four activities. In Acts 4:43-5:16, Luke describes the community as sharing all their possessions. The verb translatioend “devoted themselves” in Acts 2:42 (προσκαρτερέω) has the idea of being busy with something, or even “to persist” (BDAG). The word appears twice in this paragraph, in verse 46, the community is daily worshiping in the temple and sharing meals together.
First, they devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles (διδαχή). This instruction is for new converts who may not have heard Jesus teach. The apostles are witnesses who pass along the things they have seen and heard. It is entirely possible that the apostles had a common set of instructions that they regularly passed along to new converts. If this is the case, then there was a basic body of tradition within months of Jesus’s death that could be called the “teaching of the apostles.”
Second, they devoted themselves to fellowship (κοινωνία). Since this word conveys the idea of sharing in common, this is likely an allusion to the communal life described in the next verses (Fitzmyer, Acts, 269). At the very least, this includes alms and care for the poor. I would suggest that many of those who needed assistance were Diaspora pilgrims who accepted the message of Jesus and remained in Jerusalem rather than return home after Pentecost.
Third, they devoted themselves to “breaking of bread.” While this phrase can be used to share a meal together, it is likely that Luke is describing the community as celebrating some form of communion. In Luke 21:19, the same words are used as Jesus takes the bread and breaks it. In Luke 24:35, it is used to describe the resurrected Jesus breaking bread, as two disciples realized who he was. I think that Jesus’ practice of common meals was the foundation for this practice — they all ate and drank together as one group.
Fourth, they devoted themselves to prayers. Since the Greek is plural, this is plausibly a reference to daily prayers in the Temple. It was not unusual for Jewish men to go to the Temple several times a day to pray, so the community continued to worship there regularly. In fact, Acts 2:46 indicates that the disciples met in both private homes and in the Temple. This likely put them into contact with other observant Jews who would then be introduced to Jesus as the Messiah.
Since a major interest in this series of studies is how to “apply” the book of Acts, it is critical to ask if Luke is describing an ideal Christian community or the specific community in Jerusalem. While it is easy to see these four elements as generic components of Christian community everywhere, other elements in this paragraph do not seem to be found elsewhere. I will come back to this later, but for now, note that the community sold property, pooled resources, and distributed these funds to the poor. Giving to the poor is a standard description of the Christian community, but “living in common” only appears here in Acts 2. There is nothing that makes me think the Antioch church was pooling resources, nor does Paul give any such instruction to his churches.
The fact that these earliest believers are devoted to these activities daily is also unique in the apostolic period. There is no other group of believers who appear to have left their jobs to devote themselves to spiritual activity. In 1-2 Thessalonians, Paul seems to instruct the members of the church not to retire from daily life and to be constantly devoted to ministry. 2 Thess 3:11-12 specifically tells people to go out and get jobs so that they are not a burden.
What is the reason Christians are quick to apply Acts 2:42 but not Acts 2:43 (miracles) or 2:44-45 (communal living)? What is the difference between what is happening in Acts 2 and 2 Thessalonians 3?