Peter’s Escape from Prison Essay

12 Acts: 1-18 narrates the story of the unsuccessful conviction of Peter, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. The verse begins when King Herod arrested several people who belonged to the church, including James, the brother of John, to be executed. When Herod heard that this apprehension of church members appealed to the Jews, he then ordered for Peter to be arrested. Peter’s arrest coincided with the feast of the Unleavened Bread. Before the dawn of his execution, Peter was visited by an angel of the Lord and the angel instructed Peter to follow. As Peter did so, the angel suddenly disappeared as they reached the city gates. Peter contemplated for a moment and finally decided to visit Mary, mother of John. Rhoda, Mary’s servant, ran to the door and was so overjoyed that she did not let Peter in. Rhoda exclaimed that Peter is back while the crowd inside the house exclaimed that Rhoda must be out of her mind. Peter kept knocking until they finally opened the gate. When they did, they were astonished with Peter’s presence and Peter told them how the Lord had brought him out of prison. He also instructed to tell James and his brothers of his arrival. He left after doing so. Meanwhile, Herod searched for Peter and had the guards guarding Peter executed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are several themes that are present in the verse. One of which is the historicity of the passage, as it refers to several characters that did exist during that time. Herod Agrippa I is the Herod mentioned in Acts 12; completely unrelated to the other popular Herod who ruled Judea during the time of Jesus’ birth. However, their essence as biblical characters remains similar, as they both persecute followers of Christ, with the latter persecuting Jesus himself. The philosophical theme of this passage is with the experience of reality, theistically and empirically. The passage can be interpreted in many ways, with different explanations succeeding it. If viewed theistically, the questions lies with the moral dilemma of the household of Mary. As the servant Rhoda answers the door, she is overjoyed to see Peter, but fails to open the door. The supposed crowd inside the house reply dubiously and does not believe Rhoda entirely until they have seen Peter himself. When they did see Peter, they were astonished; an expression of shock similar to another passage in the bible where Jesus appears in front of his apostles. Their expression was of disbelief and the men needed proof in order to accept his existence. Peter’s experience being held captive furthered his faith with God as he somehow knew that he was going to escape the conviction of Herod. This faith does not require prior knowledge or experience to affirm God’s help. It was immediately represented by the angel who quietly escorted Peter out of prison.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Empirically speaking, the question on the notion of the angel who helped Peter escaped remains dubious, since Peter himself did not know if the angel was real. He merely assumed that he was having a hallucination. It explains the problem between faith and experience. Peter, already experiencing the phenomenon, still refuses to accept reality. The theme also centers on the distinction between faith and experience. The crowd inside Mary’s house remain dubious of Peter, just as the apostles were dubious in Jesus’ presence. Faith entails a belief without any evidence or confirmation of the subject’s experience. There is no such thing as experiential faith, as espoused by the crowd and somehow, Peter. Peter reflected for a moment after escaping prison that he knows without a doubt that God has helped him. Meaning that some small portion of his faith was garbled by doubt but nevertheless chose to remain faithful.