Luke–Acts —albeit a narrative—fi rm enough a foundation for Pentecostals
to base their whole hermeneutical approach? The approach adopted by
the writer of Luke–Acts was not unknown to the early church community.
This approach to interpreting Scripture in the light of experience is actu-
ally refl ected in earlier traditions of Scripture from the Old Testament,
including Isaiah 56:1–8.
A text within the Old Testament corpus that clearly anticipates the
inclusion of the gentiles, the topic debated by the Council of Jerusalem
(Acts 15:1–29), is Isaiah 56:1–8. Similar to Acts 15, the purpose of this
text was to address a theological and ethical matter, that is, to resolve
a problem within the community that has theological and ethical impli-
cations. This passage from Isaiah presents a concern raised by, or on
behalf of, two minority groups of the post-exilic Judah community: for-
eigners 17 and eunuchs. From the text, it appears that these two groups
were previously deliberately excluded by the Torah from the community
of worship due, most likely, to an injunction outlined in the text of the
Deuteronomist. 18 According to the Torah tradition from Deuteronomy
23:2–9, no foreigner was to be admitted to the worshipping community.
Similarly, according to a reading of Deuteronomy 23:1, eunuchs were also
disqualifi ed from entering the assembly of Yahweh. However, in this post-
exilic context addressed in Isaiah 56, the inclusion of these two groups was
clearly a matter of dispute. While the text only provides the response of
the prophet, they are clearly providing a resolution to confl icts regarding
ethical and theological issues faced by the community.
The situation of this confl ict appears to be an application made by
the gentile and eunuch minorities to be admitted to the worshipping
community, but who feared and even anticipated the rejection of their
application. 19 Like the Council of Jerusalem, it is the experience of the
community that initiated the debate, albeit instigated by a negative expe-
rience of exclusion rather than inclusion. Yet, the foreigner and eunuch
have experienced something of the grace of God by being joined to the
Lord, despite somehow being separated from God’s people (Isaiah 56:3).
Added to the controversy is the suggestion that the eunuchs were poten-
tially those that had previously compromised their faith in their quest
for promotion within the pagan empires of which they were previously
located. Brueggemann suggests that this group may have included those
that voluntarily underwent genital mutilation in order to qualify for impe-
rial service. 20 Even prior to the exile, Jeremiah described the Babylonians
as cruel and without mercy (Jeremiah 6:23). 21 However, for whatever rea-
WHEN THE SPIRIT TRUMPS TRADITION: A PENTECOSTAL READING OF ISAIAH... 149