Warum mussten Hananias und Saphira sterben?

Abstract

The narrative of Ananias and Saphira always presented interpreters of Acts with enormous difficulties. Here it is argued that the narrative makes sense in the recounting of the „golden age“ of the Christian community in Jerusalem as a judicial proceeding contrasting the two trials of the apostles before the Jewish leaders of the temple. The narrative functions as an argument for the substitution of the judicial authority of the temple leaders through the community lead by the apostles and prepares for the turn towards the Gentiles later in Acts.