There are several theories as to why there are no more paragraph marks (pilcrows) in the King James Bible after Acts 20:36. Did the typesetters just run out of pilcrows at Acts 20:36? Did the translators decide that the paragraph marks were not necessary for the remainder of the Bible? Was God supernaturally involved in there being no more pilcrows after Acts 20:36? Since I can't speak for the King James translators or for God, then I can not give a dogmatic answer to these questions. I have read a few King James Bible believers that say something to the effect that God prevented more pilcrows from being used after Acts 20:36 to signify that doctrine is "fixed" at this point for the "church age." I too am a King James Bible believer, but I can't dogmatically state this is the reason for no more pilcrows, but it is an interesting idea and one I am tempted to embrace.
If you have read some of my past blog posts, then you know I take an "Acts 20" position in contrast to the Acts 2, Mid Acts, and Acts 28 Dispensational positions. If doctrine is fixed at Acts 20, then would it not make sense to take the "Acts 20" position? My Acts 20 position in summary is Paul received a different gospel for the uncircumcision (Gentiles) as compared to the gospel of the circumcision during the Acts period. Paul even describes this as being a time called the Dispensation of the Gospel (1 Cor 9:17). I believe Israel still had a chance of repenting of their unbelief and receiving the Kingdom all the way through the book of Acts (see Rom 11:23). Paul would go to the Jew first with the message of what the Messiah accomplished on the cross and he held out hope for the national salvation of Israel and the setting up of the Kingdom all the way through the Acts period. His prayer was, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved" (Romans 10:1). During Acts Paul went to the Jew first with this message, and when they rejected it he would then go to the Gentiles with the gospel of the uncircumcsion. The gospel of the uncircumcision was the grace message of the cross for salvation, without having to keep the Law, but with the caveat that Gentiles had to observe a diet not offensive to the Jews (see Acts 15-16:4). The Gentiles saved during the Acts period were graffed into Israel (Rom 11:1-24) and became "one body" with the saved Jews (1 Cor 12:13). The saved Jews continued in their ceremonial observances of the Law, not for salvation, but for memorials which would be done in the Millennial Temple described in Ezekiel 40-48. Remember if Israel had received their Messiah during the first century, then Millennial Kingdom would have also been setup during the first century and the saved Jews and the graffed in Gentiles would have enjoyed the Millennial Kingdom together as prophesied in the Old Testament prophets.
At Acts 20 Paul's Acts ministry to the Jew first in the synagogues ends. It is also about this same time Paul writes the book of Romans and mentions the "mystery" for the first time (Rom 16:25), but he gives no details of what it entails until his prison epistles. The reason no details of the mystery are given in Romans is because the nation of Israel has to reject one final time the Kingdom offer in Acts 28 before the Dispensation of the Mystery (Col 1:25-26) can begin. In Acts 20, with the last pilcrow, Paul gives a message is to the Ephesians. Guess where Paul gives the details of the Dispensation of the Mystery? The prison Epistle to the Ephesians after the Acts period is over! It is in Ephesians 2:19 that the Gentiles are said to be fellow citizens with the believing Jews. It is in Ephesians 3:6 that the Gentiles are said to be fellowheirs with believing Jews. The mystery was not just being in "one body" which was true during the Acts period. The Dispensation of the Mystery made Gentiles "equals." A "fellow" is an equal. A fellow citizen has no more rights or privileges than another citizen. During the Acts period the Gentiles were in "one body," but the Jews were first and had special privileges the Gentiles did not have. The Gentiles were not equal to the Jews during the Acts period. Also with the revelation of the mystery the Gentiles were no longer required to worry about offending the Jews with their diet (see Col 2:16). With Israel being pronounced in judicial blindness at Acts 28, the details of the Mystery are finally given in the prison epistles of Ephesians and Colossians. I don't believe a new body begins at Acts 28 like some teach, but I believe the existing "one body" of saved Jews and Gentiles from the Acts period come under a new dispensation called the Mystery.
I don't know how much stock we can put in definitions given by AI, but AI describes the pilcrow as being "used to signify a change in actions or a transition to a new event." A change to a new event is certainly on the horizon at Acts 20:36. During the time of Acts 20 Paul wrote the last pre-prison epistle, Romans, and mentions the "Mystery" without giving the details of what it meant. Shortly after Acts 20 Israel will reject the gospel one last time, and with that Paul reveals the new dispensational "rules" of the mystery. For me the Acts 20 Dispensational Position is much more consistent than the Acts 2 and Mid Acts positions in trying to reconcile what is said in the book of Acts and the pre-Acts 28 Epistles of Paul. The Acts 20 position also provides a separation from the Acts 28 Dispensatonalists of which some fall into extreme positions such as soul sleep, rejecting the doctrine of hell, denying the Trinity, and discounting the importance of a local church.
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