Introduction to Acts

Name

The title “Acts” comes from the book’s content: a historical narrative of the acts of certain apostles in the early church. The book of Acts covers about a 30-year period of history of the early church from A.D. 30-63.

Author

Strict speaking, the book of Acts is anonymous because the author is not specifically named. However, the author’s traditional consensus is Luke, the same person who wrote the Gospel of Luke.

Early church documents attest to Luke as the author. Early church fathers, including Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Origen, all name Luke as the author of Acts. Later church historians, Eusebius and Jerome, also attest to Lukan authorship.

Internal evidence also points to Luke as the author of Acts. The writing style is similar, as are a number of themes. There are several “we” passages 16:10-17; 20:5–21:18; and 27:1-28:16, in which the author provides a narrative in first person plural (we) indicating the author was present during the events described. Luke is the one person who best fits these situations.

Genre

History

Literary Form

Biographical narrative

Time Frame

There are two opinions regarding the date for the writing of the book of Acts.

• One view suggests the book was written between A.D. 70-80. This would have meant that Luke would have likely had Mark’s gospel available to him.
• The second view, which I support, suggests the book of Acts was written between A.D. 60-62. This is shortly after the period of history recorded in the book and would have been during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome. The early date is supported by the fact that Luke did not record any of Christians’ persecution that occurred between A.D. 63-70.

Emphasis

The emphasis of the book of Acts is on the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of apostles and others who devoted themselves to spreading the Gospel as Jesus had commanded during the early years of the church.

Outline

1. The church in Jerusalem (1:1-6:7)
   • The empowerment of the chosen (1:1-2:47)
   • The expansion in Jerusalem 3:1-6:7)
2. The church  in Judea and Samaria (6:8-9:31)
   • Stephen (6:8-8:1a)
   • Philip (8:1b-40)
   • Saul/Paul (9:1-31)
3. The church goes to the ends of the earth (:32-28:31)
   • Antioch (9:32-12:24)
   • Asia Minor (12:25-16:5)
   • Aegean (16:6-19:20
   • Rome (19:21-28:31)