

The Book of Acts Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28	BIBLE STUDY ACTS – INTRODUCTION Acts is the second of a two-volume composition – a continuation of Luke’s gospel after Jesus ascends into heaven. Together, “Luke-Acts” comprises almost one quarter of the entire New Testament. Although Luke is never explicitly identified as being the author of “Luke-Acts”, tradition has always ascribed that designation to him, and even today almost all Biblical scholars still affirm this. As William Barclay noted in his Daily Study Bible commentary, in the ancient world it was a regular practice to attach books to famous names – no one thought it to be wrong. Luke, however, was never one of the “famous” figures of the early Church – and if he had not written “Luke-Acts”, no one would have attached his name to them. Luke was a Gentile; and he has the unique distinction of being the only New Testament writer who was not a Jew. By profession, he was a doctor – Paul refers to him as the “Beloved physician” in Col. 4:14. As was true with the gospel of Luke, Acts also is written to Theophilus (Acts 1:1; Lk. 1:3). “Theophilus” literally means “lover of God” – and scholars are divided as to whether this was an actual person or perhaps a title referring to anyone who might read this work. Most scholars believe that Luke’s gospel was written around 80 A.D. and that Acts was written around 85 A.D. – very possibly in Rome. Luke’s Historical Sources for Acts: For the first fifteen chapters, Luke had no personal knowledge of the events he was writing about. Unlike for his gospel, Luke did not have readily available sources such as the “Markan” or “Q” traditions to get his facts from. Instead he probably got his facts from the following sources: The records of local churches. They may never have been set down in writing, but the churches had their stories. In the first fifteen chapters, there are at least three local church records: The Jerusalem church (chapters 1-5, and 15-16) The church at Caesarea (8:26-40 and 9:31-10:48) The church at Antioch (11:19-30 and 12:25-14:28) Cycles of stories about great early church leaders – such as the Acts of Peter, the Acts of John, the Acts of Philip, and the Acts of Stephen. As William Barclay writes in his Daily Study Bible commentary, beyond a doubt Luke’s friendship with Paul would bring him into touch with all the great men of all the churches and all their stories would be at his disposal. From secular historians – such as Josephus. For chapters 16 through 28, Luke had personal knowledge of much of what he wrote about. As Barclay notes in his Daily Study Bible commentary: When we read Acts carefully we notice a strange thing. Most of the time Luke’s narrative is in the third person plural; but in certain passages it is in the third person plural and “they” becomes “we”. The “we” passages are as follows – Acts 16:10-17; 20:5-16; 21:1-18; 27:1-28:16. As Barclay writes, on all these occasions Luke must have been present. He must have kept a travel diary and in these passages we have eye-witness accounts. As for the times when he was not present, many were the hours he must have spent in prison with Paul and many were the stories Paul must have told him. Some Themes Emphasized by Luke: Luke wished to show the Roman authorities that Christianity was not a subversive sect. During the first few decades of its history, Christianity was regarded as a Jewish sect by Roman officials. This was helpful, because Judaism was a tolerated religion by the Romans. However, due to the evangelizing activity of Christians and in light of the fact that more and more Gentiles were embracing the faith, Roman attitudes began to change. Christianity increasingly was being seen as an illegal religion. Luke, therefore, wanted to emphasize that the Romans had nothing to fear from Christianity – that it did not in any way call for the overthrown of the Roman Empire. Luke also often seems to go out of his way to portray Roman authorities in a positive light (see the faith of the Roman centurion in Lk. 7:1-10; the rather positive portrayal of Pilate in Lk. 23:13-25; the Roman centurion as the first Gentile convert in Acts 10:1-8, 22-48; the positive portrayal of the Roman tribune Claudius Lysias who saved Paul’s life from Jewish conspirators in Acts. 23:16-35; etc.). Luke wished to support the claim that the Church was the true Israel. This is most clearly shown at the end of his work in Acts 28:23-28 – where Paul explains his evangelism to the Gentiles as being the result of the Jews rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. Luke was eager to stress that Christianity was a world religion that recognized no racial limitations. Examples of this include: Luke’s genealogy of Jesus (Lk. 3:23-38) went all the way back to Adam rather than just to Abraham as in Mt. 1:1-17); the prophet Simeon proclaiming the infant Jesus to be a “light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Lk. 2:32a); Jesus’ positive portrayal of Samaritans (Lk. 10:29-37 and 17:11-19); Peter’s statement to Cornelius that “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34-35); Paul’s statement of universal religion in his speech in Athens (Acts 17:26-28). Luke emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit. As compared to six references to the Spirit in Mark and twelve in Matthew, there are seventeen in the gospel of Luke and fifty-seven in Acts. Luke especially mentions the Spirit in the first two chapters of his gospel: the angel Gabriel informs Zechariah that his son John (the Baptist) would be “filled with the Holy Spirit” from before his birth (Lk. 1:15); and Mary is informed that “The Holy Spirit will come upon you…” (Lk. 1:35), and that the Holy Spirit rested upon the prophet Simeon (Lk. 2:25-26). And in the book of Acts, beginning with Pentecost, the Spirit is mentioned constantly! Indeed, Acts has often been called “the book of the Holy Spirit”. Luke emphasizes the prayer life of Jesus and in the early church. We note that in Luke’s gospel, his practice of prayer is what led the disciples to ask him to teach them to pray - and that is what led Jesus to teach them the “Lord’s Prayer.” In Acts, prayer is constantly emphasized before every major decision that the apostles make. Luke, more than any other New Testament writer, emphasizes the role of women in the gospel tradition and in the early Church. Examples in the gospel include his emphasis upon Mary the mother of Jesus; Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist; the prophetess Anna; his description of Mary Magadelene, Joanna, and Susanna and many other women as providers for Jesus (Lk. 8:1-3); as well as specifically mentioning the women who were the first witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection (Lk. 24:1-11). In Acts also, Luke often highlights the role of women – such as Tabitha (Dorcas) in Acts 9:35-41 and Lydia (Acts 16:13-15). Luke has a special concern for the *poor. In his gospel, Luke shows how John the Baptist taught that people should share their possessions with the needy; and Jesus in his version of the Beatitudes (Lk 6:20-26)* says that the poor (rather than the “poor in spirit”) and hungry (rather than “hunger and thirst for righteousness”) are blessed. In Acts, Luke also shows that the poor were provided for in the early Church (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32; 6:1). A Summary Observation: (from the New Oxford Study Bible) Although this book is called “The Acts of the Apostles”, it might also appropriately be entitled “The Acts of the Holy Spirit” – for the dominating theme is the power of the Spirit manifested in and through the members of the early church. But Luke also had an interest in history for its own sake and in the men and women of the story, in the details of lodging, entertainment, and travel, and all that constitutes local color. As a result his work entertains and pleases the reader while dealing with the spread of Christianity in selected portions of the Mediterranean world. From every point of view, the New Testament would be infinitely poorer without this first book of church history. -------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270 gkarres@pellachurch.net