AUTHOR

The book of Acts stands at the heart of the New Testament. Rich in detail, it bridges the gap between the four Gospel accounts and the Epistles that follow. In this long book Luke recounted the history of the growth of the early church, tracing events from Jesus’s ascension to the conversion of Paul to the spread of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean region. The book provides an exciting glimpse into the ups and downs, setbacks and struggles faced by the first followers of Christ as they obediently took the message of salvation to the ends of the earth. The many miracles provide solid evidence for God’s blessing on their work and the power of his divine plan. Whatever human obstacles may stand in the way, nothing can stop the will of God.

Although the book is technically anonymous, strong evidence points to Luke as the author. Tradition holds that he wrote Acts as a sequel to his Gospel and that the two should be read together. Indeed many scholars refer to Luke’s work as a single entity: Luke-Acts. This is supported by the opening paragraph of Acts, where the author refers to a “first narrative” written to Theophilus, presumed to be Luke’s Gospel (see Lk 1:1-4). Although some of the material in Acts was no doubt collected from different sources by Luke, much of the material comes from his own experiences traveling with Paul (Col 4:14; 2Tm 4:11; Phm 24). Indeed Irenaeus (AD 130–200) was the first to point out the many instances in Acts where the point of view changes from “he/they” to “we,” implying that the author himself was there with Paul during those periods. These are commonly referred to now as the “we” passages (Ac 16:10-17; 20:5-15; 21:1-18; 27:1-29; 28:1-16). Although some critical scholars have argued that Acts was not written by Luke and was instead a second-century fabrication intended to unite rival factions of Gentiles and Jews in the early church, the overwhelming body of evidence supports Lukan authorship.

The choice of when we date the book is largely dependent on who we think wrote it. Some critical scholars claim it wasn’t written until AD 125–130, while others date it to AD 80–90. The strongest evidence however dates Acts to the early 60s. The book closes with Paul in prison in Rome (Ac 28:30-31). Given that Luke mentioned several key martyrs in early Christianity, such as Stephen and James, it would be highly unlikely for him to have omitted Paul’s martyrdom, which most likely happened in AD 63 or 64.

CLASSIFYING THE BOOK OF ACTS

Acts was clearly written in a different style than that of the Gospels, and yet it doesn’t fit into the genre of epistle either. How, then, should we classify it? The recounting of various adventures, escapes, and miracles is reminiscent of ancient fictional stories. The scientific details of healings resemble those in scientific treatises. The details about all the people read like a biography. However, the most likely option for the genre of this book is a historical account. Luke recorded eyewitness accounts of real events, real people, and real miracles. It is a vivid account of the power of God at work in the hearts, minds, and lives of the first followers of Christ.