A Closer Look at the Book of Acts

Who is the author?

• It has previously been determined that the Book of Acts was written by Luke.

• Acts is intended to be the second part of a so called two-part book, the first of the two parts being the Gospel of Luke. The book of Acts begins with a summary of Luke.

• Lukan authorship of the Book of Acts explains the connection between it and the Gospel of Luke. It also provides details Luke included about the church in Antioch, the city which he hailed from.

First Source

• The Book of Acts is a sequel to Luke’s Gospel, continuing his story of Jesus, and how he built the church. Luke is credited with the authorship of Acts because he was a Greek and was the only Gentile Christian writer of the New Testament.

• It is know that Luke was a faithful companion and friend of Paul. In later chapters of Acts, the writer uses “we” when talking about more than one person, indicating that he was present with Paul.

• Luke wasn’t named in the Book of Acts as the writer; however he was credited with authorship of the book as early as the 2nd century A.D.

Second Source

• It is confirmed that Luke was the author of the Book of Acts; the tone of Acts is very similar to that of Luke. Certain themes left out in Luke are included in Acts by design to provide closure. (Acts 6)

• The prologue to Luke-Acts provides for Luke to have participated in some of the events of Acts, as described in Luke 1:3.

• Both Acts and Luke refer to Theophilus at some point and the later chapters of Acts speak of the former Luke.

• The earliest of the external testimonies appears in the Muratorian Canon (c. a.d. 170) where a statement is made that Luke was the author of both the “Acts of the Apostles” and the third Gospel.

What is the date of the original writing?

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...• The Book of Acts ends with the words “this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; and they will listen”. This statement ends the book with a feeling of abrupt failure for the Jews and helps support the concept that Luke wrote Acts to record the downfall of Israel.

Source

• The Book of Acts has been broken into four different purposes, all of which have been considered main purposes of the book. These four purposes include:

1. To present a history

2. To give a defense (Acts 4:8-12, 25:8-11)

3. To provide a guide

4. To depict the triumph of Christianity

• Acts helps show how the early church coped with the Roman government, along with pagan and Jewish thought.

• It is apparent that Luke had faith the church would continue on for some time. This makes it easy to believe that as long as the church thrives on this earth, Acts will be one of its major guides.