The following is the results of your search for Acts of the Apostles.
Acts of the Apostles: The title now given to the fifth and last of the historical books of
the New Testament. The author styles it a "treatise"
(Acts 1:1) It was
early called "The Acts," "The Gospel of the Holy Ghost," and "The
Gospel of the Resurrection." It contains properly no account of any of
the apostles except Peter and Paul. John is noticed only three times;
and all that is recorded of James, the son of Zebedee, is his execution
by Herod. It is properly therefore not the history of the "Acts of the
Apostles," a title which was given to the book at a later date, but of
"Acts of Apostles," or more correctly, of "Some Acts of Certain
Apostles." As regards its authorship, it was certainly the work of
Luke, the "beloved physician" (comp.)
(Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1) This is the
uniform tradition of antiquity, although the writer nowhere makes
mention of himself by name. The style and idiom of the Gospel of Luke
and of the Acts, and the usage of words and phrases common to both,
strengthen this opinion. The writer first appears in the narrative in
(Acts 16:11) and then disappears till Paul's return to Philippi two years
afterwards, when he and Paul left that place together
(Acts 20:6) and the
two seem henceforth to have been constant companions to the end. He
was certainly with Paul at Rome
(Colossians 4:14; Acts 28:1-16) Thus he wrote
a great portion of that history from personal observation. For what lay
beyond his own experience he had the instruction of Paul. If, as is
very probable, 2 Tim. was written during Paul's second imprisonment at
Rome, Luke was with him then as his faithful companion to the last
(2 Timothy 4:11) Of his subsequent history we have no certain information.
The design of Luke's Gospel was to give an exhibition of the character
and work of Christ as seen in his history till he was taken up from his
disciples into heaven; and of the Acts, as its sequel, to give an
illustration of the power and working of the gospel when preached among
all nations, "beginning at Jerusalem." The opening sentences of the
Acts are just an expansion and an explanation of the closing words of
the Gospel. In this book we have just a continuation of the history of
the church after Christ's ascension. Luke here carries on the history
in the same spirit in which he had commenced it. It is only a book of
beginnings, a history of the founding of churches, the initial steps in
the formation of the Christian society in the different places visited
by the apostles. It records a cycle of "representative events." All
through the narrative we see the ever-present, all-controlling power of
the ever-living Saviour. He worketh all and in all in spreading abroad
his truth among men by his Spirit and through the instrumentality of
his apostles. The time of the writing of this history may be gathered
from the fact that the narrative extends down to the close of the
second year of Paul's first imprisonment at Rome. It could not
therefore have been written earlier than A.D. 61 or 62 nor later than
about the end of A.D. 63 Paul was probably put to death during his
second imprisonment, about A.D. 64 or, as some think, 66 The place
where the book was written was probably Rome, to which Luke accompanied
Paul. The key to the contents of the book is in
(Acts 1:8) "Ye shall be
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth." After referring to what had
been recorded in a "former treatise" of the sayings and doings of Jesus
Christ before his ascension, the author proceeds to give an account of
the circumstances connected with that event, and then records the
leading facts with reference to the spread and triumphs of Christianity
over the world during a period of about thirty years. The record
begins with Pentecost (A.D. 33) and ends with Paul's first imprisonment
(A.D. 63 or 64) The whole contents of the book may be divided into
these three parts:
1. Chaps. 1-12 describing the first twelve years of the Christian
church. This section has been entitled "From Jerusalem to
Antioch." It contains the history of the planting and extension
of the church among the Jews by the ministry of Peter.
2. Chaps. 13-21 Paul's missionary journeys, giving the history of
the extension and planting of the church among the Gentiles.
3. Chaps. 21-28 Paul at Rome, and the events which led to this.
Chaps. 13-28 have been entitled "From Antioch to Rome." In this
book it is worthy of note that no mention is made of the writing
by Paul of any of his epistles. This may be accounted for by the
fact that the writer confined himself to a history of the
planting of the church, and not to that of its training or
edification. The relation, however, between this history and the
epistles of Paul is of such a kind, i.e., brings to light so
many undesigned coincidences, as to prove the genuineness and
authenticity of both, as is so ably shown by Paley in his Horae
Paulinae. "No ancient work affords so many tests of veracity;
for no other has such numerous points of contact in all
directions with contemporary history, politics, and topography,
whether Jewish, or Greek, or Roman." Lightfoot.
