Acts of the Apostles by Luke

First transcribed:Praxeis Apostolon (Greek title), wr. c. 60 c.e. or c. 80-150 c.e. (English translation, 1380)

Edition used: “Acts,” in The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments and the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989

Genre: Holy writings

Subgenres: History; theology

Core issues: The Bible; church; discipleship; evangelization; God; Holy Spirit; obedience and disobedience; salvation; scriptures

Overview

As the fifth book of the New Testament and a sequel to the Gospel of Luke (or the second volume of what is often called “Luke-Acts”), the Acts of the Apostles continues the story begun by Luke. Unlike the other three New Testament Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and John), which end the narrative shortly after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the Lukan story continues beyond these epical events. This ongoing story includes a wide range of scenes and situations: from the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem to the Areopagus in Athens, from outlandish opposition to angelic intervention, and from the utopian scenes among the Christian believers in early chapters to life-threatening crises later on (see Acts 21:27-36). While the plot of Acts extends geographically and thematically beyond the Gospel of Luke, both the repetition of numerous aspects of Luke 24 (in the opening eleven verses of Acts) and the similarity between the depiction of Jesus in Luke and key Christian characters in Acts support the conclusion that one should read the Acts narrative as a continuation of the story begun in Luke.

As one reads the Acts, the words of Jesus in Acts 1:8 provide a general preview of the story’s progression: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (author’s translation). Thus, the first portion of the book (1:1-8:3) focuses on persons and events in Jerusalem. The second portion of the book (8:4-12:25) extends to the regions around or near Jerusalem. The action of the third portion of the book moves to other places in the eastern Mediterranean world (13:1-20:38). The last portion (21:1-28:31) focuses on the arrest and subsequent trials of Paul, who in chapter 13 had become the leading figure of the Acts narrative.

Everything in the opening section of Acts (1:1-8:3) occurs in the city of Jerusalem. After Jesus’ ascension to heaven, which is recorded only in Luke-Acts, Jesus’ followers return to Jerusalem, as he had instructed them (1:4). These followers, numbering around 120 persons (1:15), gather consistently for prayer (1:14), probably in the temple courts (see Luke 24:52-53). The extraordinary event during Pentecost (Acts 2), when the Holy Spirit comes to these followers and enables them to proclaim the Gospel message in the native languages of those who have gathered at the Jewish Temple for that religious festival, represents God’s fulfillment of his promise to the Jewish people as God’s people. Thus, all the believers are Jewish, whom the author describes in utopian ways: enjoying God’s presence among them; sharing possessions among the large, growing group of Christians; and proclaiming the Christian message about the resurrection of Jesus (see Acts 2:41-47, 4:32-37). However, these wonderful images of the Jewish believers stand in sharp contrast to the depiction of the Jewish religious authorities, who oppose the Christian message because they do not believe in any form of resurrection. The opposition and divisiveness of the Jewish leaders toward both the Christian message and their fellow Jews who embrace that message are epitomized by the ugly mob scene that ends in the savage murder of a believer named Stephen and the subsequent persecution that drives the Jewish believers out of Jerusalem.

The second portion of the Acts (8:4-12:25) occurs in the region around and near Jerusalem. Three characters take center stage, with their importance being their respective roles in taking the message of salvation to those considered outside the boundaries that define Judaism and Jewish understandings of God’s purposes. First there is Philip, a leader in the Jerusalem church who proclaims the Christian message to persons in Samaria (whom Jewish persons considered as outsiders because of long-standing feuds and custom) and to a man who went to Jerusalem to worship but was an outsider to the Jewish people (no eunuch or castrated male could enter the Jewish Temple). Second, there is Saul, whom the resurrected Jesus confronted as Saul approached Damascus to arrest any Jewish believers he could find. This so-called conversion of Saul depicts the transformation of this staunch opponent of the Christian faith into its most ardent defender and proclaimer. Third, there is Simon Peter, the key figure in the early days of the Christian movement who took the Christian message of salvation to Cornelius, a pious but non-Jewish, Roman military official. For all three characters, the narrator of Acts makes it clear that the calling and purposes of God are behind their actions. These descriptions of God’s actions with regard to these characters leave the reader with the distinct perspective that God’s purposes extend beyond the Jewish people and include all people, even those considered outside Jewish boundaries and understandings. In other words, the narrative suggests a revision of the designation “people of God” to include not only the Jewish people but also all who truly receive the message of God’s salvation, made available through the resurrected Jesus.

The third portion of the Acts narrative (13:1-20:38) depicts the spread of the Christian message throughout the eastern portion of the Mediterranean world. The main character is Paul (previously named “Saul” in chapter 9), whose ministry the narrative arranges in three separate journeys that lead to the acceptance of his message by both Jewish and non-Jewish persons. Questions about the status of non-Jewish believers resulted in the so-called Jerusalem Council of chapter 15, where the decision was reached that non-Jewish believers were not required to follow the Jewish law but needed only to heed a few matters that would facilitate fellowship with the Jewish believers. Nonetheless, the problems that Paul encountered in the synagogues of Corinth and Ephesus (Acts 18-19) imply that questions about who are and are not included among the people of God remained.

The final portion of Acts (21:1-28:31) describes the arrest and ensuing legal problems of Paul. Interestingly, Paul’s arrest occurred as he followed the advice of the leadership of the Jerusalem church, who raised a serious question about Paul and his loyalty as a Jew but one that may have been a distortion of his ministry activities. His hostile capture by the stirred-up inhabitants of Jerusalem would have led to his murder, but Roman soldiers rescued him from the riotous mob. The rest of the book describes some of the legal troubles that Paul faced. When this section is compared to the whole book, it seems that the narrator has given disproportionate attention to these legal issues. Some suggest that these narrated scenes about Paul and these legal proceedings served to defend Paul against false charges against him. However, throughout these proceedings the focus is clearly on the call and purposes of God. Thus, the purpose here is not to defend Paul per se but to defend what this narrative presents. In other words, the purpose is to defend the understanding of God’s purposes as presented in Acts—this narrative depiction of salvation and the revised concept of the “people of God.” The final word in the original text, “unhindered,” suggests that God’s purposes are unstoppable and provides validation for this new understanding.

Christian Themes

Several related themes run throughout the narrative of the Acts. One of the most prominent themes has to do with God, who is the primary mover and agent of action in this story. The God of Israel fulfilled promises to Israel that God had made in an earlier day. At Pentecost, God enabled the followers of Jesus to overcome the obstacles to proclamation by giving them the Holy Spirit. God empowered these believers to overcome difficulties and opposition by filling them with the Holy Spirit. God moved both Cornelius and Peter to act when religious custom prohibited a faithful Jew like Peter from going to Cornelius’s house. God provided direction and encouragement during Paul’s ministry. Thus, the Lukan perspective makes it clear that behind everything in the narrative were the purposes and actions of God.

Closely related to the theme about God and God’s purposes is the theme of salvation for all people. The quotation of the prophet Joel in Acts 2:17-21 emphasizes that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (author’s translation). While Jewish understandings of this declaration considered this to refer only to God fulfilling God’s purposes to create and bless the Jewish people as God’s people, the narrative offers a different understanding. In Acts, God directed persons like Peter and Paul to proclaim the message of God’s saving purposes to persons both inside and outside the traditional Jewish categories. In addition, the narrated scenes made it clear that God blessed that proclamation because persons responded favorably. Thus, the narrative depicts salvation in universal terms.

Finally, the Acts narrative seems to focus significantly on the theme of the people of God. It is widely recognized that the vocabulary and style of Acts mimics the Jewish Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, which tell the stories associated with God’s establishment of the covenant with the Jewish people, thereby making them God’s chosen people, or the “people of God.” The different literary associations between these earlier texts and the book of Acts, as well as the usage of vocabulary in Acts that resembles the usage in these books, suggest a thematic connection. In addition, both the tensions among the Jewish people in the early chapters of Acts and the ongoing questions about the role of non-Jews with regard to salvation in the plot of Acts suggest a theological reorientation of the concept “people of God”—a reorientation that includes rather than excludes non-Jewish persons.

Sources for Further Study

Esler, Philip F. Community and Gospel in Luke-Acts: The Social and Political Motivations of Lucan Theology. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1987. An appropriation of sociology and anthropology for the study of Lukan theology. Explores the social dynamics of the Christian community to which Acts (and Luke-Acts) was addressed.

Marshall, I. Howard, and David Peterson, eds. Witness to the Gospel: The Theology of Acts. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1998. A collection of twenty-five essays that highlight a variety of major theological themes in Acts. Takes seriously later developments in the study of Acts.

Pervo, Richard I. Profit with Delight: The Literary Genre of the Acts of the Apostles. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987. A provocative study of the dramatic and entertaining aspects of Acts as a popular work of historical fiction or as a historical novel. Highlights the creative elements of the Acts composition.

Seim, Turid K. Double Message: Patterns of Gender in Luke-Acts. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1994. A reexamination of common assumptions about the Lukan perspective on women. Emphasizes a “double message” in Luke-Acts: one that preserves positive church traditions about women and another that limits their roles in the public proclamation and ministry of the church in Acts.

Spencer, F. Scott. Journeying Through Acts: A Literary-Cultural Reading. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2004. Interprets Acts from both narrative criticism and the study of sociocultural dynamics. Underscores the element of surprise and its significance for a first-time reader.

Tannehill, Robert C. The Narrative Unity of Luke-Acts: A Literary Interpretation. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1990. A classic work emphasizing the unity of the two Lukan works. Interprets aspects of the Lukan writings in the light of their contribution to the whole Lukan narrative.