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This book is descriptive, not prescriptive - it is history, not law. For example, he tells us that seven men were chosen to wait on tables ( Acts 6:1-6), but he does not tell us whether churches should follow that example today.
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Luke tells us what happened, but he rarely indicates what should happen today. The Book of Acts, then, is not a mere chronicle of events, but a portrayal of the kinds of people and kinds of things that were taking place in the early church. What this means is that a selection of the hero’s acts…, historical vignettes which set forth the hero’s character, are his major concern. Luke is probably writing in the manner of the Greek historians Xenophon and Plutarch. With literary skill, he gives numerous details and interesting personality sketches that help us understand what happened. The historian must interpret the facts and present them in an organized way. The historian must select the facts that are most important and the events that played critical roles in the development of later situations. No history book ever has enough space to tell all the facts. partĭamascus, Judea, Antioch, Jerusalem and AsiaĪcts tells the story of how Christianity began and spread. Luke also has ethnic interests - he especially wants to explain how Christianity moved from its Jewish foundations to spread to the Gentile world.Īcts can be divided into five major sections that combine some of Luke’s emphases, as shown in the table below. Geography is important to Luke, but it is not the only important framework for his story about the earliest years of Christianity. And the book ends with Paul in Rome, which was the center of the Empire, not “the ends of the earth.” Later, the story moves back and forth from Antioch to Jerusalem, from Europe back to Asia, back to Jerusalem, etc. Philip’s work in Samaria ( Acts 8:5-25) is described before Peter’s work in Judea ( Acts 9:32-43). Although Luke begins the story in Jerusalem, he does not stick to a precise geographical sequence. Some commentators have outlined the book geographically, using a formula Jesus gave his disciples: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” ( Acts 1:8). Peter’s ministry and Paul’s are not separate stories - they are related to each other, and they overlap in several chapters in the center of Acts. This two-fold division is one of the simplest ways to divide the book of Acts, but its focus on two men tends to cover up some important aspects of Luke’s story. The first part of this book is about Peter, and the second part is about Paul. Since this book frequently reminds us that the actions of the apostles were inspired and guided by God’s Spirit, “Acts of the Holy Spirit” has also been suggested as a descriptive title. Acts is the second volume of Luke’s history-writing project it is about what Jesus did after his ascension into heaven - he directed and taught the apostles through the Holy Spirit.Īs Jesus had promised ( John 16:7, 13), he sent the Spirit to guide the apostles after he returned to heaven. Luke tells us that his first book (the Gospel of Luke) was “about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven” ( Acts 1:1-2). “Acts of the Risen Jesus” might also be an appropriate name for this book. The book describes some developments in detail, but sometimes skips several years at a time.
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The traditional name for this book is “Acts of the Apostles,” but a more accurate name might be “A Few Acts of a Few of the Apostles.” Peter and Paul are particularly prominent the other apostles play little or no role. The story is filled with drama, miracles, and speeches about the risen Christ. The book describes the spread of Christianity from its origins with Jews in Jerusalem, to eventually include all peoples, even in the capital city of the Roman Empire. This book is commonly called “The Acts of the Apostles,” but it does not discuss most of the apostles – it focuses only on Peter, and then Paul. Decree of the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15).Acts 15: Christians and the Law of Moses.A Harmony of the Conversion and Commission of Paul - Acts 9:1-30 22:3-21 26:9-20.