The Acts of the Apostles, Introduction

Introduction to Acts

The author of Acts

Not much is known about the author of Acts, as there is no mention of the writer’s own background or life story. However, because of the “we” passages (e.g., 16:10-17) it seems likely that the author is Luke, the physician who joined Paul on some of his missionary journeys. He is described as "the beloved Physician" (Col 4:14), and the vocabulary of both the gospel and Acts shows evidence of a medical mind. Mentioned as a "fellow labourer" (Philemon 24) who was with Paul in his last days (2 Tim 4:11), Luke often accompanied Paul on his travels beginning with his second journey. By carefully noting the use of "we" and "they" in the book of Acts, we glean that Luke joined Paul at Troas (Acts 16:10-11), and remained at Philippi (Act 17:1) until Paul later picked him up on his way to Troas (Act 20:1-6). The book ends with Luke accompanying Paul to his imprisonment in Rome (Act 28:16).

What is known about Luke

According to tradition, St Luke the Evangelist was born in Antioch, in the Roman province of Syria.  It is believed that he wrote the third gospel and the Acts of the Apostles somewhere between 70 and 100 AD. He died before 150, about the age of 84. He was buried in Thebes in Greece. St Jerome says that in the second year of the reign of the emperor Constantius in 338, Luke’s bones were brought to Constantinople, to the Basilica of the Holy Apostles. Sometime before 1177,  the relics were brought to Padua in Italy where they have remained ever since. However, in 1980, a review of Prague’s metropolitan archive confirmed that in 1364, Luke’s skull had been sent to St Vitus’s Cathedral at the request of Emperor Charles IV. Two hundred and one years later, in 1565, the remaining Paduan bones were housed in the Basilica of St Justina.

It would seem that the Archbishop of Padua wanted to enlist the help of geneticists, historians, biologists and anthropologists to discover whether the Padua skeleton, was likely to be that of St Luke or not.  In 1998 the heavy marble slab which covered St Luke’s sarcophagus was removed. Then a led coffin was discovered and examined. It had two red wax seals.  On the lid were images of the heads of three calves and the following Latin inscription: "S.L.Evang." When the box was opened, apparently, some coins, four parchments, two plates, and a male skeleton 5 feet 3 and a half inches in stature, were found. The skull was missing, as were the right elbow and ankle bones.

·       Firstly, the universities of Tucson and Oxford estimated the samples were from a man who had died between 72 AD and 416 AD. Luke’s lifetime can be accommodated by the earlier date.

·       Secondly, the evidence indicated that the body was that of a person who had lived to be at least seventy years of age. Again, that fact is consistent with the second-century belief that Luke died in his seventies or eighties.

·       Thirdly, there was evidence that the man in the coffin had suffered from very weak bones, grave disease of the joints in his spinal cord,   

·       Fourthly, considerable similarity between modern DNA and the DNA which would have been found in different parts of the world 2000 years ago. By comparing the DNA of the man in St Justina’s basilica with samples taken from people in modern countries around the Mediterranean, the scientists concluded that it was highly probable that the skeleton was Syrian in origin.

Date, theme and historical background

·       Date: The final stories and events told and recorded in the Book of Acts took place in early A.D. 60. This book was believed by most biblical scholars to have been written in the first century around 80-85.

·       Theme: The spread of the Gospel to all the known world is summed up in the eighth verse of the first chapter: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

·       Historical Background: In 30 short years, the church grew from what was considered an insignificant Jewish sect to a major faith movement and force in the Roman Empire. Luke wrote Acts as a companion piece to his Gospel to show how Christianity was the work of God’s Spirit in building up a spiritual “kingdom,” one comprised of all who live by faith in Jesus. Luke demonstrates this by focusing on two leading figures in the church:

• Peter, the apostle to the Jews (ch.1-12), 

• Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles (ch.13-28).

The full title of this book is The Acts of the Apostles. The word apostle comes from a Greek word meaning “one who is sent out,” or a person sent to deliver a message. In Acts, apostles refer to disciples Jesus chooses to carry on his teaching and ministry that are empowered by the Holy Spirit, which is why the Book of Acts has also been titled The Acts of the Holy Spirit.

Like his Gospel, Luke had a simple geographical structure to his book. In his Gospel Jesus goes on a journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem where he died. Acts begins in Jerusalem and ends up in Rome, the centre of the known world.