WHAT IS ACTS? If Acts is not a complete history of the Church’s first three decades, then what is it? Our first clue is that it is the second of a two-volume work. An early convert to Christianity named Luke wrote a Gospel and Acts for a Roman aristocrat named Theophilus (Luke 1:1-4, Acts 1:1). Luke was the “beloved physician” (Colossians 4:14 NASB) of the Apostle Paul. He traveled with Paul on part of his second missionary journey. Some years later, Luke went from Philippi to Jerusalem with Paul, and when Paul was arrested there, Luke accompanied him on his harrowing journey to Rome. We surmise these facts from the way Luke changed from the third person (“they”) to the first (“we”) in part of Acts (16:10-17, 20:5-21:18, 27:1-28:16). We don’t know whether Luke was a Gentile, a Gentile convert to Judaism, or a Jew before he became a Christian. His writings show that he was steeped in the urban, Gentile, Greek-speaking culture of the Roman Empire: Luke 1:1-4 is written in the literary Greek of the educated elite, and Acts describes Gentile kings, philosophers, and legal details accurately. On the other hand, Luke was also well versed in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament that Jews all over the Empire used. About Theophilus we can only speculate. His name means “lover of God,” but it was a common Greek name and was probably not made up by Luke. In Luke’s day, people often wrote for and dedicated their works to wealthy patrons, who helped pay for publishing the books. Theophilus was probably an educated Gentile aristocrat, either a new convert or an interested pagan. Luke may have wanted to help confirm this man and others like him in the faith by showing it rested on firm historical foundations and the power of God. When was Acts written? The earliest would be about 62 AD, where chapter 28 leaves off abruptly. However, Luke seems to be looking back on those events from at least some distance. On the other hand, the book gives no hint of the deaths of Paul, Peter, or James, nor of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, nor even of Paul’s letters. Would a book written after 90 AD partly about Paul have ignored his letters which were so influential by then? Most scholars who think Acts is an accurate account by Luke (as opposed to fiction) guess that the book was written over some time and finished “towards AD 70.” HERE IS THE LINK FOR THE NEXT BLOG IN THIS SERIES:calvaryef.org/blog_direct_link.cfm/blog_id/49634/cat_id/1317
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 13:37:25 +0000
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