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ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

Central shrine of the temple of Augustus at Pisidian Antioch, a city visited by Paul on several occasions (Phoenix Data Systems, Neal and Joel Bierling)

The fifth book of the NT. Composed by the author of the Gospel of Luke, the book of Acts represents the earliest attempt by a Christian writer to present a connected account of significant events in the life of the early Church from Easter to the death of Paul. Beginning with Irenaeus’ Adversus haereses but especially with Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, all succeeding attempts at the reconstruction of the earliest history of Christianity up to the modern age were profoundly determined by Acts. Notwithstanding the confidence placed in Luke’s work by those chroniclers who followed him, attention to the narrative of Acts makes it clear that Luke, in line with the practices of his contemporaries, subordinated historical information to his literary project in order to present a portrait of the early Church’s growth marked by ecclesiastical unity and Spirit-driven momentum.

The basic plot of Acts may be sketched as follows. Starting with the ascension of Jesus, the narrative first portrays the life and dynamic growth of the primitive community in Jerusalem under the leadership of Peter and the apostles up through the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 1–7). The persecution ensuing upon Stephen’s death drives the Church (except the apostles) into a more extensive mission outside Jerusalem characterized by overtures to non-Jews (ch. 8). These initial intimations of a gentile mission introduce the conversion of Saul/Paul (ch. 9), who will be the vital force behind the accomplishment of this mission. That these developments are legitimate and represent the purpose of God is brought home by the Cornelius episode of 10:1–11:18. Next the early missionary endeavors of Barnabas and Paul from their base in Syrian Antioch are narrated (11:19–14:28), along with an excursus featuring Peter (ch. 12), culminating in the decisive recognition of the law-free gentile mission by the Apostolic Council (ch. 15). Then the Pauline mission proper is detailed (15:36–21:26) in travelogue fashion (featuring Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, Miletus, Caesarea, Jerusalem) through numerous vivid scenes. Finally, Paul’s imprisonment and trials in Jerusalem and Caesarea (featuring his interaction with numerous Roman officials) and his transfer to the Empire’s capital are documented (21:27–28:31), ending with the encouraging image of Paul preaching and teaching, unhindered, in Rome.

Most scholars assume that the author of Luke and Acts was a Gentile Christian, although indications in both books support the supposition that the Lukan community included a contingent of Jewish Christians. That this individual should be identified following tradition as Luke, a companion of Paul, however, is problematic. In the undisputed Pauline Letters, Luke is mentioned only at Phlm. 24; ; the references at Col. 4:14; 2 Tim. 4:11 derive from Philemon and the Pauline tradition, respectively. Irenaeus (ca. 180 c.e.) understood the “we” passages (16:10-17; 20:5-15; 21:1-18; 27:1–28:16) as proof that Luke was Paul’s inseparable collaborator. But the interpretation of these curious 1st person plural passages admits of other explanations that require no first-hand knowledge of Paul on the part of the author. Further, while it is clear simply from the amount of the narrative dedicated to Paul that the author admired him greatly, the resulting account seemingly reveals a profound misapprehension of Paul’s work and theology as known to us through Paul’s own Letters. Accordingly, when Paul preaches in Acts, his emphases (as well as the literary style of his speeches) are strikingly similar to those featured in Peter’s speeches, suggesting that in both the reader in fact encounters Luke’s theology. Acts appears to be the product of a time when Paul’s passionate struggles on behalf of Gentile Christians were a thing of the past. The overwhelming success of the gentile mission left Luke with the rather different concern of addressing Christian contemporaries who had become overly complacent about their Jewish origins.

While certainty on the date of composition for Acts may not be achieved, the preceding considerations indicate that it is reasonable to place it sometime after Luke’s Gospel, which may be dated ca. 80-85 c.e. As far as Luke’s geographical location is concerned, there are barely enough indications for speculation. Ancient tradition placed him in Antioch. His genuine concern with Paul and the Pauline tradition, even if deemed idiosyncratic when measured against the undisputed Pauline Letters, perhaps indicates his attachment to one of the principal areas of the Pauline mission around the Aegean, but this is only conjecture.

An exceptional issue with regard to the manuscript tradition of Acts is its existence in two major text types or “versions,” the Alexandrian and the Western. Codex Bezae (D) intensifies the special features of the latter text type by expanding christological titles, sharpening a hostile attitude toward Jews, employing more reverential speech, smoothing over literary seams, and making other “improvements.” Most scholars consider the Western version to be a secondary revision and expansion of the Alexandrian text.

Luke offers no guidance concerning the origins of his information for the narrative presented in Acts. While Luke probably utilized some sources for his account, his constant stylistic revision of the same renders their recovery unlikely (if we had only Luke’s Gospel, could we reconstruct Mark?). While scholars have advanced a variety of hypothetical sources, all such suggestions are problematic. One recurrent proposal is that the biblical flavor of chs. 1–12 derives from an underlying Aramaic source. But nothing prevents the conclusion that Luke composed the narrative of the early period in an “archaic” style similar to the fashioning of the birth narratives in Luke 1–2. Another perennial idea is that an itinerary or diary of some kind provided Luke with information on Paul’s missionary travels; a variant of this suggestion supposes that Luke himself was the scribe for the “we” passages of this diary. Apart from the problems inherent in the itinerary or diary hypothesis, various literary explanations serve to account for the “we” passages (e.g., a device, attested since Homer, for making a narrative more vivid). We may suppose that Luke’s historical work proceeded in a manner not unlike that of his contemporaries. Without predecessors for his second book, Luke relied on a mixture of tradition and composition to portray the successful expansion of the early Christian mission throughout the Roman Empire under the direction of the Spirit according to the purpose of God.

One place where Luke’s narrative designs become particularly clear is in the speeches that he has provided for the characters in the narrative. In line with the general practice of Hellenistic historians, these speeches, which amount to nearly one third of the total text, may be regarded as the literary creations of Luke, inserted into the narrative to instruct and please the reader. Rather than preserving the particularity of the rhetoric of the various ancient Christian speakers, these speeches share the same literary style and consequently serve Luke’s goal of demonstrating the substantial unity of the earliest Christian preaching, even as they embody Luke’s own interpretation of the “events” surrounding the emergence of the Church.

Regardless of one’s judgment concerning the reliability of Acts as a historical chronicle, the book certainly may be taken as an expression of early Christian theology. Luke’s notion of salvation history in three epochs (Israel, Jesus, the Church) underlies his portrait of the Church as a historical entity with its own particular time. Moreover, the time of the earliest Church is distinguished by its own unique image (fostered by the employment of an archaic biblical Greek style) in contrast to the Church of Luke’s own day. The peculiar and unrepeatable structures of the early community are accounted for by the presence of the apostles and eyewitnesses. Luke’s concern within this portrait to highlight the continuity between Israel and the Church is expressed by the continued observance of Jewish practices in the early period in contrast to the situation implied for Luke’s own day. The gap between Luke’s generation and the primitive time is bridged by the endorsement of the gentile mission in the deliberations of the Apostolic Council and the promulgation of the Apostolic Decree (15:20, 29; 21:25). The latter pronouncement may have continued to function practically in the case of Luke’s own community by ensuring the existence of the conditions necessary to make table fellowship between Jewish and Gentile Christians possible. Key among the factors promoting continuity within the Church itself throughout the narrative are the descriptions of the Church’s proclamation and teaching about Jesus and the constancy of the presence of the Spirit as the prime mover at the crucial junctures of early ecclesiastical history (e.g., 8:29; 10:19; 16:6-7).

Acts is more theocentric than christocentric. It is God who occupies the dominant place. The notion of the preexistence of Jesus is absent and an air of “subordinationism” is present. Jesus is described as a man whom God legitimated by mighty works, wonders, and signs (2:22). The view of Christ’s death as atoning occurs only once in an expression taken over from the tradition (20:28). The focal salvation event is the resurrection, which signifies the great turning point of history. Since God has offered the Resurrection as “proof” (17:31), there is no longer any excuse for rejecting the Christian message.

Paul’s image had already undergone revision by Luke’s day and Luke did not hesitate to introduce his own conceptions. Owing to his salvation-historical schematization, Luke was obligated to portray Paul as subject to the law. Further, in Luke’s depiction Paul cannot establish the freedom of Gentile Christians from the law through theological argument (hence Paul’s Letters, even if known, are of little practical value to Luke). Instead this freedom is given its historical and ecclesiastical foundation in the conversion of the gentile Cornelius (in which Peter plays the main role!) and the decision of the Apostolic Council, respectively. Discrepancies between the Lukan Paul and the Paul of the Epistles have long been observed. Thus according to Luke, Paul was a great miracle worker, an outstanding orator, not generally known as an apostle, and persecuted for teaching about the resurrection. By contrast Paul, in his Letters, stressed his weakness (2 Cor. 12:10), confessed that he was no master speaker (10:10), insisted vehemently on his credentials as an apostle (e.g., Gal. 2:1-10), and found trouble everywhere on account of his proclamation of a law-free gospel. All of these contradictions are explained when it is recognized that Acts preserves a picture of Paul from a time several decades after his death. Paul’s role in Acts is thus dictated not only by his biography but also by the needs of Luke’s theology; strictly historical concerns are not in view.

For Luke the Church’s relation to Israel is both clear and problematic. While the Church must stand in continuity with the ancient people of God, it encounters unbelief among Jews and therefore turns to the Gentiles. But the law-free mission to the Gentiles threatened to break the continuity of salvation history. One of Luke’s major concerns in Acts is to address this problem by showing that the primitive Christians held fast to their Jewish faith until they were impelled by no less than the intervention of God to welcome Gentiles into the Church. This is the fundamental motivation behind the multiple elaborations of the Cornelius episode (10:1-48; 11:1-18; 15:7-9) and the thrice-told story of Paul’s conversion (9:1-19; 22:4-16; 26:9-18). That Luke depicts the acceptance on the part of Gentile Christians of certain basic OT requirements as spelled out by the Apostolic Decree is the natural correlative to Luke’s fundamental concern with salvation-historical continuity, as are Paul’s routine visits to the synagogue and his Jewish life-style.

Luke’s portrayal of Christianity’s close ties to Judaism also bolsters his appeal to Roman officials not to concern themselves with “internal theological disputes.” In Luke’s portrayal Roman notables express interest in Christianity (13:12; 19:31) or at least indicate that it poses no danger to the state (18:15; 19:37; 23:29; 25:25; 26:32). In this way Luke can affirm the nonsubversive nature of the Church, possibly in an effort to convince Roman citizens of his own day that nothing stood in the way of their membership in the Christian community.

Luke’s purpose in writing Acts cannot be limited to any one factor. Without doubt his general aim was to encourage the Christian community to have confidence in its future by looking at its past. This was accomplished by skillfully employing a genre that allowed for a captivating narrative comprised of a succession of both entertaining and didactic lessons. As stressed above, Luke devoted considerable energy toward clarifying the Church’s relationship to both Jews and Romans. Finally, for Christians of a later period who needed to know something about Paul, perhaps Acts served to offer a rehabilitation and domestication of this dangerous figure, who will be found soon enough at the root of various “heretical” impulses in the 2nd century.

See Luke, Gospel of; Paul.

Bibliography. P. F. Esler, Community and Gospel in Luke/Acts. SNTSMS 57 (Cambridge, 1987); E. Haenchen, The Acts of the Apostles (Philadelphia, 1971); J. Jervell, The Theology of the Acts of the Apostles (Cambridge, 1996); R. I. Pervo, Profit with Delight: The Literary Genre of the Acts of the Apostles (Philadelphia, 1987); B. W. Winter, ed., The Book of Acts in Its First Century Setting. 6 vols. (Grand Rapids, 1993–); B. Witherington, ed., History, Literature, and Society in the Book of Acts (Cambridge, 1996).

Christopher R. Matthews

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)