Introduction
Acts of the Apostles, the second part of the work that
begins with the Gospel According to Luke, is the story of the early
church after Jesus’s martyrdom. Like Luke, Acts is addressed to the
unknown reader Theophilus, and in the introduction to Acts, it is
made clear that it is a continuation of Luke: “In the first book,
Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the
beginning until the day he was taken up to heaven” (1:1–2).
Second-century Christian tradition identifies the author of Luke
and Acts as Luke, a traveling companion of the missionary Paul of
Tarsus. Modern scholars agree that Acts and Luke should be credited
to the same author, but have been more reluctant to identify him:
the author most likely wrote between the years 80 and 90,
and may indeed have been Paul’s companion.
One of the perplexing problems surrounding the authorship
of Acts is the narrator’s changing voice and person. He generally speaks
as an uninvolved third party, but sometimes lapses into the plural.
Acts is certainly intended as a history of the early church, and it
is the most complete and valuable history we have of the Christians
in the first century. However, it is not necessarily historically
reliable, either in terms of its depiction of the first-century
development of Christian theology and religion, or in its description
of the political history of the church. For instance, the author
seems relatively shaky in his knowledge of Paul’s theology. Whether
or not it was intended to be a historically accurate text, Acts
can be read as a devotional and instructional history, whose religious
purpose remains unaffected by its inaccuracies. It depicts the story
of the spread of Christianity, the growing distance between Christianity
and Judaism, the move toward earthly concerns rather than apocalyptic
expectations, and the triumph of the Christian message despite persecutions.
Summary
Acts begins with Jesus’s charge to the Twelve Apostles
to spread the Gospel throughout the world. Peter serves as the leader
of the apostles and the small congregation of the faithful in Jerusalem.
Their first order of business is to elect Matthias as the twelfth
apostle, replacing the traitor Judas Iscariot. During the year of
Jesus’s death and resurrection, the disciples are gathered for Pentecost,
a religious holiday celebrating the grain harvest. The Holy Spirit
descends upon them. As a result of the Holy Spirit’s presence, they
begin speaking other languages.
Peter delivers a sermon explaining the miracle. He says
that the gift of tongues is given to prophets. Peter summarizes
the life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. He gives scriptural
proof that Jesus is the Messiah, the savior whom God promises in
the Old Testament to send to save Jews from their adversity. Responding
to Peter’s sermon, 3,000 people
are baptized into the Christian community—an idealized, thriving
community characterized by prayer, brotherhood, common ownership,
and sharing. A man named Barnabas is particularly praised for his
generosity, and a couple that defrauds the church is stricken dead.
Going to the temple to pray, Peter and John cure a crippled beggar.
Peter tells a crowd the story of Jesus’s persecution and his eventual
resurrection, concluding with a reminder that the Jews are favored
by God and a call to repentance. The Sadducee high priests of the
temple, who do not believe in the resurrection of the dead, bring
Peter and John before the Jewish high court, where Peter preaches
the Gospel fearlessly. The court, which is called the Sanhedrin,
recognizes that public opinion is in favor of the apostles and releases
them with only a warning.
The high priest imprisons the apostles, but they are miraculously freed
by an angel, and they continue their preaching. Brought again before
the court, Peter leads the apostles in their defense, saying, “We
must obey God rather than any human authority” (5:29). Influenced
by the great sage Gamaliel, who warns, “[Y]ou will not be able to
overthrow them—in that case you may even be found fighting against
God,” the court declines to execute the apostles, who continue preaching
throughout Jerusalem (5:39).
The church divides into two groups. One group is the Hellenists, Christians
who were born Jewish but who have a Greek cultural background. The
other group is the Hebrews, the Christians who, like the apostles,
were born into Jewish cultural backgrounds. The Hellenists feel
discriminated against, so in response, the community of disciples
elects seven leaders to account for the needs of the Hellenists.
Foremost among these Christian Hellenist leaders is Stephen. A controversy
ensues between Stephen and some Jews, who accuse him of heresy before
the Sanhedrin. Stephen’s accusers testify that “[t]his man never
stops saying things against the holy place and the law” (7:13).
In front of the Sanhedrin, Stephen delivers a long speech detailing
the history of Jewish leadership in the Bible, concluding with a
damning accusation: “Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses
made with human hands. . . . You stiff-necked people . . . you are
forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to
do” (7:48–51).
