The gospel of luke, as well as the book of acts, is addressed to a certain theophilus cf luke. Books, in those days, were handwritten, not massproduced, and. An overview of the book of acts the life of the early church is recorded and preserved for us in the book of acts and the epistles. Who was theophilus at the beginning of luke and acts. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The gospel of luke and the acts of the apostles make up a twovolume work which scholars call luke acts. Choose from 500 different sets of book of acts flashcards on quizlet. Did you know you could read and study the bible without using any chapters or verses. Yet another theory about the identity of theophilus is that he was the roman lawyer who defended paul during his trial in rome. As a second volume to lukes gospel, it joins what jesus began to do and to. The following outline is intended to be used while studying the book.
Its narrative supplies a bridge connecting the life and ministry of jesus to the life of the church and the witness of the earliest believers. It will help to keep the whole of the book before you as you work your way through each section. Four significant factors point to a lucan authorship of the book of acts. Acts cliffsnotes study guides book summaries, test. Although it cannot be proved that the author of acts was a physician simply from. By the end of the year, we will have read 52 chaptersthe entire books of luke and acts. It portrays the beginning of the church from its roots at pentecost fifty days after the lords resurrection, to paul being held under house arrest. Chapter 8 opens with the severe persecution of the church in jerusalem and the. Luke as author of the book of acts lives transforming. We find this type of language in acts chapter 16 verses 10 through 17. Commentary on the book of acts bible study lessons. This summary of the book of acts provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of acts. Book of acts audio bible reading new testament youtube. Acts was written after lukes gospel, possibly 2030 years after pauls letters.
It records the third missionary journey of paul the apostle. Luke s recognition as the author of this work was unquestioned all through history. Theyre meant to be experienced the same way other books are. We have reunited the two volumes of luke acts and placed them first because they provide an overview of the new testament period. It is filled with all the drama, thrills, adventure and suspense. Luke s involvement with the gospel of luke acts is documented by justin martyr, irenaeus, papias, and others. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early christian tradition uniformly affirmed that luke the evangelist composed this book as well as the gospel of luke. Already the church father ireneus ca 140202 mentions that luke is the author of the book of acts.
Luke, the author of the gospel of luke, was a doctor and gentile. Acts 20 is the twentieth chapter of the acts of the apostles in the christian new testament of the bible. The importance of the book of acts the importance of this second of luke s twovolume work can. Views concerning the author of lukeacts typically take the following forms. This is a yearlong program where we read one chapter of scripture per week. Study the bible online using commentary on acts 20 and more. This would indicate it was matthew, mark, luke, or john. The gospels matthew, mark, luke, and john describe the life and ministry of jesus christ when he was in the flesh, while much of the rest of the new testament is made up of letters written by the apostles to the early church after the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of jesus.
The gospel of luke and the book of acts form a single, twovolume work. Acts has traditionally been attributed to luke, the author of the third gospel. There are sections in acts where the storytelling switches to we did this or that acts 16. Verse 1 demonstrates clearly that the unnamed author of acts is the same person as the unnamed author of the third gospel luke 1. Acts was written by the author of luke s gospel, luke. The book of acts ends with paul in house arrest waiting to. Those who hold this theory believe that luke s purpose in writing luke and acts was to write a defense of christianity, somewhat akin to a legal brief. Luke is again writing to theophilus to tell him what happened concerning the lord jesus christs earthly ministry and his apostles ministry. The book of acts provides a detailed, orderly, eyewitness account of the birth and growth of the early church and the spread of the gospel immediately after the resurrection of jesus christ. The book of acts the book of acts is known as the birth of the church. Bible study tips for the book of acts unlocking the bible. Within the acts of the apostles there are distinct passages where the author writes in. Acts recounts the story of the early church from the time of jesus ascension to pauls arrival as a prisoner in rome.
Luke was the only gentile writer of the new testament colossians 4. Lukes eyewitness accounts in the we sections in acts. The author there are three pieces of evidence to consider. Book of acts audio bible reading new testament the author of the acts of the apostles is the same author of the gospel of luke. Lukeacts understanding the books of the bible christopher r. This groundbreaking work by darrell bock thoroughly explores the theology of luke s gospel and the book of acts. The author quite certainly was luke for the following reason.
Therefore one would conclude that the book of acts also originates from the pen of luke. The beginning verses of acts make it clear that acts is a sequel of the story started in luke and written to the same man named theophilus, generally a title ascribed to highranking roman officials. Various scholars have also pointed out that the style and the choice of words in luke and acts are very similar. He wanted to assure followers of jesus that what theyd been taught about him was trustworthy.
Acts with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. This question should ring through your mind while you study through the entire book of acts. The book of acts is unlike any other biblical book. Both books are addressed to theophilus, the authors patronand perhaps a label for a christian community as a whole as the name means beloved of god, and the preface of acts explicitly references my former book about the life of jesusalmost certainly the work we know as the gospel of luke furthermore, there are linguistic and theological similarities between the gospel of luke and. Carson and douglas moo note that both luke and acts are anonymous, the prologue to luke acts alludes to an author who is well educated, not an apostle, versed in the old testament, and knowledgeable of first century society, which all align with a. Exploring the book of acts chapter 28 the romans killed and captured many of the egyptians followers, though he escaped. Luke, the author of acts, apparently joined the missionary party at troas, for he. However, in chapter 16 he starts using firstperson plural pronouns such as we, our and us. Since luke is the author of acts, any date between ad 60 and 100 is reasonable as conzelmann points out. Luke the author of acts tells of james proposing to write these commands to the gentile believers, then tells of the jerusalem church actually. But for those who read its words more purposefully, they will find blessing and encouragement, as they take in the powerful events that would begin to shape the church into the mighty organism that it is. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early christian tradition uniformly affirmed that luke the evangelist composed this book as well as the gospel. The book of acts tells the story of both the glorious and tumultuous early years of the church.
Thus, luke acts is certainly early enough to have contained eyewitness testimony. This is the 16th chapter to tessa priems luke acts 2020 bible study. The ending of acts plays an important role in route of determining the book s date. Both books are addressed to theophilus, and the latter acts. Book of acts explained discover the 66 books of the bible. If this theory is correct, luke s writings were designed to. Mikeal parsons notes in reading acts as a sequel to the fourfold gospel p. Acts chapter 27 explained discover the 66 books of the bible. Although the author does not name himself, evidence outside the scriptures and inferences from the book itself lead to the conclusion that the author. It is titled acts to emphasize that this book records the acts of the apostles through the work of the holy spirit. Luke wrote this twovolume history to serve several important purposes.
For that and other reasons, he concludes, the book of acts was intended to. A historical introduction to the new testament by robert m. Author though he does not mention himself by name, the author is undoubtedly luke, physician and frequent traveling companion of the apostle paul. The title as with the other gospels, no mss which contain luke affirm authorship by anyone other than luke. The rules laid out for gentile believers in acts 15. While no definite answer can be given to this question, it seems highly probable that luke was the author of the original book, but the work of editors and redactors was added before the text reached the final form in which we have it today. Since many have undertaken to draw up an account concerning the events which have taken place among us, as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the matter delivered accounts of them to us, it seemed good also to me, since i followed all of.
Luke was from antioch but traveled with paul all over southern europe and the middle east. Lukes gospel and the acts of the apostles are key to the description of the history and. Who is the author of the book of acts in the holy bible. Kjv bible verses from acts, often referred to as the acts of the apostles, is not to be considered as a history of what was done by all the apostles, who were dispersed into different nations. The genre of the book of acts is narrative history with several sermons. In the first verse of the book of acts the author mentions the fact that he has already written an earlier report concerning all things which jesus began both to do and to teach, until that day in which he was taken up. Since it is universally recognized that whoever wrote luke also wrote acts, this evidence would favor luke as the author of acts. We pick up here in chapter 27, where he is finally being sent to rome by ship after being imprisoned for more than two years. Our story starts off where the gospel of luke left offjesus is back now that hes resurrected, jesus decides to hang out and chat with his disciples whom luke calls apostles for forty days. Acts of the apostles niv audio bible non dramatized. In his writing, luke records the story of god working through jesus to usher in a new era of promise and spiritenablement so that the people of god can be gods people even in the midst of a hostile world. We should not be surprised, then, that lukes work was not a full history of the apostolic churchnor a full history of pauland was not written to be that. Chapter 21 chapter 22 chapter 23 chapter 24 chapter 25.
The commanders conclusion that paul was that egyptian is perhaps not too unreasonable, given the circumstances. There are more such passages in acts 16 and also in chapters 20, 21. As well, within the book of acts itself, the socalled wesections were composed by the same. In several places in acts, luke writes in the first person using we, as in we did. I suggest that it is the writer of the gospel of luke and acts. We know almost nothing of what transpired on this lengthy trip. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early christian tradition. The authorship of the gospel of luke and the acts of the apostles, collectively known as.
The acts of the apostles, the second volume of luke s twovolume work, continues luke s presentation of biblical history, describing how the salvation promised to israel in the old testament and accomplished by jesus has now under the guidance of. Internal evidence 1 the author of acts is the same as the author of luke. Finally, the great church historian eusebius, writing around a. The date of the gospel must be in the early 60s due to the necessity of acts being completed by ad 64. Read acts 20 commentary using commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible. Learn book of acts with free interactive flashcards.
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