The Book of Acts, which continues the narrative that Luke began in his gospel, is especially important because it was the first written history of the Christian church. Acts concerns the very vital period in Christian history between the resurrection of Jesus and the death of the apostle Paul, the time when Christian ideas and beliefs were being formulated and when the organization of the church into a worldwide movement was being developed. Only with knowledge of this background can we understand the writing of the Gospels, as well as the other New Testament literature that followed.
The book has been called "The Acts of the Apostles," really a misnomer because Acts has very little to say concerning most of the original Twelve Apostles. Peter's activities are described at some length, and John and Philip are mentioned, but more than half of the book is about Paul and his connection with the Christian movement. Scholars are somewhat divided in their opinions concerning the book's authorship. There can be no question about Luke being the author of parts of the book, but the inclusion of what has been called the "we sections" raises some question about the persons to whom the pronoun "we" refers. Was someone other than Luke also involved in the reports that are made? 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.
The Book of Acts contains twenty-eight chapters. Of these, the first twelve report events between the time of Jesus' last meeting with his disciples and the beginning of Paul's work as a Christian missionary. The remaining sixteen chapters describe Paul's activities, beginning with his mission to the church at Antioch and ending with an account of his residence in Rome as a prisoner of the Roman government. The events recorded in the first section of the book include such topics as the ascension of Jesus into heaven, the choosing of a disciple to replace Judas, who had betrayed Jesus, the Feast of Pentecost and the so-called gift of tongues, Peter's sermon delivered on that occasion, the arrest of Peter and John in the Temple at Jerusalem, the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, the stoning of Stephen, Philip's meeting with the eunuch and the baptism that followed, the story of Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus, and Peter's visit with Cornelius, the centurion. In addition to giving us some insight concerning the early activities of the Christian community, these accounts are especially valuable in that they tell us about the beliefs that Christians held concerning Jesus prior to the writing of the Gospels.
