The Acts of the Apostles (lat. Actus Apostolorum ) is the fifth book of the New Testament. It is commonly referred to as Acts and outlines the history of the Apostolic Age. The author is traditionally identified as Luke the Evangelist.
Composition
Main article: Authorship of Luke-ActsWhile the precise identity of the author is debated, the general consensus is that this gospel was composed by a Greek Gentile writing for an audience of Gentile Christians.
Title
The title "Acts of the Apostles" (Greek Πράξεις ἀποστόλων Praxeis Apostolon ) was not part of the original text. It was first used by Irenaeus late in the second century. Some have suggested that the title "Acts" be interpreted as "The Acts of the Holy Spirit" or even "The Acts of Jesus," since 1:1 gives the impression that these acts were set forth as an account of what Jesus continued to do and teach, Jesus himself being the principal actor .
Genre
Main article: Genre criticismThe word "Acts" (Greek PRAXIES ) denoted a recognized genre in the ancient world, "characterizing books that described great deeds of people or of cities." There are several such books in the New Testament apocrypha, including the Acts of Thomas, the Acts of Andrew, and the Acts of John.
Modern scholars assign a wide range of genres to the Acts of the Apostles, including biography, novel and epic. Most, however, interpret it as history.
Others have also suggested that the book of Acts may have been written as a legal document written in defence of Paul of Tarsus, for his trial in front of the Emperor in Rome, an event mentioned in the Book of Acts itself.
Sources
Main article: Source criticismThe author of Acts likely relied upon other sources, as well as oral tradition, in constructing his account of the early church and Paul's ministry. Evidence for this is found in the prologue to the Gospel of Luke, wherein the author alludes to his sources by writing, "Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word." Some scholars theorize that the "we" passages in Acts are just such "handed down" quotations from some earlier source who accompanied Paul on his travels.
It is generally believed that the author of Acts did not have access to a collection of Paul's letters. One piece of evidence suggesting this is that, although half of Acts centers on Paul, Acts never directly quotes from the Pauline epistles nor does it even mention Paul writing letters. Discrepancies between the Pauline epistles and Acts further supports the conclusion that the author of Acts did not have access to those epistles when composing Acts.
Other theories about Acts' sources are more controversial. Some historians believe that Acts borrows phraseology and plot elements from Euripides' play The Bacchae. Some feel that the text of Acts shows evidence of having used the Jewish historian Josephus as a source (in which case it would have to have been written sometime after 94 AD).
Historical Accuracy
Main article: Historical reliability of the Acts of the ApostlesThe question of authorship is largely bound up with the one of the historical value of the contents. Conservative scholars view the book of Acts as being extremely accurate and corroborated by archaeology while skeptics view the work as being inaccurate.
Date
Main article: Dating the BibleTraditionally the book of Acts has been dated in the second half of the first century. At one extreme, Norman Geisler dates it as early as between 60-62. Donald Guthrie noted that the absence of any mention of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 would be unlikely if the book were written afterwards. He also suggested that since the book does not mention the death of Paul, a central character in the final chapters, it was likely penned before his death. Guthrie also saw traces of Acts in Polycarp's letter to the Philippians (written between 110-140) and one letter by Ignatius († before 117) and thought that Acts probably was current in Antioch and Smyrna not later than circa 115, and perhaps in Rome as early as circa 96. Another argument used in favor of a 1st century origin of Acts is the suggested absence of clear references to Paul's Epistles.
On the other hand, the lack of a mention of the destruction of Jerusalem is also used as an argument for a later date, well beyond 70, while the prologue to Luke's Gospel itself implies the dying out of the generation of eyewitnesses as a class. The Tübingen school and its heirs suggested a date in the early 2nd century, partially on observing traces of 2nd century Gnosticism, "hierarchical" ideas of organization, and in light of the relation of the Roman state to the Christians, though William Ramsey used the latter instead to suggest an origin prior to Pliny's correspondence with Trajan on the subject in the year 100.
Parallels between Acts and Josephus' The Wars of the Jews (written in 75-80) and Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94) have long been argued. Several scholars have argued that Acts used material of both of Josephus' works, rather than the other way around, which would indicate that Acts was written around the year 100 or later. Three points of contact with Josephus in particular are cited. (1) The circumstances attending the death of Agrippa I in 44. Here Acts 12:21-23 is largely parallel to Antiquities 19.8.2; but the latter adds an omen of coming doom, while Acts alone gives a circumstantial account of the occasion of Herod's public appearance. Hence the parallel, when analyzed, tells against dependence on Josephus. So also with (2) the cause of the Egyptian pseudo-prophet in Acts 21:37f. and in Josephus (War 2.13.5; Antiquities 20.8.6) for the numbers of his followers do not agree with either of Josephus's rather divergent accounts, while Acts alone calls them "Sicarii". With these instances in mind, it is natural to regard (3) the curious resemblance as to the order in which Theudas and Judas of Galilee are referred to in both (Acts 5:36f; Antiquities 20.5.1) as accidental.
Place
The place of composition is still an open question. For some time Rome and Antioch have been in favor, and Blass combined both views in his theory of two editions. But internal evidence points strongly to the Roman province of Asia, particularly the neighborhood of Ephesus. Note the confident local allusion in 19:9 to "the school of Tyrannus" and in 19:33 to "Alexander"; also the very minute topography in 20:13–15. At any rate affairs in that region, including the future of the church of Ephesus (20:28–30), are treated as though they would specially interest "Theophilus" and his circle; also an early tradition makes Luke die in the adjacent Bithynia. Finally it was in this region that there arose certain early glosses (e.g., 19:9; 20:15), probably the earliest of those referred to below. How fully in correspondence with such an environment the work would be, as apologia for the Church against the Synagogue's attempts to influence Roman policy to its harm, must be clear to all familiar with the strength of Judaism in Asia (cf. Rev 2:9, 3:9; and see Sir W. M. Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches , ch. xii.).
Manuscripts
Main article: Biblical manuscriptLike most biblical books, there are differences between the earliest surviving manuscripts of Acts. In the case of Acts, however, the differences between the surviving manuscripts are more substantial. The two earliest versions of manuscripts are the Western text-type (as represented by the Codex Bezae) and the Alexandrian text-type (as represented by the Codex Sinaiticus). The version of Acts preserved in the Western manuscripts contains about 10% more content than the Alexandrian version of Acts. Since the difference is so great, scholars have struggled to determine which of the two versions is closer to the original text composed by the original author.
The earliest explanation, suggested by Swiss theologian Jean LeClerc in the 17th century, posits that the longer Western version was a first draft, while the Alexandrian version represents a more polished revision by the same author. Adherents of this theory argue that even when the two versions diverge, they both have similarities in vocabulary and writing style—suggesting that the two shared a common author. However, it has been argued that if both texts were written by the same individual, they should have exactly identical theologies and they should agree on historical questions. Since most modern scholars do detect subtle theological and historical differences between the texts, most scholars do not subscribe to the rough-draft/polished-draft theory - res ipsa loquitur.
A second theory assumes common authorship of the Western and Alexandrian texts, but claims the Alexandrian text is the short first draft, and the Western text is a longer polished draft. A third theory is that the longer Western text came first, but that later, some other redactor abbreviated some of the material, resulting
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