Acts · New Testament
Acts
c. AD 30–62
- Section
- Acts · New Testament
- Events span
- c. AD 30–62
- Written
- c. AD 62 critical view: c. AD 80–90
- Author
- Luke, the physician and companion of Paul critical view: Anonymous (traditionally Luke), c. AD 80–90
Acts, Luke's sequel, tells how the risen Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and how the gospel spread from Jerusalem to Rome — through Peter's leadership of the early church and Paul's missionary journeys, despite persecution, all the way to the heart of the empire.
Chronological placement: The backbone of New Testament history (c. AD 30–62). Most of the epistles were written during the events Acts narrates, and are placed after it here by date of composition.
Key themes
- The coming of the Holy Spirit
- The birth and growth of the church
- Gospel to the ends of the earth
- Persecution and boldness
- Paul's missionary journeys
Key events
The Church in Jerusalem (Acts 1–7)
- The risen Jesus commissions the disciples and ascends to heaven
- The Holy Spirit falls at Pentecost; Peter preaches and three thousand are saved
- Peter and John heal a lame man and preach boldly despite arrest
- The believers share everything; Ananias and Sapphira are struck down for lying
- Stephen becomes the first martyr, stoned as Saul looks on approvingly
The Gospel Spreads (Acts 8–12)
- Persecution scatters the church; Philip preaches in Samaria and to an Ethiopian official
- Saul is converted by the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus
- Peter is sent to Cornelius, and the gospel is opened to the Gentiles
- An angel frees Peter from prison, and King Herod dies under judgment
Paul's Missionary Journeys (Acts 13–28)
- Paul and Barnabas are sent out on the first missionary journey
- The Jerusalem Council decides Gentiles need not keep the law of Moses to be saved
- The second journey: Philippi, Thessalonica, and Athens (the Areopagus)
- The third journey centers on Ephesus, where the gospel disrupts the idol trade
- Paul is arrested in Jerusalem and testifies before governors and King Agrippa
- Paul survives shipwreck and reaches Rome, preaching the kingdom under house arrest
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”