Introduction to the Author and Background of the Book of Acts

The original text of the book of Acts of the Apostles is in Greek. Acts chronicles the events following the resurrection, appearances, and ascension of Jesus Christ, detailing the ministries and martyrdoms of his apostles, including Paul. The author is the physician Luke, the only non-Jewish writer of the New Testament. This book is the fifth volume of the New Testament.

Luke’s Gospel and Acts are two parts of a single work. Their combined length (37,933 Greek words, 2,157 verses) makes up 27.5% of the New Testament (138,020 Greek words, 7,956 verses), which is longer than all of Paul’s letters combined. The two books have a consistent purpose: Luke’s Gospel reveals God’s work of salvation, and Acts reveals the purpose of that salvation. Salvation is not the ultimate goal but the beginning of God’s eternal plan. While salvation reconciles people with God, God has not yet received complete satisfaction because His plan is not only to “bring many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10) but also for them to work together in the Holy Spirit to “build up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12), so that Christ may be “head over everything for the church” (Ephesians 1:22), and God may “be glorified in the church and in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:21).

The Theophilus mentioned at the beginning of Acts was likely a seeker. Scholars believe he may have been a judge or a lawyer defending Paul. One of the purposes of Luke’s Gospel and Acts was to defend Paul, proving that neither Jesus, the founder of the Christian faith, nor Paul, its key messenger, had violated Roman law. In Luke’s Gospel, the Roman governor Pilate declared Jesus innocent three times (Luke 23:4, 14, 22), and in Acts, Roman officials also declared Paul innocent three times (Acts 23:29; 25:25; 26:31).

The author Luke was a close companion of the Apostle Paul. Luke meticulously recorded the conversations of Peter, Stephen, Cornelius, Tertullus, Paul, and others, noting their distinct styles and structures. Even Paul’s own speeches changed in style to suit his audience and the needs of the moment. The events recorded in this book, such as the persecution of the church by the Jews, the famine in Jerusalem, and the tolerance of the Roman government, mainly took place before the 60s AD. At the end of the book, Paul was still free to preach the gospel. The book makes no mention of Nero’s persecution of Christians in the mid-60s AD, Paul’s martyrdom, or the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Based on these clues, some scholars believe the book was written between 60 and 64 AD.

From the earliest periods, biblical scholars have considered the book of Acts to be part of the biblical canon. Portions of the book are found in several of the oldest surviving Greek papyrus manuscripts of the Bible, indicating that Acts was circulated alongside other divinely inspired sacred texts.