Page 3 - Acts Student Textbook

Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles
By Gideon Mwale, MABE

Study Section 1: Introductory Matters of the Book of Acts

1.1 Connect.

Does it interest you to know who might have written such an amazing book (book of Acts)
to give us the historical, pastoral, evangelistic, apologetic, missiolocal, scholarly, theological,
social, geographic, and economic narrative of the rise of the primitive church in Jerusalem
to Rome in Europe? Would you also like to know when, to whom, and under what
circumstances the book was written? Today we will try to answer these questions, not
pretending to be exhaustive, but enough to give us convincing proof of the traditional Christian
understanding. Let’s begin….

1.2 Objectives.

1. The student should be able to discuss the significance of the background matters of the
book of Acts.

2. The student should be able to validate who the author of the book of Acts is.

3. The student should be able to discuss the place and date of the writing of the book of Acts.

4. The student should be able to state the purpose(s) of writing.

1.3 Background Matters

Who is the author of the book of Acts?

External Evidence:

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We have a number of early and unchallenged witnesses from 2 c. to end of the 19 c. who
strongly attested to the fact that Luke, the physician, and traveling companion of Paul was
the author of the book of Acts. These are: The Muratorian Canon; Irenaeus Adv. Haer. 3.1;
3.14.1-4; anti-Marcionite prologue to Luke; Clement of Alexandria Strom. 5.12; Tertullian
Adv. Marc. 4.2; Eusebius H.E. 3.4; 3.24; 15.

Internal Evidence
The book nowhere directly states what man recorded the inspired
words. However, it is generally agreed to be the work of Luke for the
following reasons:

1. The author of Acts had written a “former account” of the life
of Jesus (1:1,2). This would indicate it was Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.
2. Both Acts and Luke are addressed to “Theophilus” (“lover of God” — cf. Luke 1:1-4 to Acts
1:1). The introductions are similar in other ways as well.

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