The book of Acts or the book of the Acts of the apostles as it is sometimes known is thought to have been written by Luke. Luke was a companion of Paul and is the only Gentile (non Jewish) writer in the bible. The name Acts derives from the Greek word praxis which means to practice, in this way Acts can be seen as a manual for mission. The book is historical and conveys the growth of the early church and its challenges, is was probably written in Cesarea and Rome. Acts like the book of Luke was written to Theophilus whom Luke calls 'most excellent' Theophilus was probably a Roman official or lawyer and was preparing a written defence for the trial of Paul in Rome but which also set out to explain the faith. The book is a good piece of research, recounting events in known places, using eye witness reports to counter misinformation about Jesus. Acts focuses on the trinity of Father, Son and Holy spirit even though the bible does not actually use the word trinity. More than half of the book relates to Paul, Jesus is mentioned 40 times in the first 13 chapters, the workings of the Holy Spirit are mentioned 70 times and God is mentioned 100 times so we also could rightly call the book 'The acts of God'. Acts is the link between the Gospels and the letters of Paul.
Acts starts in Jerusalem and ends in Rome and records events of the missionary journeys in between as Jesus had asked his followers to take his message to the ends of the earth to both the pagans and the religious, to both Jews and Gentiles. The followers were transformed from a timid frightened and demoralized group to become a bold vocal and visible witness initially operating around the temple in Jerusalem where they soon came into conflict with Judaism and the Roman authorities. Acts is basically the story of the forming of the early Church, there was no written guidance or formula, just what they had remembered from the teachings of Jesus and what the Holy spirit had led them to do. The early Church was a community, it used a common pot of money and shared common fellowship and meals together. The early Greek / Roman historian Aristides describes the behaviour of the early Christians as loving, sharing, doing good to everybody including their enemies, being humble and caring for the poor and homeless.
Peter got the ball rolling by standing up at the temple to begin preaching on the day of Pentecost. The Holy spirit falls on 120 disciples in the temple as they gather for prayer at 9 am. It descends upon them as tongues of flame and they receive the gift of speaking in tongues. This had echoes of Gods judgement at the tower of Babel although this time he turned misunderstanding into understanding enabling all the people of different languages to hear Peters sermon, many of whom would have returned to their countries to spread the good news. 3,000 were added to the Church that day a direct parallel to the 3,00 who were killed at Sinai.
The early part of the book centres on Jerusalem before the focus moves away from the Jews and toward the Gentiles, these recorded events demonstrate the power of the holy spirit in inspiring the early Christians. Peter and Paul both performed miracles, both saw visions, both suffered for their faith, both made speeches and preached in dangerous situations, both were imprisoned and miraculously freed, both healed people, both raised the dead, both died in Rome and both refused personal veneration, instead pointing people to the unique person of Jesus Christ. Luke honours both men equally. Luke stresses the spread and growth of the word of God and the early Church, it begins in Jerusalem, spreads into Judea and Samaria and onto Antioch, through Asia minor, Europe and across the Roman empire. The spread is initially North with only one example of the Ethiopian going south. Eventually Christianity grew to become world wide, covering vastly differing cultures.
The early Church soon encountered problems both within and without. The oneness of the followers was challenged when the Gentiles complained of receiving less food than the Jewish believers and this was addressed by appointing severn deacons to ensure the fair distribution of food and thus avoiding an early split. The sudden explosion of activity in the early Church unsettled the Jewish religious authorities and Stephen became the first Christian martyr when he was stoned to death for outlining Gods historical work before the temple was built and explaining that Gentiles as well as Jews were to be be included in the faith. This led to widespread persecution of Christians who were forced out to Samaria and Antioch where they continued to preach the good news. Luke records how Philip one of the severn deacons went to Samaria to teach, this was remarkable because the Samarians hated the Jews. It was a place where the disciples John and James had urged Jesus to bring down flames on the Samarians as a punishment but now many Samarians had come to faith and John and Peter had returned to pray that they would receive the flames of the Holy spirit. Philip also preached to the Ethiopian Eunuch the first African convert.
Chapter 9 describes the conversion of Saul of Tarsus who had previously persecuted the early Christians without mercy being zealous and aggressive in his opposition. His conversion is dramatic, hearing the voice of Jesus after being blinded by a great light, is given the new name of Paul and commissioned to be an apostle. Paul was a university educated man from the culturally diverse city of Tarsus. He knew Greek, was a writer of letters, he was a renowned Pharisee and religious scholar. Paul worked closely with Barnabus as they set out from Jerusalem on a series of missionary journeys. The early Church encountered problems regarding some of the Jewish rituals such as food laws and circumcision, for example Jews were forbidden to eat with Gentiles. Peter had to report to the apostles in Jerusalem that Gentiles were experiencing the Holy spirit even though they had no knowledge of the Jewish traditions and rituals. A council was convened in Jerusalem and it was decided that neither following food laws or being circumcised were required to be a believer, this ensured unity between the two groups and ensured that the apostles concentrated solely on spreading the faith.
Luke records Paul's teaching from his letters in the New Testament. Paul explains we are to be born again by repentance, faith and baptism in water as he himself was baptised and highlights what it means to be baptized in the Holy spirit. Acts explains how we as Christians are freed from the law of Moses into the law of Christ. Acts also describes life in the early Church recording discussions, rivalries, arguments, bad practices and immorality as well as its amazingly rapid growth.
As well as recording extraordinary events like the outpouring of the Holy spirit and the transformation of the frightened disciples into bold apostles, Acts tells the sobering story of Ananias and Saphirra who withheld money for themselves from selling land, the proceeds of which was intended to be shared with the poor. The story has echoes of Achan in Joshua 7 and their sudden death seems harsh to us today but it was important to set an example and establish integrity in the early Church. There was to be zero tolerance of corruption. These unique events enabled the apostles to be set apart for the task of building the early Church whereby today nearly 2 billion people across the globe identify with Jesus in some way. Had the early Church fallen into disrepute this could not have happened.
Barnabus was a frequent companion to Paul just as Jesus had sent his disciples out in two's. They preached in cities that were well populated, culturally diverse, on trade routes, in centres of philosophy or learning and in the main seats of power. These included Antioch in Syria where the word 'Christian' was first used, at Lystra which was a centre of worship for the Greek Gods of Zeus and Hermes and where they were both actually mistaken for Greek Gods where they were at pains to explain that they were there to teach the nature of the one true God. Paul taught in the great lecture hall at Ephesus with his fellow Epaphras going on to plant a Church at Collossae. Paul often went to the local Synagogue first when preaching in a new place as the Jews would have had a grounding in scripture, explaining to them that Jesus was the Messiah as foretold, the one toward whom they had been longing. When preaching to the Athenians he drew from Greek history and their concept of the unknown God. Paul explains that the God of Abraham is their unknown God. Paul adapted his teaching according to his audience in order to help them understand.
Paul would stay in a place for a considerable time in order to make disciples and encourage those to go out and plant new Churches, for example he stayed in Ephesus for two years. Paul persevered despite threats of violence, beatings and imprisonment, the more the follower of 'the way' were persecuted by Roman authorities and others, the faster the new Christian faith seemed to spread. Church meetings were usually held in peoples homes, there was no investment in property, all possessions were shared, believers were considered equal with leaders who were seen as servants to the community. Everyone was encouraged to use their spiritual gifts and there was just one body of believers with no different denominations. There was no infant baptism and no rituals other than adult baptism and the love meal. Churches appointed elders by a show of hands with prayer, fasting and serving the poor becoming common practice. When a particular Church became self supporting and self governing Paul and the apostles would move on but continued to send letters of encouragement and correction.
The book of Acts ends suddenly with no mention of how Paul dies although it is believed that after imprisonment in Rome he was beheaded. Persecution continued after Pauls death but the followers inspired by the Holy Spirit continued to preach the good news of Jesus Christ Acts is the beginning of the building of Gods kingdom here on earth.
Summary from- Unlocking the bible by David Pawson and The bible book by book - Cris Rogers