Bible (New Testament): English Standard Version

The Book of Acts (short for “The Acts of the Apostles”) offers an account of the early history of the Christian Church, focusing first on the ministry of Peter and the believers in Jerusalem, and then on the missionary journeys of the apostle Paul. As such, Acts covers a period of about 30 years, from Jesus’s ascension after his resurrection (near or shortly after 30 CE) to Paul’s arrival as a prisoner in Rome (shortly after 60 CE). It is the only book in the New Testament devoted to church history. Acts is sometimes grouped with the Gospel of Luke because of its shared authorship and stylistic connections, but it is more often treated separately because of the division of content between the two books. The introduction to Acts makes it clear that it is written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke, traditionally identified as Luke the doctor, who accompanies Paul on some of his missionary journeys.

The narrative of Acts picks up the story where the Gospel of Luke leaves off, giving an account of Jesus’s final instructions to his followers before his ascension. Jesus tells his disciples to wait until the Holy Spirit is sent to them, after which they are to spread the news about Jesus: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). After waiting and praying in Jerusalem for 10 days, the Holy Spirit is poured out on the group of believers on Pentecost, manifested by miraculous signs such as the appearance of tongues of flame over their heads and the ability to communicate in multiple different languages. The disciples’ preaching leads to several thousand new believers joining the church in Jerusalem. This early community of Christians was marked by frequent meetings for worship, prayer, and fellowship, as well as by a generous sharing of resources. Three main developments marked the continued development of the early church. First, it experienced immediate and persistent persecution from local authorities, which led to the imprisonment and torture of leaders like Peter and John, and to the martyrdoms of the disciple James and the deacon Stephen. This persecution forced some Christians to flee Jerusalem, and those Christians spread their faith to other locations. Second, internal pressures forced the church to develop a set of offices for organizing itself, of which the first were the disciples themselves and a group of leaders appointed to serve in practical ministry, usually identified as deacons (another office, called elders, would be mentioned later in Acts). Third, groups other than Jews began responding to the gospel and being converted, together with accompanying signs of the Holy Spirit’s presence. This included Samaritans and Gentiles, groups Jewish people traditionally held at arm’s length.

One of the local officials who had most fiercely persecuted the Jerusalem Church was Saul of Tarsus, whom most of the New Testament texts refer to as Paul. While on a journey to hunt down Christians in Damascus, Paul has a dramatic encounter with the resurrected Jesus, and this experience transforms his life. He goes from being a persecutor of the church to its most passionate advocate, and he is eventually commissioned as a missionary. Paul and his companions travel through Cyprus, Asia Minor, and Greece, introducing the message of Jesus. Paul tends to address his message first to local Jewish synagogues, and then to the broader Gentile community, but he meets resistance and persecution many times along the way. Acts ends with an extended narrative of Paul’s return to Jerusalem, his arrest by local authorities, and a series of legal trials he undergoes, culminating in his transportation to Rome as a prisoner.