Since Luke-Acts was originally a single work, it is important to note that the purpose of Acts is normally examined in conjunction with the Book of Luke.

“ Acts, then is a continuation of the Lucan Gospel, not in the sense that it relates what Jesus continued to do, but how his followers carried out his commission under the guidance of his Spirit .” Thus, part of the answer to the purpose of Acts is that Luke is writing to Theophilus, who is also mentioned in Luke 1: 3, in order to explain to him the occurrences that take place in the church that fulfill Jesus ’ promise to his disciples that “ you will be baptized with, the Holy Spirit not many days from now ” ( Acts 1: 5 ).

Some scholars believe that the apologetic view of Luke ’ s work is overemphasized and that it should not be regarded as a “ major aim of the Lucan writings .” While Munck believes that purpose of Luke ’ s work is not that clear-cut and sympathizes with other claims, he believes that Luke ’ s work can function as an apology only in the sense that it “ presents a defense of Christianity and Paul ” and may serve to “ clarify the position of Christianity within Jewry and within the Roman Empire .” Pervo disagrees that Luke ’ s work is an apology and even that it could possibly be addressed to Rome because he believes that “ Luke and Acts speak to insiders, believers in Jesus .” Freedman believes that Luke is writing an apology but that his goal is “ not to defend the Christian movement as such but to defend God ’ s ways in history .”

( Acts 3: 13 ; 5: 30 ; 15: 10 ; 22: 14 ; 26: 6 ; 28: 5 ) Those who agree with this claim often reject that Luke is writing an apology.

Many who side with this view disagree that Luke portrays Christianity or the Roman Empire as harmless and thus reject the apologetic view because “ Acts does not present Christians as politically harmless or law abiding for there are a large number of public controversies concerning Christianity, particularly featuring Paul .” For example, to support this view Cassidy references how Paul is accused of going against the Emperor because he is “ saying that there is another king named Jesus .” ( Acts 17: 7 ) Furthermore, there are multiple examples of Paul ’ s preaching causing uprisings in various cities ( Acts 14: 2 ; 14: 19 ; 16: 19-23 ; 17: 5 ; 17: 13-14 ; 19: 28-40 ; 21: 27 ).

Supporters of this view believe that the Roman Empire does not threaten the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ because Luke “ simply recognizes its existence as a political reality, but he is clear that God is greater .” Throughout Acts, believers like Paul are being charged with spiritual crimes concerning “ teaching against Israel, the law, and the temple ” ( Acts 21: 21, 28 ; 23: 29 ; 24: 5 ; 25: 8, 19 ; 28: 17 ) or being a civil disturbance ( Acts 16: 20, 21: 38, 25: 8 ) rather than political charges.

Representing a traditional view, however, some prominent scholars and historians view the book of Acts as being quite accurate and corroborated by archaeology, while agreeing with the Pauline epistles.

Acts tells the story of the Apostolic Age of the Early Christian church, with particular emphasis on the ministry of the Twelve Apostles and of Paul of Tarsus.

The structure of the book of Luke is closely tied with the structure of Acts.

Whereas the members of Jewish Christianity were circumcised and adhered to dietary laws, the Pauline Christianity featured in Acts did not require Gentiles to be circumcised or to obey all of the Mosaic laws, which is consistent with Noahide Law.

The final chapter of Acts ends with Paul condemning non-Christian Jews and saying " Therefore I want you to know that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!

Titus was with Paul and Barnabas at Antioch and accompanied them to the Council of Jerusalem, although his name occurs nowhere in the Acts of the Apostles.

In harmony with Paul's notices are the statements in Acts that Apollos was a highly educated Alexandrian Jew, who " spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, even though he knew only the baptism of John.

The Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalists in the 5th United States Congress in the aftermath of the French Revolution and during an undeclared naval war with Britain and France, later known as the Quasi-War.

Mikhalev, Monoids, Acts and Categories: with Applications to Wreath Products and Graphs, De Gruyter Expositions in Mathematics vol.

Paul returned with him to Antioch and labored with him for a whole year ( Acts 11: 25, 26 ).

Shortly after they returned, bringing John Mark with them, they were appointed as missionaries to Asia Minor, and in this capacity visited Cyprus and some of the principal cities of Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia ( Acts 13: 14 ).

The author of Acts likely relied upon oral tradition, as well as other sources, in constructing his account of the early church and Paul's ministry.

Historians believe that the author of Acts did not have access to a collection of Paul's letters.

Scholars generally prefer Paul's account over that in Acts.

Surprisingly, Acts does not record the outcome of Paul's legal troubles — some traditions hold that Paul was ultimately executed in Rome, while other traditions have him surviving the encounter and later traveling to Spain — see Paul-Imprisonment & Death.

In Acts, attention is given to the religious persecution of the early Christians, as in the case of Stephen's martyrdom and the numerous examples are Paul's persecution for his preaching of Christianity.

* The Apostle Paul's Shipwreck: An Historical Investigation of Acts 27 and 28

Moreover, Paul's description of the Council of Jerusalem ( Gal 2: 1 – 10 ) gives a different point of view from the description in Acts 15: 2 – 29.

However, it should be noted that variations on this geographic theory would have the epistle written during Paul's 2nd Missionary Journey around 50-52, or during the events described in Acts.

Fung holds, then, that Paul's apostolic mission began almost immediately in Damascus ( Acts 9: 20 ).

According to Ehrman, the Book of Acts tells a different story of Paul's career, but in this case it reports that, while there were " some " Jews converted during Paul's initial preaching in Thessalonica, the gentiles who were converted were " a large number " and the Jews as a body fiercely opposed Paul's work there.

In order to see that these churches were properly established ( as was Paul's typical pattern, see Acts 14: 21 – 23 ), Paul left Titus in Crete.

While the traditional view that Paul's companion Luke authored the gospel is still often put forward, a number of possible contradictions between Acts and Paul's letters lead many scholars to dispute this account.

The Book of Acts contradicts the letters of Paul on many points, such as Paul's second trip to Jerusalem for an apostolic council.

If Luke was only a sometime companion of Paul who idealized him long after his death, that could explain the differences between Acts and Paul's letter.

There is just as little against such an acceptation in the later account in Acts of St. Paul's third missionary journey.

The main source for historical information about Paul's life is the material found in several of his epistles and the Book of Acts.

The Book of Acts also recounts Paul's career but leaves several parts of Paul's life out of its narrative, such as his ( alleged ) execution in Rome.

According to the Acts of the Apostles and Paul's Letter to the Galatians, he had contact with at least two of the named witnesses of the creed, James and Peter.

Guthrie also saw traces of Acts in Polycarp's letter to the Philippians ( written between 110-140 ) and one letter by Ignatius († about 117 ) and thought that Acts probably was current in Antioch and Smyrna not later than c. 115, and perhaps in Rome as early as c. 96.

Authorship has also occasionally been attributed to the apostle James the Great, brother of John the Evangelist and son of Zebedee The letter does mention persecutions in the present tense ( 2: 6 ), and this is consistent with the persecution in Jerusalem during which James the Great was martyred ( Acts 12: 1 ).

In addition, the exclusion of any mention of the letter of Acts 15 is seen to indicate that such a letter did not yet exist, since Paul would have been likely to use it against the legalism confronted in Galatians.

Tertullian ( c. a. d. 160 – 225 ) wrote that when it was discovered that a church elder had composed a pseudonymous work, The Acts of Paul ( which included a purported Pauline letter, 3 Corinthians ), the offending elder “ was removed from his office ” ( On Baptism 17 ).

Paul was about to travel to Jerusalem on writing the letter, which matches Acts where it is reported that Paul stayed for three months in Greece.

Several sources informed Paul of conflicts within the church at Corinth: Apollos ( Acts 19: 1 ), a letter from the Corinthians, the " household of Chloe ", and finally Stephanas and his two friends who had visited Paul ( 1: 11 ; 16: 17 ).

From the Acts of the Apostles () and the letter to the Philippians (), early Christians concluded that Paul had founded their community.

The letter doesn't indicate where he is writing from, but it is usually dated after Paul left Ephesus for Macedonia ( Acts 20 ), from either Philippi or Thessalonica in Macedonia.

( This letter, adopted in response to the 1767 Townshend Acts, called for united colonial action against the acts.

There is a pseudepigrapha letter reporting on the crucifixion, purporting to have been sent by Pontius Pilate to the Emperor Claudius, embodied in the pseudepigrapha known as the Acts of Peter and Paul, of which the Catholic Encyclopedia states, " This composition is clearly apocryphal though unexpectedly brief and restrained.

" There is no internal relation between this feigned letter and the 4th-century Acts of Pilate ( Acta Pilati ).

These were created in 1809 following a letter from Rev Stephen Demainbray to King George III in which he asked the king to spare, in perpetuity, 6 acres from the Inclosure Acts for the benefit of the poor of the parish.

Perhaps the best specimen of his skill was the letter written to the protector Somerset in 1548 on behalf of Sedbergh School, which was attached to St John's College by the founder, Dr Lupton, in 1525, and the endowment of which had been confiscated under the Chantries Acts.

In his encyclical letter, Miserentissimus Redemptor, on reparations, Pope Pius XI called Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ a duty for Catholics and referred to them as " some sort of compensation to be rendered for the injury " with respect to the sufferings of Jesus.

In order to take his seat and become an active Parliamentarian, he needed to signify his allegiance to the Crown and on 3 May Bradlaugh came to the Table of the House of Commons, bearing a letter to the Speaker " begging respectfully to claim to be allowed to affirm " instead of taking the religious Oath of Allegiance, citing the Evidence Amendment Acts of 1869 and 1870.

In 1768, a letter voted by the Massachusetts assembly called for the universal boycott of British imports in opposition to the Townshend Acts.

They were instructed to gain the colony's agreement to terms demanded by Charles in a letter he sent to the colonial government in 1662, in which he instructed the colony to adopt more tolerant religious laws, and to enforce the Navigation Acts.

The enforcement of the Navigation Acts was conducted by Dudley and Randolph, although they did not adhere to the letter of the laws.

Lyon had also, before the Alien and Sedition Acts had been passed, written a letter to one Alden Spooner, the publisher of the Vermont Journal.