" There are several such books in the New Testament apocrypha, including the Acts of Thomas, the Acts of Andrew, and the Acts of John.

" Some scholars theorize that the " we " passages in Acts are just such " handed down " quotations from some earlier source who accompanied Paul on his travels.

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 differs with Paul's letter on important issues, such as the Law, Paul's own apostleship, and his relation to the Jerusalem church.

To this end he " added some touches where surviving tradition seemed to contain trustworthy additional particulars ," such as the statement that Paul taught in the lecture-room of Tyrannus " from the fifth to the tenth hour " ( added to Acts 19: 9 ).

As a result, Acts is particularly influential among branches of Christianity which place particular emphasis in the Holy Spirit, such as Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement.

Acts also features an emphasis on prayer and includes a number of notable prayers such as the Believers ' Prayer (), Stephen's death prayer (), and Simon Magus ' prayer ().

A typical example can be found in 2 Chronicles 9: 29 and references the work Acts of Solomon and, additionally, several unknown prophets, such as Ahijah the Shilonite and the seer Ido.

Acts of formal recognition, such as the erection of an altar over the saint's tomb or transferring the saint's relics to a church, were preceded by formal inquiries into the sanctity of the person's life and the miracles attributed to that person's intercession.

Christians explain that such selectivity is based on rulings made by early Jewish Christians in the Book of Acts, at the Council of Jerusalem, that, while believing gentiles did not need to fully convert to Judaism, they should follow some aspects of Torah like avoiding idolatry and fornication and blood, including, according to some interpretations, homosexuality.

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.

Volunteers, such as those involved in GenerousGenealogists, a follow-on group similar to Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness ( now defunct ), do record lookups or take photos in their home areas for researchers who are unable to travel.

Different aspects of speaking in tongues appear in Acts and 1 Corinthians, such that the Assemblies of God declare that the gift in Acts " is the same in essence as the gift of tongues " in 1 Corinthians " but different in purpose and use ".

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

By 2006, such was the confusion from these multiple Acts, each amending the others ( and not all of which were ever actually commenced and thus were in the public record but not enforced as actual legislation ); and the amendments of Irish firearms legislation by other Acts ranging from the Wildlife Acts ( mostly relating to hunting law ) to the Road Traffic Acts ( relating to how and where firearms could be transported ) and others ; the large amount of secondary legislation ( Statutory Instruments, which set out regulations, the design of application forms for licences and so forth, as well as the details of when various parts of the Acts came into force ); as well as the introduction of EU firearms law into the canon of Irish legislation ; led the Irish Law Reform Commission to recommend that all the extant legislation be restated a legal process by which all the existing primary and secondary legislation would be read as one and a single document produced as the new Firearms Act ( and all prior Acts would be repealed ).

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

Early Church Fathers such as Jerome and Eusebius claimed that he was the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles and this is the traditional Christian view today.

“ 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 ).

In fact, Fitzmyer believes that the preface of Luke should only be “ the starting point in the discussion of the aim of Luke-Acts .” Because the author ’ s intended purpose for the Book of Acts is not that straightforward, scholars have put forth four main claims to address this.

Some believe that Luke ’ s gospel can be seen to mirror the Jewish apologetic literature of the time which served to “ defend Jews against misunderstanding and persecution .” Acts is said to be a:

Supporters of this view believe that “ to a hypothetical outside reader, presents Christianity as enlightened, harmless, even beneficent .” Some believe that through this work, Luke intended to show the Roman Empire that the root of Christianity is within Judaism so that the Christians “ may receive the same freedom to practice their faith that the Roman Empire afforded the Jews .” Those who support the view of Luke ’ s work as political apology generally draw evidence from the facts that Christians are found innocent of committing any political crime ( Acts 25: 25 ; 19: 37 ; 19: 40 ) and that Roman officials ’ views towards Christians are generally positive.

Also, supporters of this view would characterize Luke ’ s portrayal of the Roman Empire as positive because they believe Luke “ glosses over negative aspects of the empire and presents imperial power positively .” For example, when Paul is before the council defending himself, Paul says that he is “ on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead ” ( Acts 23: 6 ).

Esler believes that this specific point is supported through Luke ’ s emphasis on citing examples of Romans who come to believe in Christ ( Acts 10: 1-11: 18 ; 13: 12 ; 18: 7 ).

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 ).

By picturing Roman authority negatively proponents of this view believe that it is emphasizing the fact that Christian ’ s should obey and submit to Christ ’ s authority ( Acts 4: 19-20 ; 5: 29 ).

“ Charges of sedition come from the Jews ” ( Acts 17: 6-7 ; 24: 5 ) which shows that Luke ’ s emphasis was not on the politics of the Empire but rather on the spiritual matters of believers.

" ( Acts 28: 14-15 ) While Walton agrees that Luke ’ s main concern is apolitical, he believes that “ there is too much politically sensitive material for this view to be tenable when Luke-Acts is read in its first-century settings, both Jewish and Greco-Roman .”

When Jesus told Lazarus ’ sister, Martha, that Lazarus would rise again, she replied, " I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day ". 11: 24 Also, one of the two main branches of the Jewish religious establishment, the Pharisees, believed in and taught the future resurrection of the body. Acts 23: 1-8

In Acts of the Apostles, Ephesian metal smiths who felt threatened by Saint Paul ’ s preaching of Christianity, jealously rioted in her defense, shouting “ Great is Diana of the Ephesians !” ( Acts 19: 28, New English Bible ).

The closest is the miracle of the woman who was healed by touching the hem of Jesus ’ garment ( Luke 8: 43 – 48 ); her name is later identified as Veronica by the apocryphal " Acts of Pilate ".

Although many assume that the biblical Mark the Cousin of Barnabas ( Colossians 4: 10 ) is the same as John Mark ( Acts 12: 12, 25 ; 13: 5, 13 ; 15: 37 ) and Mark the Evangelist, the traditionally believed author of the Gospel of Mark, according to Hippolytus of Rome, the three " Mark " s are distinct persons.

The Liber Pontificalis, basing itself on the Acts of St Marcellinus, the text of which is lost, relates that during Diocletian ’ s persecution Marcellinus was called upon to sacrifice, and offered incense to idols, but that, repenting shortly afterwards, he confessed the faith of Christ and suffered martyrdom with several companions.

Messianic believers cite the cutting off of Paul ’ s hair at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken ( Acts 18: 18 ), references in passing to him observing the Jewish holidays, and his consistent good standing with his Rabbinic master Gamaliel, to show that he was wholly in continued observance of the laws and traditions of Judaism.

* On June 22, 2012 George Washington ‘ s personal annotated copy of the “ Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America ” from 1789, which includes The Constitution of the United States and a draft of the Bill of Rights, was sold at Christie ’ s for a record $ 9, 826, 500, with fees the final cost, to The Mount Vernon Ladies ' Association.

The Acts were given their short titles by the Statute Law Revision Act 1948, s. 5, sch. 2.

Acts like Brownman Revival, Put3Ska and Roots Revival of Cebu, Philippines have been instrumental in popularizing what is called " Island Riddims ".

Acts that have performed for Leftfoot include Gilles Peterson, Mr Scruff, DJ Patife, Cleveland Watkiss, Keb Darge, Roots Manuva, Bonobo and Ninja Tune records.

Acts on the Main Stage included Moby, hip hop musician Grandmaster Flash, experimental rock band Fucked Up and punk rock singer Patti Smith, British singers Lily Allen and Ebony Bones, British band Madness and British rapper Roots Manuva, The Prodigy, Arctic Monkeys, Manic Street Preachers, German electronic band Kraftwerk and American nu metal band Korn.

Notably, the Acts of Union which created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland made mention of " the university of Trinity College ".

Leaders and scriptural texts of the LDS Church actually affirm a belief in the Holy Trinity but use the word " Godhead " ( a term used by the Apostle Paul in Acts 17: 29 ; Romans 1: 20, and Colossians 2: 9 ) as a means to set apart their belief that the unity of the three persons of the Trinity includes unity in all things, except a physical unity of beings.

In the first of its fifty-six canons the council condemned Adoptionism, and in the second repudiated the Second Council of Nicaea of 787, which, according to the faulty Latin translation of its Acts ( see Caroline Books ), seemed to decree that the same kind of worship should be paid to images as to the Blessed Trinity, though the Greek text clearly distinguishes between latreia and proskynesis ; this constituted a condemnation of iconoclasm.