Acts of the Apostles
Art copyrighted and used courtesy of Artist Alex Pokos
INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK
Theme: The work of the risen Jesus Christ continues through the Holy Spirit and His presence in establishing the Church through the spreading of the message by the men that had seen and heard Jesus Christ personally.
The book originally had no title. In the second century it became known by the title “The Acts of the Apostles”. Some have said the title was given because the Apostles are all named in the first chapter.
Many of these Apostles are never mentioned again and some only briefly. A simpler title would be “The continuing work of the risen Christ through the Holy Spirits presence on the men that were His disciples while he was on earth”.
Acts chronicles the Apostles and believers setting out to fulfill the commission set forth in Acts 1:8 by Jesus. He told them to go “be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Author = Luke, writer of the Gospel of Luke around 63 A.D. Although he is given credit by “scholars” there is one interesting fact to note. There are passages during the missionary travels of Paul that change “tense” during the recounting of events. Suddenly the narrative transforms from “they” to “we”. It appears as though the previous writer changed. It may be that the new writer has just arrived back on the scene or someone is “covering” until the writer returns. It is of note that Luke is not mentioned “by name” when individuals are mentioned during the journeys.
The Book can also be divided into four sections.
SECTION I - Acts chapter 1 through Acts 8:3
It is a definitive record of the foundations and structure that established the group of early believers. This section covers the beginning of the Gospel following the Day of Pentecost experience of Acts 2. This was the start in “Jerusalem and all Judea”.
SECTION II – Acts 8:4 through Acts 12
Following the death of Stephen there was heavy persecution. Especially due to the role of Saul of Tarsus. This began the great dispersal of the Gospel. Beginning with the work of Philip out to “Samaria”. Saul has his conversion experience and Peter helps open the outreach to the Gentiles.
SECTION III – Acts 13 through Acts 20
Probably the most taught on section as it records the missionary travels of Paul and his team to the “uttermost part of the earth”.
SECTION IV – Acts 21 through Acts 28
Paul’s arrest and confinement. The stand Paul makes before man and the time he is now given to pen his letters changes the world.
CHAPTER OVERVIEWS
MINISTRY BEGINNINGS
Chapter 1 Waiting for the Promise
Chapter 2 Pentecost Arrival of the Holy Spirit
Chapter 3:1– 4:31 Directly to the Temple
Chapter 4:32 – 5:42 Ministry Begins
Chapters 6-7 Ministry and Life of Stephen
DISPERSAL OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE
Chapter 8 Philip to Samaria
Chapter 9 Conversion of Saul; Gospel Spreads
Chapters 10-11 Gospel Dispersion to Gentiles
Chapter 12 Peter’s Miraculous Prison Escape
MISSIONARY JOURNEYS OF PAUL
Chapters 13-14 First Missionary Trip
Chapter 15 Jerusalem Conference on Gentiles
Chapter 16-18 Second Missionary Trip
Chapter 19-20 Third Missionary Trip
ARREST AND CONFINEMENT OF PAUL
Chapter 21-23 Paul’s Arrest in Jerusalem
Chapter 24-26 Prison in Caesarea
Chapter 27-28 Paul sent to Rome
Other Info related to the Book of Acts
Copyright and Duplication Notification:
With exception of the quoted Scripture verses from the King James Bible, all items
located on this website are either created by WD Kemner (unless indicated otherwise) and
free for your use or are in the public domain and free to use.
Documents created by other authors are referenced to by external hyperlinks.
Those items are protected by the copyrights which govern those websites and permission
to use materials from those sites must be obtained from those authors.
Map of Jerusalem in First Century (Royalty free map)
------------------------------------------
A timeline can be developed from the Acts narrative of Paul’s Missionary stops.
It makes it easier to follow names and locations that Paul visits and writes his epistles to later.
Click the following link to see a: Timeline sheet of Paul’s Missionary trips in PDF format.
------------------------------------------
Emperors of Rome during the time period
of the New Testament. 30 B.C. – 117 A.D.
Augustus – census and birth of Christ
Tiberius – Crucifixion of Christ
Caligula – bloody ruler, known as “little boots”
Claudius – time of the book of Acts
Nero – Trial of Paul
Galba
Otho
Vitellius
Vespasian – Destruction of Jerusalem
Titus
Domitian
Nerva
Trajan
------------------------------------------
Merrill Tenny’s 1987 book “New Testament Survey” (Eerdmans Publishing)
This textbook has several charts that are useful for a complete study.
Included are the following jpg images from that book.
ROMAN PROCURATORS OF JUDEA - A list of the Procurators during the time of the New Testament.
THE HERODIAN FAMILY TREE - This family was NOT of the Royal Jewish lineage but were appointed by the nations in control of the area at that time to govern.
--------------------------------------------
BiblesWordFinal Blog https://bibleswordfinal.blogspot.com
Articles written for the blog regarding the Book of Acts:
What affect did Easter have on Acts 3?
Is the church today living up to example of Acts 2 church?
CLICK TO RETURN TO EPISTLES MAIN PAGE
Website Design and Layout is Copyrighted by WD Kemner @ 2024 for BiblesWordFinal