Their first order of business is to elect matthias as the twelfth apostle, replacing the traitor judas iscariot. This title accurately reflects the contents of the book, which is a series of vignettes chronicling the lives of key apostles especially peter and paul in. Pdf the book of acts as a narrative commentary on the. The first part of the book largely deals with the very early church. To make the picture abundantly clear, god has given us a hand picked record of the activities of the early church. Several questions can be answered from the first 2 verses. It is titled acts to emphasize that this book records the acts of the apostles through the work of the holy spirit. Anyhoo acts starts with jesus already back in black. Psalms the book of psalms and other old testament books are woven throughout the new testament luke 24. Acts recounts the story of the early church from the time of jesus ascension to pauls arrival as a prisoner in rome. Acts was written by the author of lukes gospel, luke. The title as we know it comes from the second century and only partially discloses the theme of.
Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. In the book of acts, we discover how gods multiethnic, international church grew through persecution and missionary journeys throughout the world. Acts summary we have detailed a brief summary of the book of acts for bible study or sunday school lessons. The title of the book of acts comes from the greek word praxis, a word often used in early christian literature to describe the great deeds of the apostles or other significant believers. Its obviously trying to record the background of the early church. The between the acts community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. The book of acts is a remarkable work of history and theology. Our story starts off where the gospel of luke left offjesus is back now that hes resurrected, jesus decides to hang out and chat with his disciples whom luke calls apostles for forty days. Actus apostolorum, often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth book of the new testament. As luke wrote to theophilus and the early church, he highlighted the vital importance of spreading the gospel of the kingdom of god through their witness to the nations of the earth in the power of the holy spirit. The life of the early church is recorded and preserved for us in the book of acts and the epistles.
The book of acts tells how the multiethnic, international. The beautiful, amazing, powerful, weak, dysfunctional church a chapterbychapter bible study of the book of acts 6 acts 1 50 days 1. Acts is a history of the early church and of the spread of the gospel note 1. Major themes in the book of acts the debate over the historical accuracy of the book of acts is important, in no small measure because as i have pointed out already it provides us our one and only narrative of what was happening among the followers of jesus in the years immediately after his death. Boldness or courage does not come as a matter of course but come as we rely upon. Acts 1 jesus taken up into heaven 1 in my former book, theophilus, i wrote about all that jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the holy spirit to the apostles he had chosen. The book of acts does not specifically identify its author. Stay connected amidst social distancing receive weekly bible studies to share with family and friends. Acts free bible commentary on the book of acts in easy english. While there are some areas of great detail of the acts of the apostles, many times you must use cross references to the gospels of matthew, mark, luke and john as well as some other epistles in the new testament to get the full picture of what was. The following outline is intended to be used while studying the book. In an essay of 750 words, analyze the thematic development of this first movement of the book of acts.
All the awesome things he said and did and the super cool way he died and came back to life again. Book of acts versebyverse bible study and indepth commentary of the acts of the apostles in plain english for everyone to understand. Acts of the apostles is kind of a tough one to nail down, genrewise. The beginning verses of acts make it clear that acts is a sequel of the story started in luke and written to the same man named theophilus, generally a title ascribed to highranking roman officials. Book of acts overview insight for living ministries.
Acts cliffsnotes study guides book summaries, test. This summary of the book of acts provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of acts. Author although the author does not name himself, evidence outside the scriptures and inferences from the book itself lead to the conclusion that the author was luke. Acts with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. Stephen said some words from the book by the prophet isaiah isaiah 66. As it is expected, the book of acts has a similar literary style as the gospel of luke because it is the second volume of lukes account. Luke was from antioch but traveled with paul all over southern europe and the middle east. Acts begins with jesuss charge to the twelve apostles to spread the gospel throughout the world. Acts 1, new international version niv the bible app. Acts 1 new international version niv jesus taken up into heaven. This is the story of christianitys beginnings and how evangelism played. The book of acts is an important book for understanding the actions of the apostles, mostly paul and peter, after jesuss ascension into heaven. Then in ch 15 there is an account of a church council in which the church leaders try to work out how to integrate the many gentile nonjew people.
The acts of apostles gives us a unique insight into how the church began. One reason for concluding both books came from the same author is that both. One reason for concluding both books came from the. The book of acts is the link between the gospels and the epistles. But ye will receive power, the holy spirit having come upon you, and ye shall be my witnesses both in jerusalem and in all judaea and samaria and to the end of the earth. There is no single chapter that does not exhibit gods power and wisdom in operation. Acts describes the inner world of secondcentury readers and their theological convictions and should not be used to.
An analysis of the book of acts babcock, wendall k on. It is titled acts to emphasize that this book records the acts of. This title accurately reflects the contents of the book, which is a series of vignettes chronicling the lives of key apostles especially peter and paul in the decades immediately following christs ascension into heaven. While there are some areas of great detail of the acts of the apostles, many times you must use cross references to the gospels of matthew, mark. This is the commentary for the acts of the apostles for the serious bible student and teacher. As the fifth book of the new testament and a sequel to the gospel of luke or the second volume of what is often called lukeacts, the acts of the apostles continues the story begun by luke. Barnabas acts 4 bible study questions handout acts 4. The gospel of luke records what jesus began both to do and teach in his human body, and the book of acts tells us what jesus continued to do and teach through his spiritual body, the church. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of bible. May 02, 2020 the book of acts shows how god essentially took a group of fisherman and commoners and used them to turn the world upside down acts 17.
The book of acts the book of acts is known as the birth of the church. Acts 1 niv jesus taken up into heaven in my bible gateway. While this is not an exclusive list, be sure to address the following elements. This seminarylevel study also retains its depth and uses an engaging interactive format. In a way, its similar to ancient histories or biographies. The acts of the apostles is a unique and therefore crucial book of the new testament.
It is not a record of all of the acts of all of the apostles, but of just some of the acts of some of the apostles. Luke, the author of the gospel of luke, was a doctor and gentile. In writing the book of acts, luke traces the expansion of the christian movement from its earliest beginnings to the time when it reached worldwide proportions. Thematic analysis of the book of acts essay 1556 words. Witherington does an excellent job in his 100page introduction in establishing the historicity of the book and comparing luke to other greek historians such as polybius in their desire to report facts accurately.
An insight analysis into the book of acts project topics. It is an important book in understanding how we can be directed by the holy spirit and the role of jesus lessons in our lives. It will help to keep the whole of the book before you as you work your way through each section. The main function of acts is to fill in the gaps created by the story behind the letters of paul and the catholic epistles. God took a christianhating murderer and transformed him into historys greatest christian evangelist, the author of. Luke was keenly aware of the way in which christianity was being attacked by enemies of the movement, and he wanted to present the story of its development in a most favorable. The recipient of the book, theophilus, is the same person addressed in the first volume, the gospel of luke see introduction to luke.
There are different ways to divide the book of acts. Luke was keenly aware of the way in which christianity was being attacked by enemies of the movement, and he wanted to present the story of its development in a most favorable light. Spirit is central to the book beginning on pentecost acts 2. The book of acts shows how god essentially took a group of fisherman and commoners and used them to turn the world upside down acts 17. Prayer is a very important and vital element of christian living. Major themes in the book of acts the bart ehrman blog. T he book of acts in the bible, written around 6263 a. The book of acts is also the account of the work of the holy spirit in and through the church. He decides to hang around with all his favorite disciples for forty days. The book of acts as it is known appears to be more loosely written than the tightly packed stories about the life of jesus. The temple in this book called acts was the third temple. Its subject and intention is nicely summarised by the words of the lord in chapter 1. The title as we know it comes from the second century and only partially discloses the theme of the document.
The book of acts clearly focuses on the beginnings of the church, and two people the apostle peter, and the one who actually possessed the courage to go to the farthest parts of the known world with the gospel of jesus christ, his name was paul the apostle. An analysis of praising and honoring god in the book of acts by luke the apostle. The book of acts provides a bridge for the writings of the nt. I am going to look solely at these events in order to study exactly what the book of. The genre of the book of acts is narrative history with several sermons. But stephen reminded the jews that god was bigger than any temple. Although the author does not name himself, evidence from the book itself proves that the author was. The book of acts informs us that they were generous, sacrificial, considerate and loving. It alone presents an extensive picture of early church life and history. God took a christianhating murderer and transformed him into historys greatest christian evangelist, the author of almost half the books of the new testament.
844 379 444 376 420 291 538 331 616 16 423 100 377 975 477 1085 978 1545 517 1317 191 968 172 605 739 306 1029 309 324 1016 98 400 191 440 1415