Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • Free Essays • My Term Papers • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Religion Acts Acts The book of Acts is known as 'the birth of the church'. Acts recounts the story of the early church from the time of Jesus' ascension to Paul's arrival as a prisoner in Rome. Acts was written by the author of Luke's gospel, Luke. Although the author does not name himself, evidence from the book itself proves that the author was Luke. Luke was a physician. Scriptural evidence of this includes Colossians 4:14: "Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings." Luke often used medical language. For instance, he finds the sailors bandaging the ship in Acts 27:17: "When the men had hoisted in aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbar of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven alone." These two verses along with others in the scripture prove that Luke was a doctor. Some even think that Luke was the first medical Luke was often a traveling companion of Paul. Luke served as a personal comfort to Paul. Luke appears to travel very often, and he is very familiar with nautical terms. This is supported in Acts 16:10-12: " (10) After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (11) From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neopolis. (12) From there we traveled to Phillipi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days." Because it that Luke was a doctor, and that he and Paul were called by God to preach the gospel, it is evident that Luke was a medical missionary. However, not much more evidence can be Other evidence that proves Luke wrote the book of Acts is that Acts is addressed to the same official that received the Gospel of Luke. This is found by comparing Acts 1:1 with Luke 1:3-4. Acts 1:1: "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen." Luke 1: 3-4: " (3) Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, (4) so that you may know the certainty of things you have been taught." Because Luke's first book was written to Theophilus as was Acts, Luke must be the author of both. Another reason to believe that Luke is the author of Acts is the way both the book of Acts and Luke are written. The vocabulary, grammar and style are not only consistent Luke was an eyewitness of some of the events in chapters 16-28, where he changes his 'they' statements to 'we' statements. An example of this is in Acts16:10-11, 16: " (10) And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. (11) Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia and the next day to Neapolis. (16) And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination metus, which brought her masters much gain by Luke's aim in writing Acts is threefold: 1.To commend Christianity to the Roman Government. Luke goes out of his way to show how courteous Roman magistrates were to Paul at a time when Christians were persecuted. He points out that Christians were regarded as good and loyal citizens. Luke generally shows Roman officials to be fair- minded. The higher officials are impartial in their judging. While Felix was motivated by greed, he was replaced by Festus who obeyed the Roman law and sent Paul to Rome to be 2.To show that Christianity is a universal religion for everyone, everywhere, which the Jews (God’s chosen people) found hard to accept. Luke, writing as a Gentile, shows opposition that developed to the gospel message among the Jewish leaders. This includes 3.The main aim, in the words of Christ: "to be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth (1:8)". Acts a provides important details about life in the earliest Christian communities, for example: the administration of baptism in water and baptism in the Spirit (1:5), "For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." Celebration of the Eucharist (2:42), "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." The separate hierarchy provided for the Hellenists in 6:5, "And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch." The ‘elders’ who preside in the Jerusalem church in 11:30, "Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul." Luke records how Paul always preached to the Jews first (13:5), and turned to the gentiles only after his fellow Jews had rejected him. "And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their The book of Acts is very important because of its explanation of the birth of the church. The authorship of the book may not be listed in the book, but after reading Acts and comparing it to Luke's first account, it is obvious that he is the author. Luke's gives much insight to the beginning of the church. A better understanding of where the church began and where it has progressed to can be gained after thoroughly reading the book. Bibliography: http://www.stpetersnottingham.org/bible/acts.htm Acts: The Birth of the Church, Blaiklock, New Jersey, 1980 The Holy Bible bibletutor.luthersem.edu Word Count: 1037
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