What is a summary of Acts of the Apostles?

Answer 1

Another Answer from our community:

Jesus ministers for forty days after his resurrection-Kingdom to be restored to Israel at a later time-The Twelve to bear witness in Jerusalem, Judæa, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth-Jesus ascends into heaven-Matthias chosen to fill the vacancy in the Twelve.

Another Answer:

Uta Ranke-Heinemann (Putting Away Childish Things) describes Acts of the Apostles as a work of Propaganda aimed at Gentile Christians and Gentiles who have not yet become Christians. I believe it is much more sophisticated than Ranke-Heinemann believes: I believe its primary purpose was to compare Saints Peter and Paul, thereby defining Peter as a greater apostle than Paul. Acts attributes to Paul miracles that he himself seems not to have known about, but in each case attributes a comparable and even more amazing miracle to Peter.

Acts of the Apostles begins with the ascension of Jesus and then the Pentecost. Under the leadership of Peter, the apostles choose Matthias to replace Judas, to make up the twelve. The book then continues with what has traditionally been regarded as a history of the early Church.

Because the book very clearly contains material based on Antiquities of the Jews, published by Josephus in 93 CE, it must have been written later than that date. Many scholars also believe it must have been written before the end of the century because by then Paul's epistles were beginning to circulate widely and the author of Acts of the Apostles would not have included the differences and discrepancies that can be found in his account. Again, I disagree with these scholars on this point. I believe it was written after the beginning of the second century because Paul's epistles were beginning to circulate widely. Much of the material in Acts can be seen to be loosely based on Paul's own accounts, which certainly means that 'Luke' was aware of them. He may have been concerned at what he believed to be the excessive veneration of Paul, or he may have sought to unite Christians in his view of the Christian message, rather than Paul's. Either way, the comparison with Peter was intended to diminish Paul's legacy.

As stated above, Acts contains material based on Antiquities of the Jews. Ranke-Heinemann also finds an important passage based on The Bacchae by Euripides in the fifth century BCE. As for the story of Stephen, which Actsuses to introduce Saul as the callow youth who supported the stoning but was unwilling to participate, Raymond E. Brown (An Introduction to the New Testament) says that we can never verify the martyrdom or even existence of Stephen. There is nothing in Paul's own epistles that supports the first missionary journey and in fact that journey is at odds with Paul's own account of his travels.

Answer 2

The book of Acts gives the history of the Christian church and the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as well as the mounting opposition to it. Although many faithful servants were used to preach and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ, Saul, whose name was changed to Paul, was the most influential. Before he was converted, Paul took great pleasure in persecuting and killing Christians. Paul's dramatic conversion on the Damascus road (Acts 9:1-31) is a highlight of the book of Acts. After his conversion he went to the opposite extreme of loving God and preaching His Word with power, fervency and the Spirit of the true and living God. The disciples were empowered by the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses in Jerusalem (chapters 1-8:3), Judea and Samaria (chapters 8:4-12:25), and to the ends of the earth (chapters 13:1-28). Included in the last section are Paul's three missionary journeys (13:1-21:16), his trials in Jerusalem and Caesarea (21:17-26:32) and his final journey to Rome (27:1-18:31).

taken from gotquestions.com

Answer 3

A book is more than the sum of its parts, so a summary of Acts goes beyond a summary the individual chapters, helpful as that may be.

For almost two thousand years, Acts has been looked on as a reliable history of early Christianity but, over recent decades, New Testament scholars have begun to doubt this. These doubts really began to emerge when it was realised that Acts of the Apostles was originally anonymous and that its second-century attribution to Luke was unlikely to be factual. The Acts Seminar was set up to review the book carefully and look for underlying meaning in Acts. It determined that the book was written in the second century and does not accurately record events at the time of the early church. Scholars participating in the Seminar concluded (See Acts and Christian Beginnings) that Acts is "a primary resource for understanding second-century Christianity", as the book writes of events and purported events in the time of Peter and Paul as if they took place at the time of writing.

Dennis E Smith and Joseph B Tyson reported the major findings of the Acts Seminar in Acts and Christian Beginnings. They say (page 340) " the rhetorical effect of Acts is to persuade readers that Jews are the mortal enemies of Christians and that they are to be vigorously opposed, despised, and treated with contempt" and that the author is culpable for "contributing to the legacy of Christian anti-Judaism.

After poring through Acts for several years, the participants in the Seminar concluded that the book was loosely based on Paul's epistles, but that the author altered Paul's account and inserted events, according to a second-century theological agenda. There is just enough correlation with the letters to make the Acts stories seem credible. Smith and Tyson also say "there is no evidence that anyone had seen the book we know as the Acts of the Apostles before about 150 CE."

The book revolves around the adventures of two apostles, Peter and Paul, subtly comparing them, miracle by miracle, achievement by achievement, so that Peter can be seen as the more worthy apostle.

Answer 4

The Book of Acts is the story of the Apostles after Jesus' Ascension. The Church begins on Pentecost Sunday in the early chapters and ends with the Apostle Paul's ministry in Rome.