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THIS book is to the Gospels what the fruit is to the tree that bears it. In the Gospels we see the corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying: in the Acts we see it bringing forth much fruit (Joh 12:24). There we see Christ purchasing the Church with His own blood: here we see the Church, so purchased, rising into actual existence; first among the Jews of Palestine, and next among the surrounding Gentiles, until it gains a footing in the great capital of the ancient world--sweeping majestically from Jerusalem to Rome. Nor is this book of less value as an Introduction to the Epistles which follow it, than as a Sequel to the Gospels which precede it. For without this history the Epistles of the New Testament--presupposing, as they do, the historical circumstances of the parties addressed, and deriving from these so much of their freshness, point, and force--would in no respect be what they now are, and would in a number of places be scarcely intelligible.
The genuineness, authenticity, and canonical authority of this book were never called in question within the ancient Church. It stands immediately after the Gospels, in the catalogues of the Homologoumena, or universally acknowledged books of the New Testament (see Introduction to our larger Commentary, Vol. V, pp. iv, v). It was rejected, indeed, by certain heretical sects in the second and third centuries--by the Ebionites, the Severians (see EUSEBIUS, Ecclesiastical History, 4.29), the Marcionites, and the Manicheans: but the totally uncritical character of their objections (see Introduction above referred to, pp. xiii, xiv) not only deprives them of all weight, but indirectly shows on what solid grounds the Christian Church had all along proceeded in recognizing this book.
In our day, however, its authenticity has, like that of all the leading books of the New Testament, been made the subject of keen and protracted controversy. DE WETTE, while admitting Luke to be the author of the entire work, pronounces the earlier portion of it to have been drawn up from unreliable sources (New-Testament Introduction, 2a, 2C). But the Tubingen school, with BAUR at their head, have gone much farther. As their fantastic theory of the post-Joannean date of the Gospels could not pretend even to a hearing so long as the authenticity of the Acts of the Apostles remained unshaken, they contend that the earlier portion of this work can be shown to be unworthy of credit, while the latter portion is in flat contradiction to the Epistle to the Galatians--which this school regard as unassailable--and bears internal evidence of being a designed distortion of facts for the purpose of setting up the catholic form which Paul gave to Christianity in opposition to the narrow Judaic but original form of it which Peter preached, and which after the death of the apostles was held exclusively by the sect of the Ebionites. It is painful to think that anyone should have spent so many years, and, aided by learned and acute disciples in different parts of the argument, should have expended so much learning, research, and ingenuity in attempting to build up a hypothesis regarding the origination of the leading books of the New Testament which outrages all the principles of sober criticism and legitimate evidence. As a school, this party at length broke up: its head, after living to find himself the sole defender of the theory as a whole, left this earthly scene complaining of desertion. While some of his associates have abandoned such heartless studies altogether for the more congenial pursuits of philosophy, others have modified their attacks on the historical truth of the New Testament records, retreating into positions into which it is not worth while to follow them, while others still have been gradually approximating to sound principles. The one compensation for all this mischief is the rich additions to the apologetical and critical literature of the books of the New Testament, and the earliest history of the Christian Church, which it has drawn from the pens of THIERSCH, EBRARD, and many others. Any allusions which it may be necessary for us to make to the assertions of this school will be made in connection with the passages to which they relate--in Acts, First Corinthians, and Galatians.
The manifest connection between this book and the third Gospel--of which it professes to be simply the continuation by the same author--and the striking similarity which marks the style of both productions, leave no room to doubt that the early Church was right in ascribing it with one consent to Luke. The difficulty which some fastidious critics have made about the sources of the earlier portion of the history has no solid ground. That the historian himself was an eye-witness of the earliest scenes--as HUG concludes from the circumstantiality of the narrative--is altogether improbable: but there were hundreds of eye-witnesses of some of the scenes, and enough of all the rest, to give to the historian, partly by oral, partly by written testimony, all the details which he has embodied so graphically in his history; and it will appear, we trust, from the commentary, that De Wette's complaints of confusion, contradiction, and error in this portion are without foundation. The same critic, and one or two others, would ascribe to Timothy those later portions of the book in which the historian speaks in the first person plural--"we"; supposing him to have taken notes of all that passed under his own eye, which Luke embodied in his history just as they stood. It is impossible here to refute this gratuitous hypothesis in detail; but the reader will find it done by EBRARD (The Gospel History, sect. 110, Clark's translation; sect. 127 of the original work, Wissenschaftliche Kritik der Evangelische Geschichte, 1850), and by DAVIDSON (Introduction to New Testament, Vol. II, pp. 9-21).
The undesigned coincidences between this History and the Apostolic Epistles have been brought out and handled, as an argument for the truth of the facts thus attested, with unrivalled felicity by PALEY in his Horæ Paulinæ, to which Mr. BIRKS has made a number of ingenious additions in his Horæ Apostolicæ. Exception has been taken to some of these by JOWETT (St. Paul's Epistles, Vol. I, pp. 108 ff.), not without a measure of reason in certain cases--for our day, at least--though even he admits that in this line of evidence the work of PALEY, taken as a whole, is unassailable.
Much has been written about the object of this history. Certainly "the Acts of the Apostles" are but very partially recorded. But for this title the historian is not responsible. Between the two extremes--of supposing that the work has no plan at all, and that it is constructed on an elaborate and complex plan, we shall probably be as near the truth as is necessary if we take the design to be to record the diffusion of Christianity and the rise of the Christian Church, first among the Jews of Palestine, the seat of the ancient Faith, and next among the surrounding Gentiles, with Antioch for its headquarters, until, finally, it is seen waving over imperial Rome, foretokening its universal triumph. In this view of it, there is no difficulty in accounting for the almost exclusive place which it gives to the labors of Peter in the first instance, and the all but entire disappearance from the history both of him and of the rest of the Twelve after the great apostle of the Gentiles came upon the stage--like the lesser lights on the rise of the great luminary.
I. Introduction.
A. The writing gives a brief history of the first century church.
1. Though called Acts of the Apostles, the only original apostles
mentioned after the first chapter are Peter, James, and John.
2. The emphasis is upon the preaching of the gospel throughout the world
and the subsequent existence and fortunes of the church of Christ.
B. Luke was the author of the book (he also wrote the gospel of Luke).
1. He was a physician (Col. 4:14).
2. He was of the uncircumcision (Col. 4:10-14).
3. He was an educated man.
4. He was an occasional companion of Paul.
C. The book concludes with Paul in prison at Rome and must therefore have
been written early in 63 A.D.
II. Jerusalem church.
A. Introduction to the contents of the book
1. Appearances of the resurrected Jesus (1:2-8).
2. Ascension of Jesus (1:9-11)
3. Waiting for the promised power from on high (1:12-14)
4. Matthias selected to take the place of Judas (1:15-26)
B. Establishment of the church
1. Words "church" and "kingdom" used interchangeably (Matt.16:18,19);
Kingdom to come with power (Mark 9:1); The power came when the Holy
Spirit came (Acts 1:8)
2. The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles bringing the church into
existence (2:1-4)
3. The Holy Spirit came with the sound of the rushing of a mighty wind,
tongues like fire upon the apostles, speaking in foreign languages
(2:14)
4. Thousands brought together by the noise of the great wind (2:5,6)
5. Astonishment of the multitude (2:7-13)
6. Peter's sermon (2:14-36)
7. Many in the crowd asked what they were to do to be saved (2:37)
8. Told what to do to receive remission of sins (2:38)
9. Three Thousand obeyed and continued in worship and godly living
(2:39-47)
C. Expansion of the church (3:1 thru 8:3)
1. Lame man healed by Peter and John (3:1-10)
2. Peter's second sermon (3:11-26)
3. Peter and John arrested (4:1-4)
4. Preaching to the Jewish High Council (4:5-12)
5. Peter and John told not to preach in the name of Jesus (4:13-22)
6. Prayer for courage and strength (4:23-31)
7. Unity and love of early church (4:32-37)
8. Ananias and Sapphira lie and are punished (5:1-11)
9. Teaching confirmed by miracles and growth of the church (5:12-16)
10. Apostles arrested and persecuted (5:17-33)
11. Saved by Gamaliel's advice to the Sanhedrin (5:34-39)
12. Apostles, beaten and released, joyfully continue to preach (5:40-42)
13. Men appointed to serve tables (6:1-7)
14. Stephen defends preaching about Jesus and is killed (6:8 thru 7:60)
15. Saul from Tarsus leads in persecuting the church (8:1-3)
III. Preaching in all Judea and in Samaria (8:4 thru 12:25)
A. Preaching in Samaria (8:4-40)
1. Philip preaching in the city of Samaria (8:4-13)
2. Apostles Peter and John sent to Samaria to confirm the new converts
and bestow spiritual gifts my the laying on of hands (8:14-17)
3. Simon the sorcerer sins and is rebuked (8:18-25)
4. Philip sent by an angel to preach to the Treasurer of Ethiopia
(8:26-35)
5. Philip baptizes the Ethiopian (8:36-40)
B. Conversion of Saul of Tarsus (9:1-31)
1. Saul secures letters of authority to persecute Jewish converts to
Jesus living in Damascus (9:1,2)
2. Jesus appears to Saul on the road near Damascus (9:3-7)
3. Saul was blinded and his friends took him into Damascus (9:8,9)
4. Ananias of Damascus sent to tell Saul what to do to be saved
(9:10-17)
5. Saul recovers sight and is baptized to wash away his sins (9:18-19,
See also Acts 22:16)
6. Saul immediately preaches in the synagogues the way he had come to
Damascus to persecute and is himself persecuted (9:20-25) Note: Saul,
now called Paul, preached three years in Damascus and Arabia before
going to Jerusalem (See Gal. 1:15-18)
7. Saul preaches in Jerusalem before being threatened and retiring to
Tarsus, his hometown (9:26-30)
C. The acts of Peter (9:32 thru 11:18)
1. The church in Judea, Samaria, and Galilee had peace and prospered
(9:31)
2. Peter heals Aeneas at Lydda (9:32-35)
3. Peter raises Dorcus from the dead at Joppa (9:36-43)
4. Peter called to Caesarea where he preaches to Cornelius, his family,
and friends (10:1-46)
5. Peter commands Cornelius and those with him to be baptized (10:44-48)
6. Peter defends his acts to the brethren at Jerusalem (11:1-18)
D. Further teaching, growth, and experiences of the church (11:19 thru
12:24)
1. Church expands into Phonicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria (11:19)
2. Church prospers in Antioch of Syria (11:20,21)
3. Barnabas sent to help the new converts in Antioch (11 :22-24)
4. Barnabas calls for Paul to come from Tarsus to help (11:25-30)
5. Herod the king executed James the apostle (12:1-2)
6. Herod persecutes the church (12:3)
7. Peter imprisoned and released (12:4-11)
8. Peter received at the house of Mary, John Mark's mother (12:5-19)
9. Herod's arrogance and death (12:20-23)
10. Church continued to grow and prosper (12:24-25)
IV. Preaching throughout the world (12:25 thru 28:31)
A. Paul's first missionary journey (12:25 thru 14:28)
1. Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark sent from Antioch of Syria (13:1-3)
2. Preaching on the island of Cyprus (13:4-12)
3. Crossing over to the mainland; departure of John Mark; preaching in
Antioch of Pisida (13:13-42)
4. Success and persecution in Antioch of Pisida (13:43-50)
5. Paul and Barnabas travel to Iconium (13:51,52)
6. Preaching and persecution in Iconium (14:1-5)
7. Paul and Barnabas go to Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, and environs
(14:6)
8. Preaching in the region, and healing of a lame man (14:7-10)
9. The miracle caused the people to attempt to worship Paul and Barnabas
and were restrained (14:11-18)
10. Paul is stoned and left for dead (14:19-20)
11. Paul and Barnabas revisit Lystra, Iconium, Antioch of Pisidia
confirming the saints and appointing elders in every church
(14:21-23)
12. Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch of Syria by way of Pamphylia and
Attalia (14:24-28)
B. Jerusalem visit and discussion (15:1-35)
1. Debate over whether circumcision is a condition of salvation (15:1-5)
2. Visit to Jerusalem to discuss the matter (15:6-21)
3. Letter of instruction sent to the believers at Antioch of Syria
(15:22-29)
4. Report given to the church in Antioch of Syria (15:30-35)
C. Paul's second missionary journey (15:36 thru 18:22)
1. Paul and Barnabas disagree over John Mark and part company (15:36-41)
2. Paul and Silas journey to Lystra, where Timothy is circumcised and
joins the missionary group (16:1-5)
3. The Macedonian call (16:6-10)
4. Preaching in Philippi; Lydia and her household taught and baptized;
evil spirit cast out of a maiden; Paul and Silas accused, beaten and
imprisoned (16:11-24)
5. A midnight earthquake got the attention of Paul's jailer and he and
his family were taught and baptized the same hour of the night, and
rejoiced greatly (16:25-34)
6. Paul, Silas and Timothy depart from Philippi (16:35-40)
7. Preaching and persecution in Thessalonica (17:1-9)
8. Paul and Silas go to Borea (17:10,11)
9. Leaving Silas and Timothy in the region of Thessalonica and Berea,
Paul journeys to Athens, where he preaches (Acts 17:12-34)
10. Paul travels to Corinth, where he teaches and preaches and meets
Priscilla and Acquila, and where a great church is established
(18:1-17)
11. Paul, Acquila and Priscilla go to Ephesus (18:18-20)
12. Paul leaves Ephesus, intending to return at a later time, and goes to
Antioch of Syria to report and preach (18:21-22)
D. Paul's third missionary journey (18:23 thru 21:14)
1. Paul goes to Phrygia and Galatia strengthening the disciples (18:23)
2. Apollos comes to Ephesus and is further taught by Acquila and
Priscilla and sent to Corinth (18:24-28)
3. Paul returns to Ephesus where he teaches and baptizes twelve men
(19:1-7)
4. Paul spends three years preaching in Ephesus, and where a riot drives
him from the city (19:8-41)
5. Paul returns to Macedonia (20:1-4)
6. Paul and his companions travel to Troas, where they wait seven days
until the first day of the week when the disciples gathered to break
bread (eat the Lord's Supper), and where Paul preached, and raised a
young man from the dead (20:5-12)
7. At Miletus Paul bids farewell to the Ephesian elders (20:13-38)
8. In Tyre Paul is warned not to go to Jerusalem (21:1-14)
9. Paul goes to Jerusalem, in the face of grave dangers; Paul is
discovered worshipping in the Jewish Temple, and a riot occurs, but
Paul is rescued by Roman soldiers (21:15-40)
10. Paul defends himself and his actions to his fellow countrymen
(22:1-22)
11. Paul is imprisoned in the Roman Fort at Jerusalem (22:23-30)
12. Paul's life is threatened and he is sent to Caesarea (23:1-30)
13. Paul defends himself before Felix (24:1-27)
14. Paul defends himself before Festus, and appeals to Rome (25:1-12)
15. Paul defends himself before Herod Agrippa, Bernice, and Festus
(25:13 thru 26:32)
V. Paul's Trip to Rome
A. They sail for Rome, and touched at Sidon, sailed under the lee of Cyprus,
they came to Myra, where Paul was transferred to another ship (27:1-6)
B. The ship is wrecked off the coast of the island of Melita (27:7-44)
C. After preaching with good success at Melita, and confirming his message
with miracles, Paul was put on another ship bound for Rome (28:1-11)
D. Paul arrives at Rome, is received by the brethren, and explains his
situation to the Jews (28:12-28).
E. The apostle is two years a prisoner in his own hired house, where he
preaches the kingdom and the things concerning Jesus with all boldness,
none forbidding him (28:29-31)
There are many passages in Paul's epistles, as well as in the writings of Luke, which show the extent and accuracy of his medical knowledge.
As regards its authorship, it was certainly the work of Luke, the "beloved physician" (comp. Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1). This is the uniform tradition of antiquity, although the writer nowhere makes mention of himself by name. The style and idiom of the Gospel of Luke and of the Acts, and the usage of words and phrases common to both, strengthen this opinion. The writer first appears in the narrative in 16:11, and then disappears till Paul's return to Philippi two years afterwards, when he and Paul left that place together (20:6), and the two seem henceforth to have been constant companions to the end. He was certainly with Paul at Rome (28; Col. 4:14). Thus he wrote a great portion of that history from personal observation. For what lay beyond his own experience he had the instruction of Paul. If, as is very probable, 2 Tim. was written during Paul's second imprisonment at Rome, Luke was with him then as his faithful companion to the last (2 Tim. 4:11). Of his subsequent history we have no certain information.
The design of Luke's Gospel was to give an exhibition of the character and work of Christ as seen in his history till he was taken up from his disciples into heaven; and of the Acts, as its sequel, to give an illustration of the power and working of the gospel when preached among all nations, "beginning at Jerusalem." The opening sentences of the Acts are just an expansion and an explanation of the closing words of the Gospel. In this book we have just a continuation of the history of the church after Christ's ascension. Luke here carries on the history in the same spirit in which he had commenced it. It is only a book of beginnings, a history of the founding of churches, the initial steps in the formation of the Christian society in the different places visited by the apostles. It records a cycle of "representative events."
All through the narrative we see the ever-present, all-controlling power of the ever-living Saviour. He worketh all and in all in spreading abroad his truth among men by his Spirit and through the instrumentality of his apostles.
The time of the writing of this history may be gathered from the fact that the narrative extends down to the close of the second year of Paul's first imprisonment at Rome. It could not therefore have been written earlier than A.D. 61 or 62, nor later than about the end of A.D. 63. Paul was probably put to death during his second imprisonment, about A.D. 64, or, as some think, 66.
The place where the book was written was probably Rome, to which Luke accompanied Paul.
The key to the contents of the book is in 1:8, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." After referring to what had been recorded in a "former treatise" of the sayings and doings of Jesus Christ before his ascension, the author proceeds to give an account of the circumstances connected with that event, and then records the leading facts with reference to the spread and triumphs of Christianity over the world during a period of about thirty years. The record begins with Pentecost (A.D. 33) and ends with Paul's first imprisonment (A.D. 63 or 64). The whole contents of the book may be divided into these three parts:
(1.) Chaps. 1-12, describing the first twelve years of the Christian church. This section has been entitled "From Jerusalem to Antioch." It contains the history of the planting and extension of the church among the Jews by the ministry of Peter.
(2.) Chaps. 13-21, Paul's missionary journeys, giving the history of the extension and planting of the church among the Gentiles.
(3.) Chaps. 21-28, Paul at Rome, and the events which led to this. Chaps. 13-28 have been entitled "From Antioch to Rome."
In this book it is worthy of note that no mention is made of the writing by Paul of any of his epistles. This may be accounted for by the fact that the writer confined himself to a history of the planting of the church, and not to that of its training or edification. The relation, however, between this history and the epistles of Paul is of such a kind, i.e., brings to light so many undesigned coincidences, as to prove the genuineness and authenticity of both, as is so ably shown by Paley in his Horae Paulinae. "No ancient work affords so many tests of veracity; for no other has such numerous points of contact in all directions with contemporary history, politics, and topography, whether Jewish, or Greek, or Roman." Lightfoot.