The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown (79 page)

Advanced Knowledge:
In addition to mastery of the core content identified in Basic Knowledge and beyond the Intermediate Knowledge noted above, students should be able to evaluate critically and to assess the historical accuracy of the speeches, the Jerusalem Council, and the miracles recorded in Acts. They should also be able to evaluate accurately the sources that lie behind the composition of Acts.

INTRODUCTION

W
HEN OSCAR WILDE was studying the classics at Oxford, he had to take an oral exam to test his knowledge of Greek. The examiners looked at him, sensed that he was “an effete and ‘difficult’ young man,” and assigned him the most difficult text to translate in the Greek NT: the account of Paul's shipwreck in Acts 27 with its extensive use of nautical language. “That will be all, Mr. Wilde,” the examiners said, when Oscar, a brilliant Greek student, provided an effortless translation. “Oh, please,” exclaimed Wilde, “do let me go on—I am longing to know how the story finishes.”
¹

This anecdote illustrates two facets of the book of Acts. To begin with, it is the account of a grand adventure, taking us from Palestine to the center of the Gentile world: Rome. Along the way, it includes the exciting story of encounters with hostile people and governments, sailing adventures and shipwrecks, and even courtroom dramas. No doubt about it, the book of Acts is an exciting adventure. But the anecdote not only underlines the exciting tale that is the book of Acts, it also leaves us (like Wilde) longing to know how the story finished after the end of the book since Paul remained under arrest in Rome awaiting trial.

HISTORY

Author

In a previous chapter, we identified Luke the beloved physician as the author of both the Gospel and the book of Acts. To recapitulate, Luke was a well-educated man, steeped
in the OT (especially the LXX). He knew the geography of Palestine and the Mediterranean world. He was not an original disciple (see Luke 1:2) but was a traveling companion of Paul (thus the use of the first-person plural pronoun in the “we” passages starting at Acts 16:8–17; see Table 8.1 below) and revealed great respect for Paul in his writings. Thus while Luke was not an eyewitness of the events recorded in his Gospel, he was an eyewitness of a significant portion of events narrated in the second half of the book of Acts. Luke's close association with the apostle Paul ensured that the canonical criterion of apostolicity was met.

Table 8.1: The “We” Passages in Acts

Date

Like its authorship, the date of the book of Acts was established in the chapter on the Gospel of Luke. The following brief discussion summarizes the major views on the subject. There are basically three positions set forth in the relevant literature: (1) a date prior to 70; (2) a date of 70–100; and (3) a date in the second century.

Virtually no one today dates Acts in the second century, although this has been proposed in the past.
²
The more popular date among less conservative commentators is a date sometime after 75. This is usually based on these scholars' solution to the Synoptic Problem (typically in terms of Markan priority) and a dating of Mark in the mid- to late 60s.
³
The abrupt ending of Acts is then explained in terms of Luke completing his purpose.
⁴

An early date, however, remains the best option for the book of Acts. The aforementioned abrupt ending; the neutral, if not friendly, presentation of the Roman Empire;
⁵
the lack of
mention of the Pauline Letters; and the lack of mention of the Jewish war and its events all point to an early date for Acts.
⁶
The ending of Acts is best explained as Luke having recorded everything that has happened up to this point in Paul's mission. Although not universally accepted, an early date is thus most plausible in light of the available evidence.

If Paul (1) was released from his first Roman imprisonment in which he found himself at the end of the book of Acts; (2) engaged in several years of further missionary travels and ministry as the Pastorals suggest; (3) his martyrdom was preceded by a second, significantly harsher, Roman imprisonment as 2 Timothy seems to indicate; and (4) as tradition indicates, was martyred in c. 65/66 during the persecution under Nero (54–68) subsequent to the great fire in Rome (64), 60 is the most reasonable date for the conclusion of the book of Acts and a date of composition shortly thereafter.

Provenance

If the evidence for the date has been rightly evaluated, the only option for the provenance of the book is the city of Rome. If Luke had caught up in time with Paul so that the apostle was awaiting trial in Rome at the time of writing and if the “we sections” are an indication of personal involvement, then Luke was with Paul when he wrote the book. This was the view of Irenaeus (c. 130–200), Eusebius (c. 260–340), and Jerome (c. 345–420).
⁷
The Anti-Marcionite Prologue mentions Achaia as the place of publication. Jerome's belief that Luke wrote from Rome was self-admittedly adduced from the ending of Acts.
⁸
The other church fathers may well have come to the same conclusion. Ultimately, we are left with a few contradictory snippets in the tradition. This makes the provenance hard to pinpoint. Like Irenaeus, Jerome, and Eusebius, one may deduce from the ending that Luke was with Paul in Rome at the time of writing without staking any undue weight on this deduction. (Also, at a later point, Luke is said to be the only one left with Paul in Rome; 2 Tim 4:11.)

Destination

Theophilus, like Josephus's Epaphroditus, goes unnamed in the rest of the narrative. As discussed in chap. 6 on Luke's Gospel, little is known about him other than that he may have been a Roman official (see the designation “most excellent” in Luke 1:3; it also occurs in Acts 23:26; 24:3; 26:25 with reference to Felix and Festus) and that he had received previous information regarding the Christian faith (Luke 1:4). Most likely, he was Luke's literary patron, in which case he would not only have paid the price of publication but may have housed Luke during the book's production and made the manuscript available for copying subsequent to its completion.

In addition, Luke likely had a target audience beyond Theophilus. In determining the makeup of Luke's intended readers, it is instructive to look at the kind of information that Luke expected or did not expect his audience to know. On the one hand, he did not expect his readers to know the basic details of Judean topography, as in the statement that Mount Olivet was near Jerusalem (Acts 1:12). Nor did he expect them to know the local language: Aramaic terms are explained (see 1:12,19; 4:36; 9:36; 13:8). At the same time, no explanation is given with regard to Jewish institutions such as Pentecost (2:1; 20:16), “a Sabbath day's journey” (1:12), uncleanness (10:14), and “Passover” (12:4), which suggests that Luke expected his audience to be familiar with this kind of information.
⁹
Likewise, it may be assumed that since the OT quotes are from the LXX, this was the Bible of choice among Luke's readers.

Finally, the apologetic thrust of the book, setting forth the expansion of Christianity from a Jewish sect to a worldwide movement, may also indicate a particular target audience, namely, anyone interested in the astonishing rise of the Christian movement from humble beginnings in Jerusalem to the empire's capital, Rome. On the whole, then, Acts is a book that would resonate well with non-Aramaic speakers familiar with the Greek OT. This would have included Gentile Christians, and it would not have ruled out Diaspora Jews or Jewish Christians living outside of Palestine. Beyond this, anyone interested in the nature and phenomenal rise of Christianity in the first few decades of the church would have found the book of Acts valuable and informative.

Purpose

Numerous proposals have been made regarding the purpose of Acts. These include evangelism,
¹⁰
an apology or defense of the Christian faith,
¹¹
Paul's legal defense,
¹²
various theological concerns,
¹³
the historical basis of the establishment and growth of the kingdom of God,
¹⁴
and evangelism and edification.
¹⁵

Something to Think About:
Christianity Takes the World by Storm

I
f the first generation of the Christian church proves anything, it is this: the power of God is infinitely greater than any human obstacles in its way. A humble Galilean craftsman, who suffered an untimely death and accumulated no earthly possessions, wrote no books, and left behind nothing but a small band of disheartened followers, spawned a movement so powerful that it took the Roman Empire by storm.

How was this possible? There is only one satisfying answer: the same Jesus who was crucified on a hill outside of Jerusalem rose again from the dead three days later and was exalted to the right hand of God. As Peter proclaimed at Pentecost, “God has resurrected this Jesus. We are all witnesses of this. Therefore, since He has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, He has poured out what you both see and hear” (2:32–33).

The rest of the book of Acts records the amazing, astounding, breathtaking, irresistible progress of the Christian gospel in a world where the Jews fiercely oppose the early church's mission and where, ironically, the Romans protect Paul and the early Christians from certain death. Internal obstacles, whether dishonesty or potential disunity, are overcome, as are persecution and various external threats. Not clever strategy but humble trust in God and faithful witness to him empower the early Christians, who prove victorious again and again.

Luke's account of the spiritual exploits of the early church can serve as a mighty inspiration to the church of all ages which is faced with the same challenge of bearing witness to the living, resurrected Christ in a world hostile to the gospel message. As we continue this godly legacy, we must make sure our trust, as that of the first Christians, is in the same God who raised Jesus from the dead and for whom no obstacle is too great if we only put our trust in him and his awesome power rather than in our own ability to overcome the obstacles we face.

In considering the purpose of Acts, it must be remembered that the work is a sequel to Luke's Gospel. This does not necessarily mean that the purpose of Acts is identical to the purpose of Luke's Gospel; it means that the former should be related appropriately to the latter (see esp. Acts 1:1). If the preface to Luke applies to Acts as well—and given the brevity of Acts' preface, this is most likely the case—then Luke set out to write an orderly account and to provide assurance and an apology or defense of the Christian faith. But what kind of defense did Luke provide?

The first and best indication is the literary structure of Acts, which revolves around showing the early expansion of the church from a local sect to a worldwide movement as empowered by God. Each expansion is brought about by the leading of the Holy Spirit rather than by the disciples' own initiative. In this theological emphasis, the book manifests the same focus on God's plan (including promise and fulfillment) that is prominent in Luke's Gospel. This also answers the question of why a sequel to Luke's Gospel was
needed in the first place. The Gospel is “about all that Jesus began to do and teach” (Acts 1:1), and Acts narrates the continuation of that which was begun in the Gospel. The story of Jesus is not complete until the gospel has moved from the Jewish capital to “the ends of the earth”—all the way to Rome (Acts 1:8).

It is sometimes claimed that Luke's Gospel is continually journeying toward Jerusalem (especially the “Lukan Travel Narrative”) and that the book of Acts is moving away from Jerusalem to the “ends of the earth.” But this is an oversimplification. More precisely, the book of Acts
spirals
out from Jerusalem and Palestine. In the second half of the book, Paul was continually returning to Jerusalem, only to set out deeper and deeper into the Gentile world. Three factors point to a sustained apologetic for Gentile inclusion on the basis of the Jewish rejection of the Messiah: the sustained apologetic for Gentile inclusion in the first part of the book that culminated in the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:1–29), Paul's consistent pattern of preaching in the local synagogue in each city before moving on to the Gentiles, and his repeated return to Jerusalem.